CSFF Blog Tour—Christian Fandom, Day 3

Once again our focus is on Christian Fandom, the web site created to bring together fans of genre fiction.

Yesterday I voiced my disappointment over the fantasy section of the site, stating my opinion that Fandom was primarily for sci fi readers. Turns out, I wasn’t so far off. According to Fandom guru Greg Slade in his interview with Kameron Franklin:

Actually, I’m not really a fantasy fan. I’m much more into science fiction. The list of fantasy authors whom I actually enjoy is quite short, beginning with C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and not extending much farther.

Slade then mentions, as he did in Part 1 of the interview, that he is actively looking for help—specifically someone to take over the fantasy section of the site.

Thinking about Fandom and the different interests couched under the SFF umbrella brings me to a significant point—speculative fiction is on a continuum, and the extreme ends are practically incompatible. On one side, the far right, let’s say, lies true horror, the secular kind that Rebecca Grabill and Shannon McNear were referencing in their comments to yesterday’s post. It is this kind of speculative fiction, I believe, that turns Christians against all SFF.

If that kind of writing encompassed the entire genre, I’d be opposed to it, too. A portion of the stuff is nothing but glorification of evil and the twisting of mores from godly to ungodly. It is exactly what the Bible says will take place—men calling evil, “good.”

This kind of writing should not be a surprise. If left to his own sinful imagination, why wouldn’t Man justify his rebellion and glorify himself or forces opposed to God?

The problem is not the imagination, however. It is sinful, unregenerate man. As Gene Edward Veith said in “Good Fantasy & Bad Fantasy,” an article first published in the Christian Research Journal:

The problem is not with fantasy, which is simply an exercise of the imagination. A work of fantasy can shape the imagination of its audience in either harmful or helpful ways. The challenge is to discern the difference between good fantasy and bad fantasy

When imagination is placed under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a different kind of story emerges. So on the far left side of the continuum are stories like Pilgrim’s Progress, written with the purpose of edifying Christians and glorifying God.

There’s one other factor. Some people have a bent toward the speculative. Often these are the folks that attend Star Trek conventions or write fan fic. They love the speculative world and love hanging with others who also love it. They are the hardcore SFF fans.

I’d have to say this group is a minority, maybe even a small minority, and when it comes to publishing, a small minority is referred to as a niche market.

Here’s my point. I think Christian Fandom leans toward the hardcore SFF but is on the left side of the continuum. Consequently their web site seems more suited to that niche market.

My contention is that READERS enjoy using their imagination, and fantasy that is not “hardcore” is loved by people in large numbers.

Veith once again:

There is good reason why so many children are enamored with [the Harry Potter books], and why they are making so many children excited about reading for the first time. This is a clear symptom of imagination-deprivation … To use Tolkien’s metaphor, children’s imaginations are imprisoned, and they are right to want to escape.

I not only think children want to escape—and this is escape from the prison of wrong thinking, not escape from responsibility—I think adults want to escape.

We have strayed from beauty and truth for too long. It is time we Christians engaged our imaginations in a way that shows us what we cannot see by looking at this sin-ravaged world.

So much that I’ve left unsaid, but for time’s sake—yours and mine—I’ll stop there.

Please reserve some part of your day to check out what these other fine bloggers have to say on this last day of the July tour:

Carol Collett

Valerie Comer

Kameron Franklin

Beth Goddard

Rebecca Grabill

Leathel Grody

Karen Hancock

Elliot Hanowski

Katie Hart

Sherrie Hibbs

Sharon Hinck

Pamela James

Tina Kulesa

Rachel Marks

Shannon McNear

Mirtika Schultz

Stuart Stockton

Steve Trower

Speculative Faith

And though he accused me of going on a rampage in yesterday’s posts, I’m still adding Matt Mikalatos since he so kindly commented about the tour on his Tuesday July 25 post. 😉