Escape Velocity 2017

Science fiction, as Ursula LeGuin once argued, often uses the futuristic setting of stories as a way of analyzing and critiquing the present. In that way, science fiction is “about” the present; by showing a future that the present might plausibly develop into, a piece of science fiction can help to highlight those features of the present that are worth strengthening, as well as those that ought to be minimized or left behind. This literary form finds a rather direct parallel in the prophetic stories populating the sacred texts of many different religions — there too, the future is used to critique and analyze the present. The difference is that science fiction *also* insists on fidelity to science, making apparent miracles into occasions to be explained rather than testimonies of faith. Our panel explores these overlaps and tensions, particularly highlighting those works of science fiction that explicitly deal with religion as they advance their purportedly secular visions. Join representatives from a variety of faith traditions for a rousing conversation!