Life is full of "what-if's"
Does mankind truly understand anything? A grim future, and if we are lucky, a second chance? After all, isn't the future what we make of it?
Sorry for the disjointedness, this is what Mel gave me last night, glimmers of a dream, like trying to catch tears...
And sorry for any errors, my editor/proofreader snatched the pizza and went back to bed...
Quincentennial
In the near future, things have changed a lot. Ever since the religious right took over, we have become a fierce theocracy and I fear we shall soon declare holy war on non-judeo-christian religions. After this no-name somehow got the presidency, they got both the house and the senate and started dissecting the Constitution, removing civil rights and going so far as removing women from office. "Better they stay home and in the kitchen, raising the children," as the President said. I am beginning to believe in what Revelations said, and know we are doomed.
The latest has been the rounding up of the "abominations before God." Wonder if the friends of those "collected" will be rounded up too? The govenment was pretty thorough in in their "collecting." But there has been one person they haven't seeem to have collected, she has been almost ghostlike, calling herself the Holy Spirit. It is like she is multiple people, yet she always looks the same and speaks the same, appearing across the United States within minutes of each appearance, and sometimes simultaneously. It is driving the army crazy, and they are saying it is some technological hoax, that what she is saying is blasphemous and against God, but I am beginning to wonder.
When the government started the "colecting," some critics decried the practice, until they were "collected" too. They even went after the children who exhibited any signs of not being "pure," whatever that means anymore. There isn't any mention of where the Collectees are being held, some are wondering if the Holy Spirit is the collective souls of those that were "collected." Seditious talk, but there it is. Not like anyone will ever read this.
She has claimed that God will not be bringing any of us into Heaven, due to killing His messengers, and for killing the children. She has said that we are all God's children and to kill one is to kill them all. That His angels on earth were placed here to know both sides of Him; to know anger and compassion and to better understand that there is a time and place for both.
They were sent here to teach us and to help us. Bailey was a good example, I am now positive. She was a researcher at the lab I work at. 28, outgoing personality, graduated MIT at 18 and a biomedical degree at 20. The best and brightest of all of us. Unfortunately, she was not always Bailey, though none of us ever asked about her past. She was just Bailey, or Dr Winters to some. She was pursuing a way to have the human body correct it's own problems using the immune system, and to use nanotechnology to fix other problems. She was like that, doing more than one thing at a time, an ever efficient chaos effect seemed to surround her. She left a few notes behind, nothing more than scribbles really, and no one here has a clue what stage she was at in her research, she was too far ahead of us. The only clue we have so far is one of her projects finished the incubation stage after she was "collected" and we know it is to be used on cancer. Everything it has been tested on is now cancer-free. We are in the process of trying to reverse engineer it now, but it is way beyond anything we have seen, though we will keep trying.
Something's happening, though we are not sure yet. The lab has been placed on total lockdown and we can hear loud explosions outside. Sitting and waiting is all we can do now.
Oh my god... Well there is no god, not anymore. The government iis nuking our own cities, calling them bastions of evil. I hope someday someone survives to see this and has the capacity to know our folly. Better still would be for me to read it later and weep over man's folly. Putting this in a safe to protect it. may the Peace of the Holy Spirit protect us all.
-- journal pages found in remains of a small lab, in what was once known as Berkeley, Califonia, North America, from 261 years ago
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Comments
all too possible a future.
Although I hope it never does. Interestingly, many on the right, even the far right, have nothing but disdain for the radical christian element (If you don't believe me, there are tapes of Bush and Co. discussing them in the most disparaging terms. )
"Treat everyone you meet as though they had a sign on them that said "Fragile, under construction"
dorothycolleen
Quincentennial
Sounds very much like a Robert A. Heinlein novel, Revolt in 2100 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_in_2100
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Never read it
and I have and have read a lot of Heinlein's works. Now I will have to find it and read it...
Thanks for the insight!
Hugs
Diana
Thanks for the link, Stan
...the book is actually a compilation of short stories which look at the future from several perspectives. The short story, Coventry, for example, looks at an extreme example of a secular society where people are 'fixed' through psychotherapy or exiled. If this Goes On looks at revolution against an oppressive theocracy. As Laika pointed out, there are extremes at both ends of the spectrum.
It reminds me of the Dwarfs in The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. After being under the rule of the Calormenes, they have become so cynical that in the final confrontation, they choose to fight against both sides, saying, "the Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs."
We have members of this community that have been harmed by mistreatment and ostracism from 'both sides.' But, we also have representatives from religious perspectives and agnostic and/or atheistic perspectives in this community, as well as clergy and mental health professionals; all of whom have demonstrated a consistent care and regard for their sisters and brothers here. Whereas we have seen that hatred and bigotry owe allegiance to no particular ideology, neither do love and respect and care owe an allegiance as well.
Great story, Dee! Thank you!
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
Chilling
I liked this chilling bit of SF, Given man-unkind's propensity for scapegoating,
it's all too plausible. And there are those who would seek to prevent something
like this from happening by eliminating religion, rounding up all those superstitious idiots
who are keeping us from progressing. I hear athiest nuts talking exactly the same as the religious nuts;
so sure that the problem is all of THEM, and their failure to believe just like WE do. Same shit different bag.
~~hugs, Laika
My own short corollary science fiction nightmare, posted today at FICTIONEER:
http://fictioneer.org/content/war-inclusiveness
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
Frightening --- and all too plausible
It does sound quite a bit like some of Mr. Heinlien's Future History timelines. Which is not a bad thing.
Thanks for a good story,
Kristy
Our-
We've always been our own worst enemy. How many of those who has so very much to offer the whole world has been killed because they are different? The fearful and the small minded are so very often absolutely deadly to anything different or strange. Xenophobia doesn't come close to the reality.
Very scary indeed Dee!
Let's hope we can avoid this future.
Hugs!
Grover
Has Anyone Seen...
the new version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with Keanu Reeves? I don't like it as much as the orignal, but it has an interesting, if simple, meme in it. Reeve's race and allies, federation, whatever, want to wipe out humyns because we are so stubborn, unreasonable, warlike, hateful, etc. (my interpretation, anyway) and we are destroying our planetary biosphere leading to another mass extinction.
This is old hat; obvious to at least some observers. Also, we very well might find ways to save enough of the biosphere, cut down on global heating, that our extinction and at least some of the megafauna and megaflora (large animals and plants) will be postponed. The new (sort of ?) meme, in the movie, is that faced with global disaster, an intelligent species might change it's core nature.
About our core nature; is blind self-interest, (individual or group), intolerance, short sightedness, etc. due to our culture? our economic system? memes from some religions? (like the earth is humyn's to exploit) or is it biological, almost instinctive? Can it be changed?
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Ready for work, 1992.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Good questions,
but I believe it is part of human nature to destroy that which they do not try to understand. Look back through history, it is full of destruction, whether internal or external, that wghich we create, others destroy. I am afraid it will always be with us. I know that I am not immune, that I feel the urge to smash things. I try not to be quick to anger or judgement, but being human, it WILL happen, because it is in our nature. I have not done it in a long time (a little over 2 years)), but it still lurks there, in the back of my mind, waiting. Anger is aas much a human emotion as love and can cause ba things to happen; hurtful things to be said. If any human says they don't, they are lying. And to answer your last querstion: It is biological and part of animal human's response. What we fear, we will either fight or flee. Until we understand ourselves, we will never understand others.
Thank you again for the thought-provioking questions
Hugs
Diana
I really liked this
short and sweet and brilliantly frightening Dee. This could sometime be used as a great lead off to a day after kind of series. Science fiction world setting but with writing snippets like this as archeology evidence.
Bailey Summers
To all the commenters,
Thank you for your kind words amd thoughts! I have found them to be most interesting and great cross-section human nature :P but what it really means to me is that it was not just read, it was understood. I will include those who might not have understood it all, because the effort was made to understand, and understanding starts with questions and civil discourse. Thank you again for reading and the wonderful insights. I learned a lot today.
Hugs
Diana
Immune system/genetics/intersex link
It is confusing to me, and I do not know much about it. Apparently only those whose condition is glaring get studied. Curiously the Intersexed, often have an immune disorder, and those with CAIS/PAIS also have immune disorders. Is it all linked together in a way that I do not understand?
I remember when I was a child in the early 50's they were just discovering that there were Chromosomes and Genes. Later as I aged, they were talking about these things having a curious spiral structure. Soon it was thought that boys were XY people and girls were XX people. Somehow it was thought that girls were inferior. Yet, girls have around 2000 X Genes in two sets, and boys mostly have 2000 X Genes and just 46 Y genes and in about a million years the Y gene will completely disappear.
Your story is chilling and is it a look at the future? Well, it has happened before. Look at the violence surrounding the Reformation, the Inquisition, and what ever happened surrounding the Death of Hypatia. Your story could be a startling look into our own future.
Much peace
Khadijah
Funny you should mention that
I have CVID or Common variable immune deficiency (also known as hypogammaglobulinanemia), for which I take a weekly infusion of subcutaneous gammaglobulin. I also have no adams apple, very little body hair, long skinny fingers (wedding ring is a size 7), etc. Also have T levels in the 1300-1400 range (about 5 years ago, not sure of current levels), while my brother is being treated for low levels, go figure. But, yeah, no immune system sucks...
Thanks for the comments, including the regression of societies. Makes for interesting research.
Hugs
Diana
I just posted this ...
... Vaingirls comics cover at TGcaps.
http://tgcaps.com/caps/modcovers/jezzi/Vaingirls/Vaingirls%2...
Check it out and read my commentary. It all ties in with this story.
Reality is matching fiction. The religious and racist right is rewriting school history texts in Texas. Its 1984, just 27 years tardy and with terrorists with nukes and bio-weapons thrown in. God doesn't have to do the plagues in Revelation; for the first time in history, we are fully capable of doing them to ourselves. All in the name of a God of love, of course. Satan must be ROFLOL.
BE a lady!
Sometimes I just understand
In a certain media, there was a moment, when a single person said to another, while holding the other at gunpoint: "You shouldn't have ever lived!"
And the answer he got was: "What right you have to deny me existence? You have none."
Since it's not the type of media considered generally serious, I'll pass on naming it. But the essentiality of this situation still stands - what right does one have to deny another existence? They have none.
Laika is right when speaking about same shit in different bags.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Scary
But not as scary as reading A Handmaid's Tale while Pat Robertson was running for president.
A bit far in the future to be as frightening as Handmaid was. . .
Whenever I can I subject would-be theocrats to a questioning, and the sort of questions that would leave an honest person questioning his former certainty.
Unfortunately, a lot of would-be theocrats are not honest, being interested in the exercise of power, not of Truth.
Lord Acton was close: The exercise of power corrupts, and unrestrained power corrupts beyond measure.