Holy smokes Lancelot. I would love to sit down with you like for 2 days and discuss religion! I'm a retired minister with a background in interfaith,3 Masters and a love of fantasy, sci-fi and history. And I love what you wrote!
I got held up by your description of A Canticle For Liebowitz as Miller "lovingly" depicting religion.
The entire novel is a complete INDICTMENT of religion, demonstrating that it does not work, its precepts and practices TWICE leading to the "Flame Deluge", a textual example of the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
Appreciate that comment, Steve! Which religion does Walter Miller indict? All?
Walter Michael Miller Jr. was a Catholic convert _after_ World War II. I'm confident the author had a different intent than what you're implying here:
So respectfully, I disagree. It's the only apocalypse novel in which someone argues that not some morsel, but the entirety of civilization is preserved. Even the very structure of the three-section fiats shows that: Fiat Homo, Fiat Lux, Fiat Voluntas Tua — let there be man, let there be light, let thy will be done. First comes man, then comes the illumination of man, then his illumination runs wild and creates suffering and only the suffering servants (that particular section's Fiat, unlike the first two, is a quote from Jesus begging the cup be taken from him, but willing to suffer for humanity) will carry civilization forward. Civilization that will help mankind rise from the ashes again and be illuminated once more before they, ultimately, seek their own destruction. Only those willing to suffer at the hands of humanity, for the good (not my personal ideal of the "greater" good, merely virtue) of humanity will preserve the best in humanity.
If it's an indictment of anything, it's an indictment of the Fiat Homo: that man and his civilization exists at all is the evil, if the cycle is evil.
That's not a religion thing, that's a human thing. I'm quite confident the extremely mechanistic, anti-religious World War II that gave Miller PTSD was sufficient evidence for him to _lead_ to his Catholic conversion.
And thus the novel that followed.
I'm not Catholic, but that's my best read considering the culture and historical context both of internal logic of the book and of Miller's own lived experience.
Holy smokes Lancelot. I would love to sit down with you like for 2 days and discuss religion! I'm a retired minister with a background in interfaith,3 Masters and a love of fantasy, sci-fi and history. And I love what you wrote!
Sounds like a good time. Where are you based?
Syracuse NY - 68 years old disabled person
I got held up by your description of A Canticle For Liebowitz as Miller "lovingly" depicting religion.
The entire novel is a complete INDICTMENT of religion, demonstrating that it does not work, its precepts and practices TWICE leading to the "Flame Deluge", a textual example of the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
Appreciate that comment, Steve! Which religion does Walter Miller indict? All?
Walter Michael Miller Jr. was a Catholic convert _after_ World War II. I'm confident the author had a different intent than what you're implying here:
So respectfully, I disagree. It's the only apocalypse novel in which someone argues that not some morsel, but the entirety of civilization is preserved. Even the very structure of the three-section fiats shows that: Fiat Homo, Fiat Lux, Fiat Voluntas Tua — let there be man, let there be light, let thy will be done. First comes man, then comes the illumination of man, then his illumination runs wild and creates suffering and only the suffering servants (that particular section's Fiat, unlike the first two, is a quote from Jesus begging the cup be taken from him, but willing to suffer for humanity) will carry civilization forward. Civilization that will help mankind rise from the ashes again and be illuminated once more before they, ultimately, seek their own destruction. Only those willing to suffer at the hands of humanity, for the good (not my personal ideal of the "greater" good, merely virtue) of humanity will preserve the best in humanity.
If it's an indictment of anything, it's an indictment of the Fiat Homo: that man and his civilization exists at all is the evil, if the cycle is evil.
That's not a religion thing, that's a human thing. I'm quite confident the extremely mechanistic, anti-religious World War II that gave Miller PTSD was sufficient evidence for him to _lead_ to his Catholic conversion.
And thus the novel that followed.
I'm not Catholic, but that's my best read considering the culture and historical context both of internal logic of the book and of Miller's own lived experience.