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53. How Can Christian Fans React When Fantasy Creators Get Cancelled? Part 1
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Mar 2, 2021

My Novel ‘The Mermaid’s Sister’ Arose from True Depths of Mourning
Articles | Carrie Anne Noble on Mar 1, 2021

The Icarus Aftermath
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 26, 2021

My Screenwriter Mom Introduced Me to Fantastic Sci-Fi in the 1960s
Articles | Jason William Karpf on Feb 25, 2021

52. Do Christians Really Need Science Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 3
Podcast | Lorehaven on Feb 23, 2021

Join Our March 11 Livestream Exploring Christian Reactions to Fandom Cancel Culture
News | Lorehaven on Feb 22, 2021

The Hourglass and the Darkness
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 19, 2021

Venus is More Than Just a Love Goddess
Articles | Shannon Stewart on Feb 18, 2021

Introducing Fantasy Enthusiast and New Lorehaven Writer Shannon Stewart
News | Lorehaven on Feb 17, 2021

Stories with Bad Ideas Can Still Help Us Grow
Articles | L.G. McCary on Feb 15, 2021

Gretchen and the Bear
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 12, 2021

The Mandalorian is a Religious Fundamentalist, and Here’s Why That’s Awesome
Articles | Josiah DeGraaf on Feb 11, 2021

Introducing Fantasy Creator and New Lorehaven Writer Josiah DeGraaf
News | Lorehaven on Feb 10, 2021

51. Do Christians Really Need Fantasy? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 2
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Feb 9, 2021

The Death and Rebirth of Magic in Children’s Fantasy
Articles | R. J. Anderson on Feb 8, 2021

Torch
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 5, 2021

Fictional Magic Systems Can Go Beyond Rules and Reveal Deeper Characters
Articles | Elijah David on Feb 4, 2021

How God Uses Story Villains for Our Good
Articles | Zackary Russell on Feb 3, 2021

Introducing Sci-Fi Creator and New Lorehaven Writer Zackary Russell
News | Lorehaven on Feb 2, 2021

50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 1
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Feb 2, 2021

Frank E. Peretti to Give Keynote Address at Realm Makers Writers Conference This July
News | E. Stephen Burnett on Feb 1, 2021

Fugue for the Sacred Songbook: In Eb Minor
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Jan 29, 2021

How A Year Without Superhero Films Rebooted Our Universe
Articles | Jason Joyner on Jan 28, 2021

New Book ‘Reading Evangelicals’ Will Focus on Famous Christian Fiction
News | E. Stephen Burnett on Jan 27, 2021

Introducing Superhero Novelist and New Lorehaven Writer Jason C. Joyner
News | Lorehaven on Jan 27, 2021

49. How Can We ‘Terraform’ the Church to Enjoy Fantastic Fiction?
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Jan 26, 2021

Militant Secularism Could Force Christians to Create New Subcultures
Articles | Mike Duran on Jan 25, 2021

Flight of the Raven
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Jan 22, 2021

‘One Piece’ Manga Reaches Chapter 1000: How Did This Pirate Become King?
Articles | L. Jagi Lamplighter on Jan 20, 2021

48. What Were the Top Seven Issues for Lorehaven Readers in 2020?
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Jan 19, 2021

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The Mermaid's Sister, Carrie Anne Noble
Etania's Worth, M. H. Elrich
Cinderella Spell, Laurie Lee
When Desperate Measures Are All You Have Left, J. C. Morrows
Fractures, James C. Joyner
Torch, R. J. Anderson
The Terran Summit, Anna Zogg
The Xerxes Factor, Anna Zogg
The Paradise Protocol, Anna Zogg
The Awakened, Richard Spillman
The Ascension, Richard Spillman
Love's Sacrifice, Kelsey Norman
Unbroken Spirit, Kelsey Norman
Seed: Judgment, Joshua David
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The Icarus Aftermath
“Arielle M. Bailey’s The Icarus Aftermath spins a golden yarn of vivid characters and gripping emotion, set in a world ripe for exploration.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 26, 2021

The Hourglass and the Darkness
“Kyle L. Elliott’s novel The Hourglass and the Darkness posits a world before the great Flood, starting a promising series.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 19, 2021

Gretchen and the Bear
“Carrie Anne Noble’s delightful fantasy/sci-fi mashup Gretchen and the Bear defies every expectation.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 12, 2021

Torch
“Torch blazes a solid conclusion to the series’ themes of just leadership and racial reconciliation among fairy folk.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 5, 2021

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53. How Can Christian Fans React When Fantasy Creators Get Cancelled? Part 1
Fantastical Truth, Mar 2, 2021

52. Do Christians Really Need Science Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 3
Fantastical Truth, Feb 23, 2021

51. Do Christians Really Need Fantasy? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 2
Fantastical Truth, Feb 9, 2021

50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 1
Fantastical Truth, Feb 2, 2021

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The Fantastical Elements of Romantic Fiction, part 2
Parker J. Cole, Mar 4

Settling the Solar System in Science Fiction, part 3: the Moon
Travis Perry, Feb 24

The Fantastical Elements of Romantic Fiction, part 1
Parker J. Cole, Feb 17

Settling the Solar System in Science Fiction, part 2: Venus
Travis Perry, Feb 11

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Do the Mad Scientists Quoted in ‘Love Thy Body’ Watch Any Sci-Fi Films?

“Personhood theory” is the great lie behind many of today’s real-world, would-be mad scientists.
E. Stephen Burnett on Mar 27, 2019 | 4 comments

My wife and I are reading Nancy Pearcey’s Love Thy Body.

In this nonfiction work, Pearcey explores the notion of “personhood theory.” This oft-hidden belief divides mind/”person” from material/body. It’s a blatantly Gnostic religious view. And as Love Thy Body explores, it’s the theory is behind many of today’s social ills, such as abortion, transgenderism, euthanasia, and the entire sexual revolution with its worship of self-identity.

Also, as Pearcey shares in chapter 3, the theory is behind much real-world mad science.

Note that the term “mad science” is mine, not Pearcey’s. But I use it because so many of Pearcey’s quotes bring many dystopian and supervillain stories directly to mind. If these activists had advanced tech and a secret lab, they would—if they acted on what they claim—literally become mad scientists.

For example:

One of the most prominent advocates of transhumanism is geneticist Lee Silver of Princeton University. In Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World, Silver spins out a scenario in which humanity will bifurcate into two separate races—genetic übermenschen (super-persons) who rule over untermenschen (sub-persons). The first group will become the controllers of society. The second group will become the low-paid laborers and service-providers.1

As Pearcey herself can’t help remarking, “This prediction calls to mind the plotline of countless dystopian novels and movies.”

Another:

. . . There are transhumanists who hope to transcend the body altogether. Ray Kurzweil, Google’s director of engineering, hopes that advances in artificial intelligence will enable us to download our brain to a computer, making possible a kind of digital immortality.

This last quote is the most overtly chill-arious:

Futurist James Hughes advocates what he calls “uplifting” chimpanzees genetically to give them human intellectual capacities . . .

What are they thinking?

Are these folks at least somewhat self-aware? Have these advocates watched any sci-fi movies at all?

What would happen if someone came to these transhumanist activists to say, “Um, you do realize you are literally proposing the very same mad science that led to the terrible events in these speculative stories?”

I imagine the transhumanist activist would reply with something like, “Oh, come now. Those are only fairy tales. I’m about the real world.”

Which is, of course, exactly would a mad scientist would say.

  1. All quotes from Nancy Pearcey, Love Thy Body (2018), pages 98–99. ↩
E. Stephen Burnett

E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy as well as nonfiction, such as The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ (coauthored with Ted Turnau and Jared Moore, from New Growth Press). Stephen explores biblical truth and fantastic stories as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. He and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, help with foster parenting, and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.

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  1. L.G. McCary says:
    March 27, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    You have got to be kidding me. I recall a headline about scientists possibly cloning extinct species and all the Jurassic Park memes that followed saying, “We have two books and five movies about why this exact thing is a bad idea!” Actually, I notice a lot of headlines lately where I want to hand the scientist behind it a Michael Crichton novel. Someone make him required reading for science grad students, stat!

    Reply
    • Brett Armstrong says:
      March 29, 2019 at 11:43 am

      I saw those articles. Apparently, in no small irony, it is one of the scientists consulted for the Jurassic Park films leading the charge…

      Reply
  2. Autumn Grayson says:
    March 27, 2019 at 8:05 pm

    I’ve probably been more worried about how modern/futuristic technology affects privacy, personal autonomy, etc. People want a lot of these developments(like super advanced AI) because of its benefits, like stopping crime, helping paralyzed people, or even simply making better animated movies. And they think that they’ll be just fine because they’ve read all the dystopian novels and are sure that they’ll never work to use their inventions in a nightmarish way. And they probably won’t, but society will grow and develop in a way that uses the technology in a bad manner.

    Not saying that people should stop developing technology altogether, but inventors, scientists, etc. should think more about the impact they will have. Also, consumers need to be speaking out more and voting with their dollar. It’s not an easy thing to do, but at the very least we need to think more about what permissions we give to certain websites. Even our operating systems are starting to gather more and more data. Even if you tell Windows 10 that you don’t want to use Cortana or install updates, it’ll probably keep nagging you(depending on what version of Windows 10 you have).

    Reply
  3. Tony Breeden says:
    March 28, 2019 at 8:01 am

    The very reason we keep having to write such stories as cautionary tales is because would-be mad scientists seem to need fresh reminders of the lessons in those tales. Maybe its a sort of tunnel vision that kicks on once the scientist is in the midst of research and discovery. Or maybe they just suppose they’ll not make the *same* mistakes.

    Reply

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