Friday, March 11, 2011

No stars? What would we believe?

So, to follow up on my first blog, if we look to the heavens to create our belief system, what would happen if we could not see the stars?
Imagine living on a planet that is always cloaked in a light cloud cover, not enough to block out the rays of the local sun, but enough that you could never really make out the distant stars.
Now imagine a planet that has two suns, each providing light during different parts of the day so that it was never dark, perhaps dim sometimes, but not inky black like we get on planet Earth.
What would we believe. First, I think, there would be a lot less fear, there would be a lot less suspicion because people could not hide in the dark to do evil deeds. Second, I think our belief system would develop entirely differently.
We probably would look for answers from other things that seemed mysterious. Perhaps that would be the oceans where we can see the surface but not under the surface. Perhaps it would be the earth, from which things grow and where we find precious gems and metals. Perhaps it would be from the clouds if they were prevalent enough and dynamic. Maybe it would be the weather if it spawned thunderstorms, tornadoes or blinding snowstorms.
So how would you build a religion from an entirely different perspective? Where do you start? Would you end up with a supreme being, or have a number of them? Would the mores of societies based on your new religion have the same mores that people on the Earth have developed such as the Golden Rule?
When we start to think of contact with species from another planet, we have to consider such possibilities. We have to prepare ourselves to consider concepts that have been developed from a completely alien environment.
Perhaps the concept of right and wrong, is wrong. What would that do to the morals of the individual? What would be their moral compass? Is goodness, and its counterpart, evil, universal, or is it set by our primary religious beliefs? Perhaps there is no right or wrong, there just IS. That would have to affect how we judge people. It would probably affect where we place blame, where we take credit, for things that impact individuals and societies.
The trouble with trying to develop such a religion and the society it might generate is that we have a hard time imagining the unimaginable. That is why I have so much respect for science fiction writers who can successfully create alien environments, such as Frank Herbert in the "Dune" series or Orson Scott Card in "Speaker for the Dead."
As I develop a sequel to "Foresaken," I have to look at who is calling for my hero and where they are calling from. Developing that story will be the most interesting and challenging writing I have tried.
It should be fun.

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