Fantasy v. science fiction

Many religions are fantasy. This is not to say they are not true or that I'm out to deny the existence of God (you should know me better than that). Rather many religions focus on events in the past. They explain how, as in Babylon, the world was created, how the gods came to be, how things went wrong to bring us to the current state. We are asked to remember the religion's significant events and emulate them or at least the teachings of those events.

But at the same time Babylonians were looking into the past, the Israelites were looking into the future. Sure they had creation stories (two of them). But the Hebrew bible doesn't focus on God, it focuses on people and their encounters with God. Perhaps it can be called science fiction, looking at how things could or should be.

I wish the author of the posting I'm referencing has chosen a better word other than fantasy. I understand, however, the word was chosen because in bookstores fantasy shares shelf space with science fiction.

It appears today's conservatives are similarly locked into the past, focusing on American creation myths and a simpler, more golden time. Their efforts are all about recreating that sacred time when behavior was defined by Leave it to Beaver and Stagecoach, a time when women and non-whites knew their place.

And progressives are like science fiction, looking for a time that has fewer flaws than our past -- an end to war, end to poverty and hunger, your parent's circumstances don't determine your own life. Perhaps that is why I like to read science fiction.

Which might explain why the life of a progressive is harder than that of a conservative. The conservative merely has to defend the status quo, which is easy through relying on inertia and the fear of change. That doesn't mean they never change. They can be very creative in rewriting the creation myths to suit their purposes (the subset of Christianity that insists America is a Christian nation didn't exist when America was founded).

In contrast the progressive must persuade others to venture into new territory and be the ones to say, "You're doing it wrong." Progressives can also end up with a low batting average (looking bad) and hang onto a vision of the future long after it is no longer realistic.

But progressives must persevere, keeping the goal in mind while knowing the path is difficult. The better world is in the future, not the past.