{"id":250324,"date":"2021-08-02T14:33:38","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T19:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=250324"},"modified":"2021-07-30T22:25:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-31T03:25:31","slug":"art-possible-science-fiction-pro-life-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/art-possible-science-fiction-pro-life-message\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The art of the possible’: How science fiction captures the pro-life message"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

“The Martian Chronicles” author Ray Bradbury once said, “I define science fiction as the art of the possible.\u201d And sometimes, science fiction provides us with a picture of possibilities in the form of pro-life themes found in unexpected places.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlikely sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pre-Persons\u201d is a little-known science fiction short story published in 1974 in the wake of the Roe v. Wade<\/em> Supreme Court case that made abortion legal in all 50 states.\u00a0<\/span>The story takes place in a dystopian United States where abortion is legal not just for preborn children, but also for children under the age of 12 who are unable to comprehend algebra. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the plot goes, when one adult male sees a group of children about to be taken to the abortion facility, he insists on being taken with the children, claiming he has forgotten how to do algebra. Naturally, this creates quite a stir when he arrives, forcing the administrator and the staff into a quandary as the man insists that he, too, meets the qualifications to be aborted. Soon, the administration decides to let the man and the children go, in an acknowledgement of the humanity of the entire group.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pro-life themes are quite prevalent throughout the story, showing the humanity of all the characters involved with the plot. Anyone who reads a copy is likely to think that a pro-life advocate penned it \u2014\u00a0but they would be wrong.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Philip K. Dick was the writer for many groundbreaking science-fiction stories. His novella, \u201cDo Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep,\u201d would go on to become the basis for the hit film “Blade Runner” and its sequel “Blade Runner 2049.” Likewise, his writings such as “Total Recall,” “The Minority Report,” and “The Adjustment Bureau” have all gone on to become major motion pictures.\u00a0<\/span>Dick helped to define cyberpunk and is considered one of the best sci-fi writers in the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Philip K. Dick (Screenshot: YouTube)<\/p><\/div>\n

What readers might not know is that he also is the author of \u201cThe Pre-Persons,\u201d which first appeared in the pages of “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” and would go on to be reprinted in anthologies of Dick\u2019s works. However, as his stories gained more notoriety, \u201cThe Pre-Persons\u201d slowly vanished from the collections with the last major U.S. reprint<\/a> being in 2014.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is no secret that pop culture is plagued with pro-abortion content. From dystopian tales like \u2018The Handmaid\u2019s Tale\u2019 to comedies like \u2018Shrill,\u2019 the pendulum tends to swing away from the pro-life message. However, “The Pre-Persons” is no outlier. I would make the case that science fiction, even accidentally, is predisposed to being pro-life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Exploring the possibilities of life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Science fiction is all about the unknown. Even subgenres like steampunk, time-travel, and cyberpunk explore the unknown world to find new adventures. They show the potential and the possibilities that humanity has in making new discoveries. The pro-life message is all about giving preborn children the chance to live \u2014 the result being to find their own life adventures, so to speak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the episode \u201cEvolution\u201d in season three of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher accidentally creates a form of sentient microscopic robots after they are exposed to the Enterprise\u2019s computer core. At first, a guest on the starship insists they be destroyed, likening them to \u201cinsects,\u201d but the crew decides to defend the new life forms and eventually allows them to speak through the android crew member, Data. Their request is simple: \u201clet us live.\u201d In the end, the Enterprise crew leaves the robotic beings on an uninhabited planet that they can make their own.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Star Trek: The Next Generation “Evolution” (Screenshot: YouTube)<\/p><\/div>\n

It is unknown whether Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry or any of his successors writing Star Trek episodes were at all pro-life. That being said, the analogy is clearly there.\u00a0<\/span>The microscopic robots have no voice to speak for themselves, one person insists they be \u201caborted,\u201d but the crew gives them a chance at life \u2014 and they flourish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another example of a pro-life ethic displayed in sci-fi is the Netflix thriller “I Am Mother,” in which a robot raises a young girl to eventually take her place and restore humanity after it was wiped out in a catastrophic event. The girl soon realizes that the robot has other sinister motives, but it is the undertones that are important. When we see tubes of preborn human beings gathered in the robot\u2019s lair, it is made clear that these children are alive and that they will eventually become a new population for Earth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While, again, there is no evidence that the filmmakers are closeted pro-life advocates, it is hard to miss such a clear message that these children are not mere \u201cclumps of cells,\u201d \u2014 they\u00a0are humanity\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Netflix’s “I Am Mother” (Screenshot: YouTube)<\/p><\/div>\n

This perspective on the pro-life themes found in science fiction is, of course, up for debate. Yet, the reasoning is there. When we approach science fiction, we see new galaxies, advanced technology, intrepid explorers, and brave men and women pushing past their limits into futuristic adventures. You cannot see a galaxy, build equipment, or map new worlds without first recognizing that life, from its beginning moments, is the greatest adventure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A child in the womb is a human being who is simply growing and being prepared for all of the adventures and possibilities to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The Martian Chronicles” author Ray Bradbury once said, “I define science fiction as the art of the possible.\u201d And sometimes, science fiction provides us with a picture of possibilities in the form of pro-life themes found in unexpected places. Unlikely sources \u201cThe Pre-Persons\u201d is a little-known science fiction short story published in 1974 in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":830,"featured_media":250351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[11564,11567,7910,11563,11568,11562,10637,11566,11565],"yoast_head":"\n'The art of the possible': How science fiction captures the pro-life message<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You cannot see a galaxy, build equipment, or map new worlds without first recognizing that life, from its beginning moments, is the greatest adventure.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/art-possible-science-fiction-pro-life-message\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'The art of the possible': How science fiction captures the pro-life message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You cannot see a galaxy, build equipment, or map new worlds without first recognizing that life, from its beginning moments, is the greatest adventure.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/art-possible-science-fiction-pro-life-message\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-02T19:33:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-31T03:25:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/I-am-Mother-Netflix-Screenshot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jacob Airey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jacob Airey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/art-possible-science-fiction-pro-life-message\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/art-possible-science-fiction-pro-life-message\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jacob Airey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b1e877a34c501dc10e064a4e630af614\"},\"headline\":\"‘The art of the possible’: How science fiction captures the pro-life message\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-02T19:33:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-31T03:25:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/art-possible-science-fiction-pro-life-message\/\"},\"wordCount\":942,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Blade Runner\",\"I Am Mother\",\"Netflix\",\"Philip K. 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