Once again I'm honored to have the ability to attend and also speak at CapClave 2011 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
It appears that an error was made, and that I will be only speaking on one panel instead of two, that being a discussion on Is There Room in an SF Universe for God? James Morrow, will be on the panel, the author of Towing Jehovah and other novels that mirror Mr. Morrow's belief that religion is mostly ludicrous. Actually, I read Towing Jehovah some years ago and found it to be witty, well-written, and simply just a very good story.
I'm positive, with that we will have a very interesting discussion. There are two other people on the panel and I regret that I do not know who they are. From scuttlebutt I've heard the one panelist is a general theist, the moderator I'm not quite sure whre he stands.
Currently, I am constructing a handout that will sum up my answer to the panel's question as, "It all depends on the worldview of the reader." I will then have a list of authors who put God in the "science" part of science fiction and those authors who delegate God to the "fiction" part of science fiction.
I genuinely hope that we do not get into a discussion along the lines of Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, because we are talking about fiction, and not metaphysical reality (yes, I know the atheists, agnostics and skeptics that read my blog are now screening that the term "metaphysical reality" is an oxymoron :-). However, that depends on the moderator and how much he wants to stay on topic.
By the by, everyone who comes to the panel will receive a coupon to download for free my seminal work, Coventry House, which in my humble opinion is an excellent example of science fiction that takes place in a Christian worldview without resorting to a bully pulpit or any type of emotional or intellectual manipulation.
I will give a full report next week when I return. Wish me well.