Human Horizons

Image: Mamietitine

The following expands on some thoughts I initially presented in Faith and the Final Frontier and Secrets of the Ancients. First, a little bit of background.

Some years ago (I believe I was about fifteen years old at the time), my family spent the night at a minister's house during a trip out of state. Following an evening meal, we spent the rest of the night until bedtime in extended conversation with our host and several other guests. Though I had made a beginning in my faith and was awaiting baptism, I was still a teenager in a room full of vastly older adults, so I listened as best I could while contributing little to the conversations around me.

As is sometimes wont to occur in such atmospheres, the topics drifted toward current events as well as recent historical ones. I still don't remember exactly how this particular subject came up, but at one point our host mentioned the first moon landing - and then went on to relate how his grandmother could never believe that God allowed men to go to the moon. He further stated that he never tried to convince her otherwise - to this day he himself will only state "they say we've been to the moon."

Image: All-that-is-interesting.com

Almost anyone with a remotely similar interest to my own in both fictional and real-life human space travel can imagine what I felt inside at hearing that statement. But I kept those feelings to myself (and even tried to forget them). I was, again, a teenager in a room full of adults (none of whom were invested enough in this topic to back me up had I said anything) and was still finding my way after the great Change that had occurred in my life. In many ways, I was still unsure in many ways as to what exactly I believed - or rather, should have believed - when it came to applying Biblical precepts to my life and thought. For all I knew at the time, this minister's opinion was more scripturally-based than my own.

Several years after that, I recall listening to a sermon by another minister during yet another trip. His topic concerned what he regarded as the "signs of the times" pointing to the immanent return of Christ. He spoke on this for some time. Then he concluded with this opinion: if Christ chooses to delay His Coming for any significant length of time "He will annihilate all our technology."

Image:fee.org

These are extreme and isolated examples. The opinions of these two individuals hardly represent those of most Christians (including, I would add, those within their own denomination). But they do speak to a certain unconscious mindset among many sincere believers. That is, an instinctive view that God's plan for mankind involves constricted horizons. Technological aspirations (and sometimes, human creativity itself) are often seen as something inherently prideful and idolatrous, corrupting the mind from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Technology in Genesis

This trend of thinking has a long tradition, even dating back to early Christianity. The apocryphal book of Enoch, praised by Church Fathers such as Tertullian but ultimately excluded from biblical canon on grounds of authenticity, features the demon Azazel teaching pre-Flood Man the "forbidden" arts of mining and weapon-making (see The Book of Enoch, Chapter VIII). The first-century Jewish historian Josephus (not a Christian himself, of course, but whose works have been highly influential within Christianity) censures Cain as the inventor of weights and measures ("whereas [men] lived innocently and generously while they knew nothing of such arts, he changed the world into cunning craftiness") as well as for being the first city builder. Significantly, Josephus contradicts himself in the same chapter by praising the first generations after Noah for "the good use they made of [their lives] in astronomical and geometrical discoveries" (see Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter 3). Does not geometry necessarily involve the use of "weights and measures?"

Some other Christian thinkers (both contemporary and historical) have made much of the fact that the Genesis account mentions Cain's (presumably sinful) descendants as the innovators and inventors of the pre-Flood world. The (righteous) descendants of Seth, by contrast, are never mentioned to be responsible for any such achievements. The implication is that a focus on technological development implies a lack of focus on spirituality - this was the opinion of one Christian author that I had a chance to exchange personal emails with. For those interested, his book on ancient technological achievements is available here.

I would point out, however, that the description of Seth's line in Genesis has an explicitly genealogical focus that is lacking for Cain's. It's purpose is to provide contemporary readers (those for whom Moses first composed it) with a clear picture of how God's revelation was handed down to Adam and preserved over the generations until their own day. Those mentioned by name in the Sethite line likely occupied a "priestly" role more significant than whatever secular activities they would have been known for. Incidentally, some clues in this regard can be derived from the very meaning of their names: "Cainan", for example, means "craftsman", and "Methusaleh" can be translated to mean "man of the flying dart" (see Rene Noorbergen's Secrets of the Lost Races). And, of course, at least one especially well-known Sethite was directed by God to become a Shipbuilder (Genesis 6).

The fact is, the Genesis account, taken on its own, assigns no moral judgment one way or another to the inventions of Cain's descendants. Extra-biblical traditions and texts are the only source of moral analysis on this topic. While useful to the student of biblical history, they must always be taken with a grain of salt in comparison to the canon of Scripture. In fact, Jubal, inventor of the harp and lyre, held a place of honor in the ancient Israelite religion. The word "Jubilee" is actually derived from his name (see link here). I also hardly need mention the use these inventions were put to by the righteous Hebrew kings such as David.

The Tower of Babel

Many others, however, point to the Confusion of Tongues at Babel as proof that God takes a fundamentally dim view of human advancement. The supposed "proof" of this is the reason given for why building of the Tower had to be stopped: "nothing will be restrained from them which they shall imagine to do." (Genesis 11:6)

But is that really a blanket statement applying to all forms of human progress? An interpretative lens I've found useful comes from Donald E. Chittick's The Puzzle of Ancient Man: 

"By having a bent toward evil and assisted technologically, man in rebellion against his Creator can turn his habitat into a living Hell. I was born before World War II and remember how technology was used to torture and murder and mutilate human beings. The Nazis in Germany performed horrible 'scientific' experiments on people. Philosophical justification for these atrocities came from their naturalistic, atheistic view of origins." (p. 150)

Considered from this perspective, the Confusion of Tongues was as much an act of mercy as of punishment. Most traditions (largely derived from Josephus) tell us that the building of the Tower was an effort to establish a unified world government in direct defiance of God's command to send out independent colonies to resettle the earth. Such a regime - dominated by a false religious (or "scientific") philosophy - may indeed have achieved great technological feats, but its "accomplishments" would likely have included mass surveillance, centralized social and economic planning, eugenics, organized mass murder and (perhaps) mind control. In short, it would have permanently extinguished human freedom (thereby destroying, incidentally, the basis for any continued scientific progress).

Image: The Liberty Conservative
A world where the Tower stood?

The fact is, competing, individual nations - with all their trade-offs - ensure an "exit option" when conditions in one nation (or group of nations) becoming unendurable. By extension, if you believe in the ideals of democratic self-governance, you almost by definition have to believe in individual nations as a matter of principle. These are, after all, the concrete structures that come into existence when people end existing political ties in order to erect others more suited to their needs. In a long-term sense, we could even say the dispersal from Babel actually galvanized human development by bringing these imperfect but necessary entities into being. 

Progress vs. Decadence

With all this being said, there are still many seemingly cogent arguments within church circles about the supposed link between "technology" and moral decline. There is merit in all of them. But they miss an important element of the big picture. Almost all of the social ills we associate with technology today don't come from its advancement but rather the illusion of advancement. The innovation we've seen over the past forty years has been exclusively in computing (the mostly entertainment-oriented "time-wasting" areas that receive so much censure in religious circles). Progress has been virtually stagnant in the aviation field and most engineering fields (chemical, nuclear, mechanical, electrical, etc) (see the following article here). Many of today's generation are retreating into cyberspace due to modern culture's overwhelming focus on "safety" and the growth of a bloated regulatory state to enforce this unattainable ideal. They simply do not have the opportunity to experience the "real world" in the way their recent ancestors did or pursue the same entrepreneurial channels. The result is a widespread feeling of "unreality" that pervades Western societies (which meet virtually all their citizens' physical needs while neglecting higher ones). It doesn't take much imagination to grasp that a life spent entirely in the "protected zone" can quickly become unbearable - with purely escapist fantasies being the most immediate coping mechanism. The fact that online virtual worlds such as Second Life are now so popular should be grounds for a massive societal wake-up call: they are the only place left where many people can experience the sense of accomplishment and adventure denied to them in the real world.

Image: rgznworld

We can expect these social trends to only continue and accelerate as the world becomes ever more inter-connected and bureaucratically regimented. And the avenues for continued human freedom will steadily vanish. Considerations like these, are - perhaps more than anything else - part of the basis for my own support for human space colonization. If - God forbid - the trends around us culminated in a single world-wide government, it would be a virtual imperative. There has to be some means of establishing new nations and the "exit option" they present to anyone suffering under a tyrannical regime - or wasting away under a more insidious despotism that provides complete satisfaction of all sensual desires but no avenues for one's God-given talents. Any place on Earth, no matter how remote (the oceans, Antarctica, etc), simply would not be enough. As Robert Zubrin points out in The Case for Mars:

"... at this point in history such terrestrial developments cannot meet an essential requirement for a frontier - to wit, they are insufficiently remote to allow for the free development of a new society. In this day and age, with modern terrestrial communication and transportation systems, no matter how remote or hostile the spot on Earth, the cops are too close. If people are to have the dignity that comes with making their own world, they must be free of the old." (p. 325)

The Final Lesson of the Tower

Many Christians, even those who become writers in the speculative genre, automatically focus on the negative side of technological discoveries. Both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, for example, suffused their writings with an underlying critique of industrialism and the modern age. As a writer myself, I am no stranger to this - most of my planned works have the abuse of certain technologies as an essential plot element. But we will be doing a great disservice to ourselves - and the gifts God has given us as human beings - should we ever carry this to the point of a generalized retreat from knowledge and creation. We should continue to remember Babel as a symbol - not just of warning, but of the life of freedom, exploration and discovery the Creator intended for us as beings in His image. It is, in fact,  the exact opposite of what the Tower's builders would have imposed upon the human race. 

Image: 10 spice

I invite you all to join me next week as we continue our journey through the Dark Corners of Heaven and Earth.

Special Announcement!

This is to announce that I have officially started work on my next novel, Talos! The tentative release date at this time is in Fall of 2018. The preliminary info and synopsis is below:

TALOS

From the heart of blood and darkness, a god is born...

Four people meet at the center of a storm. 

Mourning his deceased wife and carrying the scars of life-altering injuries, former Seattle detective Ronan Church has dedicated himself to the pursuit of a killer only he believes exists...

Rebuilding her life in the wake of unspeakable loss, former Vietnamese refugee Mail Li Tran, now established in her career as a 911 dispatcher, is tested to the limits of her skills even as she faces the demons of her past...

Widowed years before and raising a child alone, Sioux Falls, South Dakota police sergeant Michael Emmerich finds a quiet fulfillment in his work. But a bizarre series of murders and threats, steadily escalating to unprecedented levels, shakes his orderly world and brings his city into the grip of fear...

FBI counter-intelligence officer Petra Schiller comes to Sioux Falls on the trail of a major security breach at the U.S. military's DARPA research division. What she finds is a revelation more deadly than anything she could have imagined...

All soon find themselves ensnared in a web of terror and violence, conceived by architects whose ambition is nothing less than the destiny of the human race...

Man will be surpassed.

If this has whetted your appetite, I am currently seeking early reviewers who will receive PDF copies of the manuscript in advance of its official release date. All such advance reading copies are free - I ask only for a detailed review on Amazon! Sign up below to be added to the mailing list today! 

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The ebook version of Harvest of Prey is now available for free for a limited time only from Monday, March 27 until Friday, March 31. Be sure to get your copy and tell family and friends so they can also read and review!

Chrononautics 101: Time Travel in Fiction

Image: Zamanda Yolculuk

Given the perhaps over-serious tone of my last post, I though I'd return to a lighter topic this week. Since I've already gone down one rabbit hole (see my Other Worlds: Fiction and Reality post) why not hop into another? (I can hear everyone groaning at my bad pun this very moment).

So, time travel. Where do we start? Maybe with a brief definition of terms. Technically, we are all engaged in time travel just by existing - you have all traveled into the future since reading this sentence. But this is rarely what we have in mind when using the term "time travel." Rather, it refers to a concept in fiction (and some current scientific theories) whereby the sequential process of time is alternately suspended, accelerated, or reversed - usually from the perspective of a lone observer (or group of observers) carrying the unique status of "time traveler." The functional result is that a person is able to experience events in various periods of time outside of normal sequential order as well as the limits of their own finite lifespan.

Image: La boit everte

Thus defined, we can see that, broadly speaking, there are two main forms of time travel as it appears in fiction. We can label them "forward-directed" and "backward-directed", respectively. The first concerns travel from past to future (at a vastly accelerated rate across great temporal "distances") while the latter concerns its opposite. Both have a long history in speculative fiction. In contemporary times, we usually think of the latter, but, interestingly, early time travel stories usually involved the former (as in H.G. Wells' classic The Time Machine).

Within this basic framework, things get a little more complicated as we move into methods and effects. I'll somewhat suspend judgment on the former given the debatable nature of the science and engineering involved (I invite anyone with an even remotely feasible design for a time machine to step forward and allow me to accompany them to the Patent Office).

So what are the likely effects of time travel? I speak here of the backward-directed variety given that (one-way) forward-directed travel avoids the more problematic questions of cause and effect. Fiction writers (probably the only profession so far to explore this topic at any meaningful length) have largely settled on three main scenarios, each implying a different theory on the nature of time:

Image: Nerdhappy

Fixed Timeline. This assumes that any hypothetical "time traveler" is able to make literally no changes to past events. His journey to the past is simply part of those events. Someone traveling back in time to assassinate Adolf Hitler, for example, will instead facilitate his rise to power. While seemingly the most logical (if paradoxical) scenario, it carries the drawback of largely rendering human free will an illusion.

Image: Cult TV Lounge

Dynamic Timeline. This is basically the exact opposite of the fixed timeline theory. A time traveler's intervention in past events will produce direct, observable changes in his own time period (though he himself is the only one aware anything has changed). Attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler brings the desired result of his death (though almost always with an unforeseen outcome that is worse than the original). Incidentally, this is perhaps the most prevalent theory found in time travel fiction - "threats" to the timeline and how they're dealt with form the basis for the plots involved (as in the "Time Cop" franchise). The main drawback of this theory is that it begs the question of what exactly happens to the original, unaltered timeline. Most authors simply assume it's been "deleted" and provide no further explanation.

Image: Free HD Images

Alternate Timelines. As we've seen, the prior two scenarios almost necessarily do violence to either causality or free will. This theory seems to avoid both by incorporating a version of "many worlds" multiverse theory. A time traveler's intervention in past events, rather than paradoxically facilitating the events of his own time period (fixed timeline) or changing them (dynamic timeline) results in the creation of a parallel universe where outcomes were different than in the original. The main drawback here is the association (implied, but not logically necessary) with "many worlds" theory and its fundamental overtones of meaninglessness, particularly from a Christian viewpoint (our actions in life don't matter because in some other universe some other versions of ourselves will do the opposite).

Image: GoodFon

I should perhaps mention there is also the "Dr. Who" theory of time travel, which incorporates elements of all three scenarios. Some points in time are fixed, some are dynamic, and some (if changed) branch out into alternate timelines. It's interesting in a "chaos theory" sort of way, but makes little logical sense (like much else in that particular television franchise; not a judgment, jut a statement). 

As I hope I've made clear, my purpose is not to assess the actual, scientific possibility of any of these scenarios (I regard time travel in general as slightly less possible than extraterrestrial life). My concern is simply to identify which makes the most sense within a fictional storyline - and which fits the most smoothly with a biblical worldview. I'll point out that none of them are as awkward a fit as they might seem at first. One Christian novelist I've read, Alton Gansky, has pointed out that as the universe further decays from its original perfection, time and space are gradually losing their integrity. Paradoxes and anomalies are possible and could become increasingly prevalent. Would this make time travel (in any of these imagined forms) more of a possibility? We can only wait and see.

Image: Yang Fenzi

But I digress. Which time travel scenario do I specifically favor within Christian fiction? All of the backward-directed ones have their pitfalls. For that reason, I tend to lean toward the one-way, forward-directed variety, whereby information, objects, and (perhaps) individuals would be transmitted/propelled across several years or centuries instantaneously (from their own perspective) with no means of returning to their original time period (thereby avoiding the causality problem completely). Backwards-directed "travel" could take place via a "chronovisor" device allowing people in the present to witness past events rather than participate in or change them. 

It would, however, be quite unfair of me to completely write off backward-directed time travel as a fictional device without any consideration. What follows is yet another elaborate "thought experiment" from what I consider a biblical viewpoint. Again, this is not what I actually believe, but rather a construct for any interested fiction writers.

Image: Praban Japriyan

Out of all three of the scenarios we've covered, the one I personally favor the most would be "alternate timelines" - with the following two qualifications:

• In its "natural" state, physical reality consists of a single universe (our own) rather than an infinite number of parallel universes with an infinite number of outcomes as postulated in "many worlds" theory ("Narnia"-type scenarios I regard as something else entirely - I'm sure most Christian fantasy writers will also grasp the difference). Artificial intervention by time travelers causes a "branching off" of "subsidiary" universes from the "primary" universe. Some people would have "counterparts" in the alternate timelines, will other would never be born in those timelines. Such a "double" would, in fact, be a separate person with their own soul and consciousness - the time travel intervention causes their "birth" at the point of divergence from the primary timeline. Up to that point, they have the exact same memories as the "original" person. To an extent, the process mirrors that by which a child emerges into a separate existence from its parents' bodies - a sort of "flash birth", as it were. 
• Certain points in the timeline are not subject to such alteration. From a biblical standpoint, these would consist of events playing an essential, immutable role in the Grand Plan of Salvation (the Garden of Eden, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, etc).

Observant readers will see that this places virtually all biblical history "off-limits" as it were. That's one of the main reasons I favor forward-directed time travel scenarios over backward-directed. But at the same time, these limitations still leave a potentially rich playing field for scenarios involving post-biblical historical events (it would also mesh well with Gansky's theory on the universe's continuing decay - we could assume that the Old and New Testament eras occurred when the universe's structure still retained a degree of integrity that made artificial time travel impossible).

I believe there's flexibility here even if we consider future biblical prophecy. Ted Dekker presented a rather original perspective on this (along with the nature of free will) in his Circle series: prophecies are foreordained of God and will be fulfilled someday no matter what; but the exact times, events and people who fulfill them can be changed through conscious action and, presumably, the power of prayer. 

With all these being said, if time travel in this manner with these consequences was possible, it would probably not be an ethical enterprise. One consideration that's often overlooked in analyzing past events is that there are people alive today who would have never been born had those events not unfolded the way they did (even atrocities such as the Holocaust). Time travel would, therefore, almost necessarily involve the creation and destruction of human lives as a means to an end in a way similar to human cloning. 

Image: Movie Pilot
What a time traveler would ultimately become? 

This would, however, still provide a fertile ground for fictional plots - perhaps involving a villain seeking to create numerous alternate timelines for their own twisted ends and the protagonists trying to repair what damage they can. God is, after all, capable of bringing good out of man's evil - Pharaoh's evil facilitated Israel's journey into the Promised Land. Similarly, human clones and alternate timelines could be used for God's purposes even though He would not condone the actions that resulted in their creation. 

So there we are. That's my ridiculously complicated, over-analyzed, a priori perspective on time travel (in fiction) from a biblical worldview. Just a little something for other fussy writers like myself who feel irresistibly compelled to pursue every fantastical subject to its logical conclusion in the name of an ever-illusive "plausibility". I neither expect nor enjoin every fiction writer (Christian or otherwise) to adopt this model in their storylines, but I hope it can at least provide some imaginative stimulus.

Image: The Daily Beast

I invite you all to join me again as we continue our journey through the Dark Corners of Heaven and Earth. 

Faces of Evil: Totalitarianism in Fiction

This post grew out of a comment I made on SpeculativeFaith.com back in January. This, as well as the original article I responded to, are available here. The subject regarded the use of Nazism - and fascistic ideologies in general - as a sort of stock villain in popular culture. The archetype of the Hitlerian dictator (and his regimented followers) is in many ways just as prevalent in contemporary speculative fiction (perhaps even more so) as the concept of extraterrestrial life. Imagined antagonists in this mold include the Galactic Empire of the Star Wars franchise, General Zod from the most recent Superman movies, the United Citizen Federation featured in the Starship Troopers movie, and myriad other villains found at various times within every major literary and cinematic series with fictional plots involving a political theme. If anything, the increasing distance of time from the original historical events has only fueled the cultural obsession. Amazon's original TV series The Man in the High Castle is wholly based upon an alternate timeline in which the opposite side emerged victorious in World War II (which seems to be the predominating plot throughout the entire genre of alternate history).

Image: Imgur
Officers of the Galactic Empire

Image: Green Ark Reviews
General Zod and his followers on Krypton

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Sky Marshal Dienes of the United Citizen Federation

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Lady Liberty circa 1962 from The Man in the High Castle

I'll take a moment to state that I have many objections to popular entertainment on moral/spiritual grounds that will be familiar to anyone of a similar religious background. But as a fiction writer in the speculative genre, I have additional criticisms that go beyond blanket rejectionism. The entertainment world today (both written and visual) is not just profane and indecent, but profoundly lacking in both originality and genuine imagination. The plot of any major Hollywood film or television series is virtually always based upon recycled, predictable cliches derived from the same political correct sources. Stories in written form are usually better quality but suffer from a similar lack of intellectual diversity. Speculative authors, writing in what should be the most imaginative genre in existence, do a great disservice to their readers by lazily borrowing tropes from their Hollywood counterparts. While this criticism is primarily directed at secular writers, it also applies to the Christian fiction market - much of the content of which represents an attempt to produce nothing more than "cleaner", "safer" version of familiar mainstream storylines. I can sympathize with this effort and in many ways I support it. But Christian fiction as a genre is going to essentially nowhere if it's always waiting for its secular counterpart to produce original plots and then playing "catch up" by taking these very same plots and sanitizing them.

Image: Leo Peo
How most Americans picture Nazism - it usually doesn't get any more sophisticated than this. 

I've gone off the track a little bit, so I'll return to my original point, which is also my main one: Nazi-inspired villains have been used so many times in so many different venues that the concept has lost all originality and become little more than a cartoonish caricature. Few writers show any interest in seriously examining what Nazi beliefs actually consisted of beyond the familiar platitudes about race, militarism and eugenics. How many people are aware of its deep connection with socialist ideology (links available here and here) or radical environmentalism (link available here)? Or that Adolf Hitler's genocidal hatred of the Jews was based on a paranoid belief that they had created the capitalist system (see 'Nation and Race' chapter in Mein Kampf) - which is the basic story of anti-Semitism (and similar hatreds) throughout history (link available here)?

Polar opposites? Hardly. 

Why do most writers show not the least bit of curiosity when it comes to these details? For secular authors, the answer is fairly obvious. Given that artists and writers since the 20th century have overwhelming subscribed to a so-called 'progressive' political outlook incorporating many of these very same ideas, these kind of facts would directly threaten their pre-conceived worldviews. But many Christian writers show no higher level of interest. The classic Zion Covenant historical fiction series, for example, spends nine volumes telling the story of World War II and the Holocaust without once touching on the socialist aspects of the Nazi regime or its ideas. To be fair, the historical materials they doubtless relied on carry the same blindness (most contemporary historians adhere to the same preconceived ideas as most contemporary artists and writers). You have to dig deeper into the primary sources to find this kind of information. But in many ways, just that kind of digging should be implied in the craft of writing.

Victims of the Khmer Rouge

This brings me to an additional point. The overwhelming reliance on Nazism as a model for fictional villains obscures the fact that there have been other, just as significant, sources of evil in human history. The obvious one in recent times would be Communism, an ideology far eclipsing Nazism in the sheer number of its victims alone and causing just as nightmarish levels of human suffering. But Communism has nothing like the cinematic image of Nazism in popular culture. As it appears at all, it's usually with an instinctively sympathetic portrayal. Even those who do not subscribe to Communist ideology generally regard it in the light of 'good idea, poor execution'. Much of this is due to a sentimental tendency of modern times to consider ideas by their hoped-for results rather than their actual process or consequences. But I would add that most actual Communist leaders and ideologues did not have good intentions from the very beginning - I would further recommend a biography of Mao Zedong as just one example. There's an additional wealth of source material available to any fiction writer who cares to explore the crimes - and murderous ideas - of Communism. Just a few are included here:

The Gulag Archipelago - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Black Book of Communism 
Death by Government - R.J. Rummel
Murder of a Gentle Land - John Barron and Anthony Paul
The Russian Revolution - Richard Pipes
Lenin: A New Biography - Dimitri Volkogonov
The First Guidebook to Prisons and Concentration Camps of the Soviet Union - Avraham Shifrin

Felix Dzerzhinsky 
This man founded an organization as brutal as the German SS. How many of us have ever heard his name?

The primary distinguishing factor, of course, is historical events (had these been different much else would doubtless have followed). Nazism vanished from respectable intellectual discourse following military defeat and ideological repudiation at the Nuremberg Trials. Communism never experienced anything similar (there was no parallel in post-Soviet Russia or the rest of the former Warsaw Pact to the "de-Nazification" campaign waged by the Allied Powers in occupied Germany). Postwar images of it have been shaped accordingly.

Image: Public Radio International
This is bizarre and offensive. 

...but this is OK?

I'm not saying that all (or even most) fantastical stories must be parallels of reality. But the speculative genre (both secular and Christian) commits a profound act of self-impoverishment by drawing inspiration from only a single aspect of history. I think it's high time we started giving all of it's monsters their due imaginative representation.

I invite you to join me next week as we continue our journey through the Dark Corners of Heaven and Earth.

Other Worlds: Fiction and Reality - Addendum

Lo and behold, it looks there is a writer out there more motivated to pursue this topic than I am. He has an entire blog and book devoted to it, and he's a fellow Young Earth Creationist to boot! Check it out.

Can Aliens be Saved?