Lovecraft got this one mostly right

If religion were true, its followers would not try to bludgeon their young into an artificial conformity; but would merely insist on their unbending quest for truth, irrespective of artificial backgrounds or practical consequences. With such an honest and inflexible openness to evidence, they could not fail to receive any real truth which might be manifesting itself around them. The fact that religionists do not follow this honourable course, but cheat at their game by invoking juvenile quasi-hypnosis, is enough to destroy their pretensions in my eyes even if their absurdity were not manifest in every other direction.
— H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Maurice W. Moe, August 3 1931
(Thanks to Andrew M. Kuchling)

I’d agree, with one emendation: Because of our fallen nature and because we have so much to unlearn from our culture (sorry, nobody comes into this world a tabula rasa, and failure — or refusal — to receive truth is widespread; see Rom. 1:19–20), we need to learn how to search for truth and test what is found. But once the toolbox is supplied … go for it!

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Signpost: The Gospel According to Matthew

THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHERS’
KINGDOM OF GOD

(Yes, the apostrophe is deliberately placed.)

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If you’re at Balticon 44, come say hello!

For years I’ve wanted to attend Balticon, a convention held Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore, Maryland, and reputed to have the best New Media track of all current conventions (thanks to the hard work of Paul A. Fischer and his cronies). This year it’s scheduled for 28–31 May 2010, at Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn, and I’ve been given the honor of appearing on the program. Continue reading

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Signpost: The Book of Galatians

STOP TRYING TO BE
A KID AGAIN

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Signpost: The Book of Job

WHEN LIFE HURTS
KNOWING WHO
TRUMPS KNOWING WHY

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Let’s help a most deserving family: Tee Morris and Sonic Boom

Awhile back I identified Tee Morris as a “servant-leader” in the world of podcasting and new media.1 One quality of a servant-leader is that he or she earns our respect and obedience by setting an example of dedication — not only to the cause, but also to the welfare of the followers themselves. Tee Morris — teacher, author, storyteller, podcaster extraordinaire — has earned his status through unstinting and enthusiastic dedication to helping others find their way through the obstacle courses of podcasting, new media, and marketing, as well as providing marvelous entertainment through the Morevi historical fantasy novels and the Billibub Baddings mysteries (available in print and audio).

Now we, the led, have the opportunity to support this man who has supported us.

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  1. There are others I haven’t mentioned yet. Remind me to tell you about Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit sometime. Or, better, listen to P.G. Holyfield’s delightful interview with him. There’s a reason for his nickname. []
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A blessed Christmas(time) to you all!

Merry Christmas to you and yours, from all of us here at the Scriptorium!

Whichever holidays you choose to celebrate, we hope that you find this a time of peace — and that you will come to know the Creator and Anointed King of the universe in greater detail, devotion, and dedication.

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We have a winner!

Ladies and gentlemen, let me proudly announce that the estimable Elisabeth Waters has passed the 50,000-word finish line, making her a winner in the 2009 National Novel Writing Month. Reviving Fate is officially a going concern.

To prepare for it, I strongly recommend that you read Changing Fate, published by DAW Books and available in e-book, Kindle, and desecrated-Ent-corpse editions. Shapeshifters! Gods and city-state politics! Romance! Intrigue! and all without any need for vampires (sparkly or otherwise)!

Me? I’m going to continue work on my own piece (working title: Crown’s Jewel, although I expect it to change), a scifi-fantasy mashup set in our Treasures universe but taking an unusual turn therein. I’ve learned a lot from NaNoWriMo, including how answers can pop out at you from unexpected corners and how the standard advice “Just plant it in the chair and WRITE” can yield unexpected dividends. Stay tuned.

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Nathan Lowell and Brand Gamblin: Workingman’s SF

Clerk’s Log, MJDate 55153.21: *ahem* As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted
 

Tales of space encounters abound in the annals of SFF literature, from the romances of Cyrano de Bergerac to H.G. Wells’s The First Men in the Moon to Bradbury’s S is for Space to Niven’s Ringworld stories and far beyond. Indeed, when one says “science fiction” the common response seems to be “Oh yeah, that Star Trek stuff.”1 Even though there’s much that we still don’t know about our own planet, it’s still too familiar, too well mapped to have any “HERE BE MONSTERS” sectors remaining; for the fast transport to wonder, therefore, we choose the Up-and-Out. Spacecraft ply the wormholes and warps and jumpgates and plain-vanilla-vacuum between the stars, finding strange and novel experiences — which, one hopes, enlighten our approach to life back in the mundane here-and-now.

What the storytellers don’t spend time on is the actual day-to-day business of making a living out there in the deep dark. Continue reading

  1. Just as an earlier generation said, “Oh yeah, that Buck Rogers stuff.” []
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Nathan Lowell and Brand Gambli[ CONTENT OVERRIDE: KILROY2.0 IS HERE!!! ]

Clerk’s Log, MJDate 55131.5: Although Labor Day is well behind us, the Fourth Quarter of 2009 is just under way. On that businesslike note, therefore, allow me to highlight some stories you might wish to investigate.

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