It was something of a surprise to receive an invitation to provide a guest post for The Wild Hunt. I maintain two blogs myself, so the task of writing for an Internet audience was not the concern. But being a Christian and receiving an invitation to write for a prominent and well-read blog by a Pagan recently identified as a leader in this spiritual community was the surprise. I am humbled by this invitation, and I appreciate the trust that Jason has in me. I hope that the content of the post that follows contributes something positive to this blog and the interactions between Pagans and Christians.

 As I thought about what to write over the last couple of weeks since receiving the invitation, I decided to bring together several of my interests into one post. First, I have been involved in interreligious dialogue for some time now, including with those involved with the Pagan community. One example of this is the book by Gus diZerega and Philip Johnson, Beyond the Burning Times (Lion, 2009), which brought together a Pagan and Christian for respectful dialogue, a project I edited and coordinated. Another interest and activity of mine is reflection on the fantastic in popular culture, particularly the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror as expressed in film and television. I’d like to suggest that these two areas can and should be brought together, and in so doing they provide us with a means of understanding each other better as well as the culture in which we live.

I am especially interested in “cinefantastique,” the films of the fantastic. Beyond their entertainment value, the films of the fantastic incorporate several interesting aspects that enable it to function as a device for personal, social, and cultural reflection. Some of these aspects include its use of “othering” and “distancing” which involves a metaphorical element whereby narrative elements parallel aspects of culture in the real world, and through the projection of these elements into a fictional future, difficult subject matter becomes more palatable for reflection. Some of the best examples of othering include the many science fiction films of the 1950s such as Invaders from Mars (1953) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) where alien invaders can be interpreted as a reflection of American fears of both the Communism of the former Soviet Union, as well as fears of conformity raised by McCarthyism.

In terms of distancing, television’s Star Trek in its original incarnation in the 1960s (1966-1969) represents an example of this phenomenon whereby issues of racism were explored in the episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” and Vietnam was explored in the episode “A Private Little War.” We see this same phenomenon continuing in contemporary science fiction through the television series Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009). Over the course of its multiple seasons this program has dealt with a number of contemporary issues, including those of a controversial nature, such as the “war on terror” as well as religion. Each of these examples illustrate that through othering and distancing science fiction and fantasy provide the emotional and cognitive separation between viewer and subject matter that is necessary for reflection on difficult topics for audiences of a given time and social location.

Another significant aspect of science fiction is its willingness at times to incorporate discussions of the transcendent and religion. Concerning the former, in Sacred Terror (Baylor University Press, 2008), Douglas Cowan’s book on religion and horror in film, argues that what and how we fear is socially constructed, and that this manifests itself in the continuing relationship between religion and cinema horror. In his companion volume on science fiction and religion currently in production, titled Sacred Space, Cowan looks at the relationship between religion as expressed in science fiction cinema and television, which involve various dystopic visions of “culturally constructed and socially reinforced conceptions of transcendent hope.”

Beyond a broad quest for transcendent hope science fiction has also often grappled with the question of religion. In the Star Trek franchise we see a development from a critical secular humanism and rejection of religion as cultural superstition in the original series to a late modern view involving both ambiguity and acceptance of spirituality in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Of course there has been a lot of discussion among scholars and commentators about the religious elements in the Star Wars series of films as a complex and developing understanding of religion surrounding the force and Jedi warriors. The theology of this seemingly never-ending fantasy franchise, much like The Matrix films, is informed by an eclectic variety of influences from mythology and various religious traditions.

All very interesting, the reader might be thinking at this point, but how does one move from these aspects of the fantastic in television and film to bridge the gap to religion and interreligious dialogue? In his book Film as Religion (New York University Press, 2003), John Lyden utilizes a functionalist definition of religion drawn from the work of the noted anthropologist Clifford Geertz. With this approach, what is important is how film functions for those who view it. In Lyden’s view then popular film performs a religious function many times in our culture. If this suggestion has any merit then it would mean that the gulf between cinematic experience and religious experience is not all that great. In fact, at times they parallel or even approximate each other. Since films often involve their own ethic and worldview they may be understood to represent a religion. Framed in this way, Lyden suggest that as viewers bring their own perspectives on such matters to the cinematic experience and attempt to understand a film and engage its message, then this may be understood as a form of dialogue between one religion and another.

Lyden then moves to a consideration of this process to not only dialogue with film, also interreligius dialogue. As he discusses the various contributions of certain disciplines to the process of interreligious dialogue, Lyden notes that in some circles at least we have thankfully moved beyond stereotypes and demonization to attempts at more sympathetic understandings and means of engagement. This is promising, not only as a means of gaining a more sympathetic and multifaceted interpretation of film, but also for what it may produce in application to our understanding of each other across religious traditions.

To try to bring all of this together in practical application, I propose that we should consider the medium of film (and television) in the fantastic genres as a venue for interreligious dialogue. In other words, science fiction, fantasy, and even horror film fans among various religious groups should consider fantastic film and television as a medium for interreligious dialogue. In this way, cinefantastique, the fantastic in cinema, becomes theofantastique, a medium for the discussion of the sacred and the divine.

I have experimented with this in my own work at my website TheoFantastique. Here I not only explore science fiction, fantasy, and horror in culture on a popular level as a fan, but also interact with the growing body of academic literature on the topic. The subject matter and my academic means of engagement, which also looks at the religious aspects of the fantastic, has been very well received, primarily by two religious groups: Mormons who appreciate my exploration of science fiction, and adherents of the Western Esoteric tradition who appreciate the discussion of horror and fantasy. My work at TheoFantastique provides me not only with an opportunity to probe and understand the fantastic in greater depth in terms of what it tells us about us as individuals and in our social interactions, but also to engage with members of different religious communities.

To be sure there are obstacles to be overcome with this suggestion. First, many representatives of Paganism and Christianity do not support dialogue between our communities and are content to either ignore each other or continue our history of conflict. Such individuals will likely not be persuaded of the validity of my suggestion, but my hope is that there are at least a few Pagans and Christians who see value in moving beyond these stances. Second, evangelical Christians, with the exception of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, tend to eschew much science fiction and fantasy, and particularly horror. Such evangelicals might consider good reasons to rethink their concerns in this area, as I have tried to argue in a previous post for evangelicals in relation to horror, and in another as I responded to an atheist writer on the topic, a post of mine that surprisingly led to commentary and lively discussion at Cinefantastique Online. But regardless of whether many of my fellow evangelicals can be persuaded, I believe there are enough Christians who find value in the fantastic who might consider the merits of viewing it as a medium for interreligious dialogue. The task before us then is to move from proposal to reality, perhaps at a future conference with the precise venue to be determined.

I present this thesis to The Wild Hunt readers for their consideration and responses. I hope my proposal moves us forward to more promising forms of understanding and interaction.