the War of Judgment
the Maurai period
post-Maurai rebellions
the Star Masters period
an unfathomable (post-?) civilization
Does that fifth period have time travel? Given that there has been a gene for time travel, can the effect be reproduced either biologically or technologically? If the empirical fact of time travel enables the Star Masters to develop FTL technology, can they also develop time travel tech?
Is Wallis right that the further future will also develop immortality? Might time travelers from that further future intercept the fleeing Wallis and fix him up not only physically but also mentally and morally? I mean education, not brainwashing - if someone like him is shown a successful and creative multi-racial and multi-species society?
If (i) there is a hereafter and (ii) it has any sort of moral basis, then I think that it has to be an opportunity for development, where each individual recognizes and learns from past mistakes. The bigot who expects to see heretics and skeptics damned should learn that there is more to the after-life than that. (In CS Lewis's The Great Divorce, materialists in the hereafter argue that it is an illusion.)
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
If time travelers from the future actually did intercept a despairing and fleeing Wallis, I certainly hope they could convince him (after restoring his mental/physical capacity) of how bad and wrong his ideas about race were. But I'm dubious that merely rational and reasoned arguments could move him, unless his FAITH in those bad beliefs had been seriously shaken. I think it would take a Damascus Road style revelation to do that. A successful multiracial/species might have that effect on him.
Your point (ii) comes close to what Catholics believe about Purgatory, a state of existence where those who died repentant are prepared for the full revelation of God. IIRC, the Grey Town in Lewis' THE GREAT DIVORCE is Purgatory for those who manage to leave it.
And WHERE and when did Wallis go? A mystery which reminds me of how we don't know for sure Aycharaych died when Chereion was bombarded by the Dennitzans.
Ad astra! Sean
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