Immigration: What the Bible says about it

See this post for a discussion of what the Bible says about immigration. (It says quite a bit!)

Immigration and migration, what the Bible says (repost)

This was a fairly long post on what the Bible says about how to treat immigrants.

Thanks for reading, or re-reading.

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Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:

Christianity: Relevant has an article about how the Bible says to treat refugees, with Bible quotes. They missed at least one. To quote my own blog: The Bible also says, in reference to a specific refugee crisis:
Isaiah 16:3 Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive! 4a Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. (This was in spite of the fact that the Moabites hadn’t always been good to Israel. See Joshua 24:9, Judges 3:12-30, 1 Samuel 12:9.)

(And politics) Christianity Today has an article decrying our current immigration policies. The article also points to a suggestion, endorsed by several evangelical leaders, that a path to citizenship, for illegals, be created, including restitution -- not amnesty.
 
Politics: Relevant reports that there were NO refugees settled in the US in October.

NPR on how the Chinese government is trying to control Tibetan Buddhists, for example in the recognition of the next Dalai Lama.
FiveThirtyEight discusses the electability of Pete Buttigieg, including a discussion of how his homosexuality might influence voters.
Science: The Scientist report on the use of CRISPR genetic engineering to alter cancer patients' cells, and the introduction of such altered cells back into the patients. The alterations were designed to attack cancer cells. It's not yet clear whether the treatment has successfully fought the cancer.
Gizmodo, and other outlets, report that a trap for catching mammoths has been discovered. It's a large trap.
NPR discusses the uses of Helium, the only chemical element that easily escapes the earth.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.
 
Thanks for looking!

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Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A Relevant writer points out that worship isn't about church music.
Deborah Haarsma, of BioLogos, discusses the implications for Christians, if there is intelligent life elsewhere, or if there isn't.


Computing: Christianity Today reports on a study that indicates that we trust big technical companies less than we used to. And churches more. 

Education:  Grammarphobia discusses can not, cannot and can't.

Gizmo's Freeware tells about a phone app that uses your camera to solve math problems.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that climate change may have reached a tipping point for the Arctic.


Ethics: The Scientist tells us that a Chinese team is developing human-monkey chimeras.

Finance: Catherine Rampell is concerned about what President Trump might do to US fiscal policy.

Health: (and finance, and politics) Catherine Rampell points out that medicare-for-all plans have ignored how much we pay providers, particularly doctors. We pay about twice as much to these as Canada.

National Public Radio reports on the use of the CRISPR genetic engineering system to treat a woman with sickle-cell anemia.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes the second round of debates -- who spoke most, etc.

Relevant reports that over 50 people were shot in Chicago last weekend.

NPR has posted graphs, comparing gun death frequency in the US with that in many other countries.

FiveThirtyEight says that Republican politicians are much more resistant to gun control measures than GOP voters are.

Science: NPR reports on a study that indicates that children prefer men without beards, up until the child reaches puberty. (Note: I have a beard.)

Gizmodo reports that Japanese scientists may try to grow human pancreases, for transplant to people who need them, in pigs.

In 2006, there were 1411 tigers in India. NPR reports that the population was up to 2967 in 2018, a little more than doubling, thanks to serious steps taken by the Indian government.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.
Thanks for looking!

More about how the Bible says we should treat aliens, foreigners, and strangers

I recently came upon this passage, using my regular Bible reading plan:

Ezekiel 47:21 “So you shall divide this land to yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 It will happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who will father children among you. Then they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 It shall happen, that in whatever tribe the stranger lives, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord Yahweh.

It seems that these verses should be considered in thinking about what the Bible says about treatment of foreigners, aliens and strangers. See here for a previous post, pointing out other several other passages which are probably pertinent.

How the Bible wants us to treat aliens, foreigners and strangers.

Matthew 7:12 Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets. (The Golden Rule)

The Israelites were warned that they should eliminate non-Israelites from the Promised Land. (See, for example, Deuteronomy 31:3-6) However, this was not an absolute command. Most likely, those warnings were really against the false gods of these non-Israelites. Rahab, from Jericho, and Ruth, from Moab, were ancestors of David (and of Christ). They were both non-Israelite followers of God. Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba’s first husband, who lived in Jerusalem, and was part of David’s army, had Canaanite ancestry, and he seems to have also been a follower of God (2 Samuel 11). David placed the Ark into the care of Obed-Edom, the Gittite (2 Samuel 6:10-12). Some bible scholars believe that he was descended from the Philistines from Gath, where Goliath came from, but others believe that “Gittite” has another meaning in this case. David purchased the land, which ultimately became the site of Solomon’s temple from Ornan, a Jebusite, who may have been a non-Israelite (1 Chronicles 21:18-30, 2 Chronicles 3:1, Some Bible translations call him Araunah).

The passages below give further evidence that non-Israelites were allowed to live in the Promised Land. 

Exodus 22:21 You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 23:9 You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:10 You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God. (This command is repeated in other parts of the Bible.)

Leviticus 19:33 If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

Deuteronomy 10:19 Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Peter reminds the church of his day that they, too, are, in a sense, foreigners: 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12 having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

The Bible also says, in reference to a specific refugee crisis:

Isaiah 16:3 Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive! 4a Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. (This was in spite of the fact that the Moabites hadn’t always been good to Israel. See Josh 24:9, Judg 3:12-30, 1 Sam 12:9.)

Ezekiel 47:21 “So you shall divide this land to yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 It will happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who will father children among you. Then they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 It shall happen, that in whatever tribe the stranger lives, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord Yahweh.

Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers*, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body.

*The NIV Study Bible thinks “strangers” may mean “Christians that you don’t know.” The two commentaries I consulted did not say this. There are Christian refugees, that we don’t know, in our time.

Unfortunately, a recent poll found that only 12% of Christians say that they get their views on immigration from the Bible. 

Notes: 1) Refugees may become immigrants, but not all immigrants, legal or illegal, are refugees. The concept of border security probably was seldom considered in Bible times. In the verses above, “alien,” “foreigner,” and “stranger” seem to mean “non-Israelite.” Some of these would have been refugees.

2) Scripture quotations from the World English Bible, public domain. This post, on January 13, 2018, is a modified version of the original, which was posted July 27, 2017.

3) The United States is not equivalent to ancient Israel.

4) At least in Old Testament times, it seems that God would not have expected non-Israelites who came into the country for the purpose of subverting worship of Him, or to murder Israelites, to be treated as generously as the verses above indicate.

Thanks for reading.

Update, June 21, 2018:

Jeff Sessions, currently the US Attorney General, recently claimed that separating immigrant children from their parents is obeying the Bible, which says that we are to obey the law and the government. Well, usually, but Sessions has left out a lot of what the Bible says.

Update, December 23, 2018:

Job 31 gives a list of good things Job has done, and bad things that he has not done, as he justifies himself. One of the good things is in verse 32: “the foreigner has not lodged in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler ...”

And we shouldn’t forget that Jesus, Joseph and Mary were refugees in Egypt, fleeing a threat of violence.  

Update, February 26, 2020:

2 Chronicles 30 describes the revival during the reign of Hezekiah, many generations after the time of Ruth, or David. It includes this statement:  
30:25 All the assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly who came out of Israel, and the foreigners who came out of the land of Israel, and who lived in Judah, rejoiced. 

Sunspots 617

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: The prize-winning Welcome image award winners, science-related graphics.

Christianity: (and History) Christianity Today gives brief biographies of five women every Christian should know about.

(and Science) Paul Nelson, one of the experts interviewed in the new film, "Is Genesis History?" wishes that he had said something additional to what was recorded of him on film. To specify, he believes that there are more than two alternative beliefs about origins, and, thus, more than one belief which may be held by Christians.

Benjamin L. Corey tells us that reading the Bible is probably not as simple as some of us think it is.


Computing: GhostBrowser should be useful to some of you. You can be connected to more than one Facebook (or other such sites) site at one time.

Gizmo's Freeware reports on two items, both available through your browser. One web site tells you your IP address, and the other tells you your screen resolution.

History: (And Humor, and The Arts) Listverse reports on 10 valuable items found, and purchased cheaply, in Thrift stores (Goodwill, etc.).

Literature: (and Christianity, and The Arts) Ken Schenck, an expert in philosophy, Christianity, and more, reviews The Shack, (The book, not the film) here,  here,  here,  here and here. See also a post by E. Stephen Burnett, about the book. Burnett is less happy than Schenck seems to be, but, as he says, it's complicated.


Politics: Wired assures us that nobody is spying on us by means of our microwave ovens.

Science: Mars is the planet most like earth, but FiveThirtyEight tells us that getting there, and living there, will be difficult.

National Public Radio reports on major steps toward synthesizing the genome of yeast organisms. Are humans next?

Listverse reports that there are laws or treaties in place to cover the possibility of contact with an alien race.




Image source (public domain)

Treatment of aliens/strangers in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy

Exodus 22:21 “You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9 “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:10 You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am the Yahweh your God. (This command is repeated in other parts of the Bible.)
Leviticus 19:33 “‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
Deuteronomy 10:19 Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

The Bible also says, in reference to a specific refugee crisis:

Isaiah 16:3 Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive! 4a Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer.

The Moabites hadn't always been good to Israel. See Joshua 24:9, Judges 3:12-30, and 1 Samuel 12:9.

And, of course, there's always the Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12 Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

(World English Bible, public domain.)

Sunspots 590

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A Florida State football player ate lunch with an autistic boy who was eating alone in his school cafeteria, says Relevant.

A blogger has posted some stupid phrases, or good phrases used stupidly, for people in crisis.

Benjamin L. Corey says that Christian parents should be celebrating Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand during the National Anthem.


Computing: Bloomberg warns us that our new refrigerators may be watching us (and sending information to others.)

Education: National Public Radio reports on a study that indicates that when a child in school is exposed to violence in the home, it affects the entire class.

Health: Wired says that too many of us still aren't wearing seat belts.

Scientific American, and many other news outlets, on why the ingredients in many antibacterial soaps have been banned. (Regular soap is just as good!)

History: ListVerse on 10 people who rescued others, who were on the other side, during World War II.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight discusses facts about immigration, based on real data. (Example: Hispanic immigrants learn English as well as, or better than, German immigrants did in the past.)

Science: Wired has posted a graphic, showing how rapidly climate has changed over the past 160 years or so.

FiveThirtyEight discusses what starlight tells us about the universe. As the post says, pretty much everything we know.

Scientific American discusses the matter of calling family members by some other family member's name.

Scientific American also discusses the subject of communicating with aliens -- how could we learn their language (or the reverse)? (There's a movie about that coming out soon.)

NPR reports that some lizards are starving to death, because it is too hot for them to forage during most of the day.



Image source (public domain)

How to treat strangers, foreigners and aliens

(This brief study is in response to the prophet Jonah, who did not want to go to preach repentance to the people of Ninevah, because he was afraid that they would, indeed, repent, and not be destroyed. The ESV, and perhaps other versions, use the word, "aliens." The World English Bible, which is quoted below, doesn't use this word.)

Foreigners, strangers and aliens
The Old Testament warns about keeping separate from the gods of other nations. But that’s not the whole story. The Israelites were also warned to treat non-Israelites well, and there were prophecies that God would be the God of all peoples:

Genesis 22:18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice. (God to Abraham. 26:4 is similar)

Leviticus 19:33 If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

Numbers 15:15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so the foreigner shall be before Yahweh. 16 One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.

Jeremiah 22:3a Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. (See also Deuteronomy. 1:16)

Micah 4:2 Many nations will go and say,
“Come! Let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
and to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the law will go out of Zion,
and Yahweh’s word from Jerusalem;

Zephaniah 3:9 For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.

Zechariah 2:1a Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you . . .

Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of Armies.

Non-Israelite women were ancestors of important Israelites: Joseph’s wife, the daughter of an Egyptian pagan priest, (Genesis 41) was the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh, founders of two of the tribes; Rahab from Jericho was an ancestor of King David’s line; and so was Ruth, from Moab. There may have been more such.

Thanks for reading!

Added January 8, 2016: Two recent articles are pertinent: Relevant has posted "A Biblical Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis," which mentions a few Old Testament verses not given above, and Christianity Today published a "Christian Declaration on Caring for Refugees: An Evangelical Response," a policy document which was drafted by leaders from several denominations and agencies.

Can Klingons be saved?

I was amazed to stumble upon an interview in Scientific American, entitled "Did Jesus Save the Klingons?"

The person interviewed clearly is not a friend of Christianity. But so what? Is he right, and, could Jesus save the Klingons, or do Klingons need salvation through Christ?

I have previously posted on the question of religion among extraterrestrials (or not). My conclusions haven't changed. Here they are, re-stated:

First, we do not know, from science or the Bible, whether there are any intelligent races other than humans in the universe. The Bible is silent on the subject, unless Jesus was referring to such when he spoke about other sheep, not of this fold. (John 10:14) I'm not sure what He meant, but perhaps He was referring to the Gentiles. He might have been referring to extraterrestrials. Probably not. There are a lot of planets out there, orbiting other stars, and it is close to certain that there are a lot more that we haven't been able to detect. That doesn't prove that there is intelligent life out there. For that matter, it doesn't prove that there is life of any kind outside the Solar System. It is, however, impossible to disprove the existence of other intelligent beings.

Second, if there were intelligent aliens, would they need salvation? My guess is that they might not. Humans, according Christian doctrine, need salvation because of The Fall, a decision to disobey by our first ancestors, which resulted in sin becoming part of our very natures. Extraterrestrials might never have made such a terrible choice, or, possibly, may never had the opportunity to make such a choice. C. S. Lewis, no less, wrote about not one, but three races of intelligent, unfallen beings in his Out of the Silent Planet. It was fictional, of course. (See here.)

Would unfallen beings would need any sort of redemption? Maybe, maybe not. Fallen beings do.

Third, if there are fallen intelligent beings on other worlds, is it necessary that Christ died for their salvation? Maybe not. His death, once, on earth, might have been adequate for the redemption of the entire creation. Or, on some other planet, it might be that the equivalent of The Fall might require some other sort of atonement -- don't ask me what kind.

If the Bible is true, humans living on this planet need redemption through Christ. See here and here. We did sin, and we do need redemption, and can't provide this for ourselves. It is interesting to speculate about intelligent beings on other planets, but probably not very wise to speculate about it very much, unless and until we know that such beings exist.

It is possible that dolphins, whales, and great apes, and possibly some other animals, might be substituted for the extraterrestrials in the above discussion. But, again, we have no certainty that they can make important moral choices, and communicate about them effectively. Maybe, maybe not.

If there are Klingons, and they need salvation, God must have provided it, somehow.

Thanks for reading!

*  *  *  *  *

February 6, 2015 and July 27, 2015: Shannon McDermott has posted on this subject, at Speculative Faith. There are links to other posts about this subject, including views contrary to McDermott's, here.

Extant, with Halle Berry, on CBS

In case you have wondered what TV stations do for advertising revenue, now that the political primaries are over, wonder no more. They put up promos for upcoming shows. At least the Upstate South Carolina CBS station has done so, over and over.

One such program, promoted heavily, is Extant, starring Halle Berry. If you have watched CBS recently, you already know this much: Somehow, Berry's character, an astronaut who has been on a solo mission for over a year, discovers that she is pregnant, on her return. You probably also know that the astronaut and her husband, a robotics expert, are raising a robot as their elementary school-aged son. I will try not to give anything else away.

I have seen the pilot. Two important science fiction themes, namely, the moral status of robots, and their interaction with human society; and encountering aliens (if that's what happened to the astronaut) are considered. They are among the most important in science fiction, and have been used over and over. No doubt they will be, again. So far, they are considered without violence -- no ray guns or robot murderers.

One other important theme of science fiction, also explored, is "what will the future be like?" There are plenty of interesting, sometimes amusing, vignettes of a possible future in the first episode, including a self-driving auto, 3-D presentations, a bathroom mirror that also serves as an information appliance, and a really amazing garbage disposal system.

Berry is a fine actress, which is not surprising, considering that she is an Academy Award winner. In one part of the episode, she does not say a word, but expresses lots of emotion with her facial expressions and body language. (Berry remains fully, and tastefully, clothed throughout, except for a discretely foggy shower scene with her husband.)

An interesting start to this series, which may become one of the best ever in the science fiction genre. I hope so.

Thanks for reading.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game (1985, by Orson Scott Card, and based on a 1977 short story) was, and is, an important science fiction book. See here for its Wikipedia article -- the book won both the Nebula and Hugo awards. The book has been adapted for a movie, which is to come out tomorrow. I have not seen the movie, but I like the list of actors -- Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis. I don't see many movies, but I have seen all of these people in one or more, and like their work. I may see this one. Card, himself, has been deeply involved in the script of the film.

Amazon recently advertised the Kindle edition of the book. I purchased it, and I'm glad that I did. I hadn't read the book in a decade or two, and it's a good read. Also, the new edition includes a fine introduction by Card, about the book, and other things. Here's an excerpt:

Why else do we read fiction, anyway? Not to be impressed by somebody’s dazzling language—or at least I hope that’s not our reason. I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not “true” because we’re hungry for another kind of truth: The mythic truth about human nature in general, the particular truth about those life-communities that define our own identity, and the most specific truth of all: our own self-story. Fiction, because it is not about somebody who actually lived in the real world, always has the possibility of being about ourself.

What is the book about? Before I give a brief summary, some broad themes:

Relationships. I would say that extended family relationships is the most common theme I have encountered in Card's books, almost so much that his science fiction and alternate history tales are, in large part, vehicles for portrayal of that.
War, and some of the ways it warps our morals.
Teaching children to stick up for themselves by not backing them up.
What it's like to be an exceptionally intelligent child.
Bullying.
How we might interact with aliens.

There are some interesting science fiction ideas in the book. One of them is the ansible, a device for communicating instantaneously with others, not matter how far, really far away they are. Ursula K. LeGuin seems to have invented this device, in her equally important science fiction novel The Dispossessed. Another one is the alien species that Card describes sketchily in Ender's Game.

There is no explicit religion in the book, except for some Bible quotations, and a mention of the religions of Ender's parents, one of them a Mormon, one a Catholic. (Card is a Mormon.) No one prays or goes to church. There is a high moral tone, or at least recognition that some things are right.

Now, for a summary. Don't say that I didn't warn you! Spoilers included.

Before the book starts, humans have encountered an alien race, insect-like, the buggers, a few decades earlier. They defeated them, but believe that the buggers may come back, with better weapons. Mazer Rackham was the military leader who defeated them the first time.

Ender is a six-year-old boy, highly intelligent. He, and others, all over the earth, have been monitored by the army, who is looking for children who are flexible enough in their thinking, intelligent, and physically adept, to train so that they can lead the fight against the buggers, when they return. A bully attacks him, and he believes that the only way he can stop this bully is to defeat him utterly. He does, but, although Ender doesn't realize it, he kills the bully. He is given the opportunity to go to Battle School, a satellite where such children will be trained in free fall group war games, with the understanding that he won't see his family for years.

Ender's brother, Peter, is a highly intelligent sadist. His sister, Valentine, is a highly intelligent good person. He will miss her, and hates to leave her at Peter's mercy, but accepts.

Ender becomes the best leader in Battle School. Again, a bully attacks, and Ender defends himself, so thoroughly that he kills the bully, although Ender doesn't realize this. The adult leaders of Battle School want Ender to understand that he is on his own -- if something bad happens, he has no one but himself to count on. I wonder how the movie will handle the two bullying/retaliation scenes, if at all?

Ender is so good at the games, especially at leading others to be effective, that he is sent to Eros, where he takes part in more drills to fight the buggers. Eventually, Mazer Rackham becomes his teacher. (Rackham has been traveling at near-light speed, so that he can still be helpful in the next battle with the buggers.)

As you might expect, Ender, and several colleagues from Battle School, who have joined him on Eros, eventually defeat the buggers. But there are a couple of surprises in that defeat, which I won't give away.

Ender is such a hero that he can't really go back to earth. His future, traveling with Valentine, makes up a part of four additional novels. So do the lives of some of his colleagues at Battle School.

In my opinion, the most important of the succeeding novels is Speaker for the Dead, the next novel. For more on that, and other Enderverse books, see here.

Thanks for reading

More than "Love your neighbor" - Leviticus 19

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is well-known. Jesus said that it was one of the two greatest commandments, and the scribe he was talking to seemed to agree with him, in Mark 12:28-34, and elsewhere in the Gospels.

The context isn’t as well known. Here’s more of Leviticus 19:

 16 “‘You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people.
“‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
17 “‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18 “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.”

And more: 33 “‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.” (Quoting from the World English Bible, public domain)

That’s amazing, considering what the Old Testament Israelites were told to do to some of the people of the land. Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 320

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Science: The New York Times reports that, in some species of sharks, embryo animals eat their siblings.

Wired reports on the discovery of a previously unknown group of people, in Brazil.

Christianity: A Christian author of fantastic literature claims that the Bible rules out the possibility of non-human intelligent life in the universe. Some similar authors, in the comments to that post, don't agree.

Image source (public domain)

After Long Silence, by Sheri S. Tepper

I recently re-read After Long Silence, by Sheri S. Tepper. (Bantam: New York, 1987) I have previously posted on another of her works, Grass. After Long Silence has no Wikipedia article, so far. It deserves one. This won't substitute for a formal article. There are brief reviews here and here.

The basic plot is one that has been used before. An evil company controls the exports from the planet Jubal. The company, and its evil local representative, will do almost anything to keep this state of affairs as it is. This includes suppressing any evidence of native sentient beings.

The main character, Tasmin Ferrence, is a Tripsinger. The land on the planet is functionally divided into areas where the soil is deep, and areas where it is not deep, or is nonexistent. In such areas, there are giant crystals, hundreds of meters/yards in height, and with circumferences to match. It is dangerous to go into, or through, such areas. In fact, the only way to do so safely is to make music which keeps the crystals from shooting off parts of themselves and killing anyone near. The Tripsingers have learned how to traverse some areas where the crystals exist. The music is complex enough that untrained persons cannot survive such trips without a Tripsinger. The Tripsingers, who haven't discussed their beliefs on the subject explicitly, believe that the crystals are sentient.

It turns out, in the end, that there are two intelligent species on Jubal. One is the crystals, and the other is the viggies, a creature appearing somewhat like squirrels or rabbits.

How Tepper gets us to this conclusion is the plot, and it uses her characters. One thing that annoys me about Tepper is that her bad characters get peculiar names -- Chantiford, Aphrodite, whereas her good, or ordinary characters, get more ordinary, if non-common, names. Tasmin, and his assistants, Reb Jamieson and Clarin, are well-drawn. The evil characters, reprehensible as they are -- several of them have no apparent redeeming character traits -- are reasonably well-drawn, too.

This is a solid example of humans-meet-aliens science fiction. There is a fair amount, but not too much, of explicit translation, which helps to see how hard it is to understand beings who don't think like us. There is plenty of music, and it is evident that the music of both non-human intelligent beings is beautiful. There is an appendix, apparently written by a real-life expert on such things, explaining how a crystalline life form could have high intelligence. I'm sorry that I can't be a tourist to Jubal, and see the beautiful crystals, and hear the beautiful music.

One of the evil things that the local company boss does is to hire three other villains to create a religion, for the purpose of attracting tourists, and money, to Jubal. The doctrines of this religion are not well fleshed out, so I can't comment intelligently on it.

There are various kinds of love relationships in the book, including the admiration of Reb Jamieson for his master, Tasmin, and his willingness to sacrifice for Tasmin. Tepper does a good job of explaining the motives of the characters in these relationships.

The last feature I will mention is that Tasmin seeks vengeance on the local company boss. Another character talks him out of it. It isn't easy for her to do so.

Thanks for reading.