In the sci-fi classic Dune, protagonist Paul-Muad'Dib Atreides is led through the community of the desert tribe known as the Fremen, who are cruelly oppressed and under constant threat from extra-planetary rulers. He observes a class of children being taught and asks, "You conduct classes at a time like this?" His guide replies, "What Liet taught us, we cannot pause an instant in that. Liet who is dead must not be forgotten. It is the Chakobsa way." (p.346. All references are to the 1984 Berkeley Books edition.)
Scripture says that we must teach our children the faith at all times. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, " These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (NIV)
Do you sense this kind of committed urgency among the Christian families of young children that you know? Does that kind of electric intensity permeate your children's ministry or Sunday School?
I didn't think so. So why is what passes for Christian education so often sappy, foolish, insulting, sporadic, second-thought, second-rate drivel in the world of American Christianity? What the fictional Fremen and the historic Old Testament Jews have in common is oppression, a catalyst missing, or at least unrecognized, among American Christians. Oppression and the daily awareness of the threat of death has a way of burning away the dross and leaving the pure, refined necessities. Of course, suburban, minivan, Christian families are also under attack...from 24/7 porn, from moral relativism, from forced acceptance of sin under the guise of tolerance. There is every bit as much reason for Christians to be as intense and intentional about teaching our children as were the Jews and the Fremen. To restate Dune, Jesus Who died and rose again must not be forgotten. It is the Christian way.
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I've read the Dune books and like the way you're drawing connections between lessons taught in the novels and Christian theology.
ReplyDeleteFrank Herbert often has his characters wax philosophical--sometimes to the detriment of the story. The first book, imho, was by far the best. The series (at least the original six books) went downhill from there. The last 3 were often so full of pontifications that the author ended up violating his own admonition to his son Brian, who has coauthored several books in the Dune universe. Frank Herbert warned Brian not to preach at his readers, insisting that a fiction author had to remember that he was "in the entertainment business." But then he turned around and loaded his stories with a lot of talk about subjects like religion and politics.
Anyway, I'm surprised that no one, at least as far your search indicated, has addressed the theological content of the Dune novels. I'll be interested in reading more about this topic.
Evan