Liberation from dystopian fiction
The continuing call of the global South for a dialogue of civilizations
There have been what seems like a growing number of movies that portray a future apocalypse. The phenomenon is disturbing, because it implies the eclipse of hope and the pervasiveness of a view that the future of humanity is bleak. A fundamentally negative view of the future of humanity is contrary to the teachings of Islam and Christianity as well as the premises of revolutionary socialism. It encourages the pursuit of individual self-satisfaction, moral irresponsibility, and anti-social conduct. It favors the view that, if there is meaning in human existence, it only pertains to the personal level.
I find myself in agreement with Thomas Moynihan’s recent expression of lament that “from Hunger Games to Squid Games, from Black Mirror to Blade Runner, the appetite for dystopia seems higher than ever.”1 And I thought he was right on target when he wrote, “dystopian fiction can be vitally important. It can contain important warnings: raising alarms on so…