The faith structure of all-Reds-equal-and-bad caused the CIA to destroy the democratically elected government in Chile, to murder the president and thousands more. I do not attack Christianity. I don’t have to—it attacks itself. Christian Catholics in North Ireland murder Christian Protestants. And vice versa.
This list, tragically, can be extended forever. There are still conflicts of greed, where stronger power structures seek the control of smaller ones just because they have the strength to do so. There is no such thing as abstract evil—another faith-structure—but there sure are plenty of evil men. They grab power, then quickly come to believe that they are different, ordained to rule. Another faith-structure. All war, all intolerance in the world today, is the product of belief, the product of faith-structures. If we keep this always before us we may perhaps begin to do something about war.
Perhaps we can end it once and for all. The mere fact of our saying out loud that the end of war is possible is the first step. We must have new ideas about war and how to live with each other, alongside each other.
Which, to come full circle, is the idea behind this book. You will not find the solution to the world’s problems here. But you will certainly find plenty of ideas, food for thought, concepts to consider.
The idea comes first, then the action. We must produce new models for the postwar world. Perhaps some of them are on the pages you’ve just read. I do not know—but I am hopeful.
Science fiction writers are thinking writers who challenge, who hopefully challenge, outmoded and dangerous faith-structures. They not only know that change is possible and a continuing process; they know that you can change this change, make things happen to order. This is important. Change is not automatic or inevitable. If we see a negative change occurring—carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for instance—we have the intelligence and the ability to change that. If we have the will. That is the overpowering understanding that must never be forgotten. Beliefs must change if we are to survive. Dangerous faith-structures must be challenged. Intelligence must come before faith. Tolerance must take the place of intolerance. The true religion is one that believes in tolerance—not hatred. I’ll let you live—if you let me live. Never forgetting that we all live on spaceship Earth. There are no national boundaries visible from space. Live and let live. Let us seek out and find a way to put this into effect.
Let there be an end to war. Here is a beginning.
—Harry Harrison
[1] The title is excerpted from “A Short Poem” by Leonard Gontarek, and is used with kind permission.