Saturday 28 May 2005

Pic of the day: Let's admit it, this is the more common reaction to Jehovah's Witnesses. Not that this picture actually shows them; it is from a Japanese cartoon, "Sensei no Ojikan". I just thought it fit.

What if JW won WW3?

Somehow people just don't write the SF I want to read. Well, it happens, but not too often. Given how much people write, this might be surprising. Then again, given how much people write, there is a good chance that I just never find it. Even so, I doubt this scenario has been explored for all it is worth...

"What if Jehovah's Witnesses won Wold War III" seems like a meaningless phrase, since the Witnesses are relentless pacifists and would rather die than even carry the guns and ammo separately for any army. But this is the beauty of it: Their unique and unconventional lifestyle fits this scenario beautifully.

***

It all begins when World War Three does not happen the way everyone expected, with rockets and bombs. Instead, it is decided to solve the clash of civilizations with a biological weapon: A retrovirus engineered to have many of the features of HIV, but beefed up to transmit even through the most casual sexual encounter rather than requiring on average weeks or months of intimacy to transfer. Since it still requires close encounters of the third base, there should be little risk of it returning to sender before its naturally engineered lifespan runs out. Yeah, right.

So basically this virus spreads across the globe before the first casualty is discovered. By then it is not just an ubiquitous STD, but also equally commonplace in the blood banks. Which is where the JW come in, since their religion forbids blood transfusion in any form or way. In addition, they take a dim view on fornication, of course, but then again most religions do. On the other hand, most religions don't make you stand out like a boy in the girls' shower, and most religions don't make people cross the street to avoid talking to you. So they should stand a decent chance of living up to their lofty ideals, unlike most. (Actually there are smaller groups that are at least as isolated, but they don't mind blood transfusion as far as I know. Besides, I've seen a number of JW in action, which has only increased my conviction of their suitability for this scenario.)

So when the biological bomb eventually goes off, the world's population drops at an astounding speed, since we all know that most people between 12 and 70 are promiscuous if not for the grace of Jehovah. OK, this part may need some more pseudoscience to become credible. Anyway, the point is not that JW are the only survivors. They are not. They are just the only completely undiminished major group with their whole network intact and with a huge morale boost and sudden positive spin. ("If only we had been like them, this would not have happened.") Thus, even though they are not even the majority, they are the "winners".

***

From here on I can begin writing the actual novel, not that it is as fun as the worldbuilding anyway. The plot will of course follow some nice people as they watch the timid Witnesses being pushed by world events into a position of political power, which will inevitably do the same thing to them as to everyone else: Corrupt them to the core, gradually transforming their reluctant shouldering of responsibility into a bloody theocracy where schoolbooks and schoolkids alike are burned for the common good. This really has potential. History shows us that nobody becomes as evil as the good guys. (Taliban anyone? They were basically the equivalent of Bible School teachers until the populace begged them to use their moral authority to save the country.)

And then Jesus comes down from Heaven and resurrects all the whores, and they live happily ever after.

OK, perhaps not. Actually I don't have a good ending for this yet. I need to get to know the characters better first. I just thought the setup was really original, and the "good guys should never be given power" needs to be hammered in with a steam-powered sledgehammer, because this is something that could actually happen in a country near you. Not to Jehovah's Witnesses though. If anything, they will probably be thrown in jail or worse if the more power-hungry fundies get their wish. Nobody ever lost an election by throwing Witnesses in jail. But this is like a parable, right? Or fable, whichever is longer.