It is interesting how many popular novels, graphic novels and movies see a future where dictatorships have taken over western democracies and implement laws which are said to be influenced by Christian ‘fundamentalism’. V For Vendetta which started life as a graphic novel and then became a film is an example of this. The Obsolete Man although dealing with a Western dystopia sees different values at work in shaping society. This was an episode in the second series of The Twilight Zone originally shown in 1961. The leading character Romney Wordsworth is played by Burgess Meredith, surely one of the most underrated actors in film history.
In this nightmarish future Wordsworth is standing trial for being a librarian and for believing in God. After the Chancellor ie. the State prosecutor has ascertained that a librarian has to do with books the following dialogue takes place:
‘Chancellor: Since there are no more books, Mr.Wordsworth, there are no more libraries, and, of course, as it follows, there is very little call for the services of a librarian. Case in point: a minister. A minister would tell us that his function is that of preaching the word of God. And since it follows that since The State has proven that there is no God, that would make the function of a minister quite academic as well....
Wordsworth: There IS a God!!
Chancellor: You are in error, Wordsworth. There is NO GOD! The STATE HAS PROVEN THAT THERE IS NO GOD!!
Wordsworth: You cannot erase God, with an edict!’
In the end, Wordsworth is pronounced 'obsolete' and found guilty but is given the privilege of choosing his own method of execution. I will not spoil the ending for those who wish to follow this up. You can find the whole episode on YouTube, that is if you do not already own the DVD box-set like this sad blogger. But Wordsworth’s final hour is spent reading aloud some of the great passages of comfort and strength in the Bible.
It may be unforgivably fogie-ish simply to say that they don’t make them like this anymore. But can you imagine a modern piece of popular entertainment standing up for books and God and giving us a good man with a love for the Bible?
The more serious point is that in the early nineteen-sixties the big fear seemed to be that governments could become so powerful that they could control what we read, what we think and, as Wordsworth would have it, legislate God out of existence. Arguably, we are closer to this now than to those modern visions of the future where a loveless, repressive Christianity is in control. I mean, have you read the papers?
