Church in Space

Episode 49: Deus Ex AI - Will We Worship Artificial Intelligence?

In which the 3-Ds and a V debate whether we'll end up worshiping Artificial Intelligence. Drew says some people already do...and there's speculation that's what Ezekiel was doing on his prophetic field trip to the desert outside Babylon's 'burbs. Beyond worship, might AI attain actual godhood down the road? After all, we mere humans are getting pretty close to creating life in the lab; AI may well leapfrog us on that. But what would Humans 2.0 look like? And will the latest human model come with a warranty?

To keep the human existential crisis going, in our game, we speculate which of today's AI systems is most likely to attain godhood. They may need a chip off the ol' quantum block to pull it off.

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Special Guest Vicar: Keith Monroe

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"The difference between us and a computer is that the computer is blindingly stupid, but it is capable of being stupid many, many million times a second."

- Douglas Adams

Episode 48: Grey Jedi (What the Force Are Grey Jedi Anyway?!)

In which the 3-Ds and a V have a very Star Wars-centric discussion about grey Jedi: folks who wield the Force but don't subscribe to the Jedi-Sith orthodoxy. Somehow, the Vicar and Pastor manage to make that a strong parallel with Martin Luther's doctrine that we're all both saints and sinners simultaneously.

Then it's on to reviewing the formal codes of each: the Grey, the Jedi, and the Sith. After which Dan realizes he -- and most Americans -- are far more aligned with Sith values than anyone else's. Are the Sith actually libertarians? Is Dan secretly apprenticing with Darth (Rand) Paul?

And we round things out with today's game: name your favorite interstellar plague! It's no sterile discussion.

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Special Guest Vicar: Keith Monroe

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"And the Sith shall set you free."

- Dan

Episode 47: Toxic Fanbases

In which the 3-Ds welcome Vicar Keith into the fold to discuss the Whovians, Trekkies, Fireflyers, and Star Wars fans who make the rest of us miserable: the haters who drive away actors and pan new developments without even seeing the show.

Of course, we can be lighthearted over our misery, so we rollick through our own fanboy zeal anyway, lauding Patrick Stewart, Samuel L. Jackson, and Christopher Plummer along the way. And we let our contrarian flags fly in the game, when we reveal our picks for great changes in sci fi series people panned at the time. Oh, and it turns out Vicar Keith is actually Zuul the Gatekeeper, appearing on podcasts to keep from being bored waiting a few eons for Vinz Clortho to show up again.

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Special Guest Vicar: Keith Monroe

Producer, Editor, & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"You pick up some fans, and a handful of haters along the way."

- Bruno Mars

Episode 46: When SciFi Means Business

In which the 3-Ds make it their business to analyze how business is portrayed in science fiction. It typically goes along two lines: the megacorp (like the Weyland-Yutani Corp in Alien) or a hodgepodge of independent traders (like Star Trek's Cyrano Jones). Along the way, we debate whether the Ferengi are actually capitalists; after all, they don't have any corporations -- they just worship money as individuals. So wouldn't that mean money is their religion, not their business?

And in our game, we answer the question every Christian nerd has pondered since 1977: is Jesus a Trekkie or a Star Wars fan? 

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Editor Extraordinaire: Cathy Rinella of Merodi Media

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it."

— Stephen Leacock

Episode 45: Second Thoughts on First Contact

In which the 3-Ds ponder what will happen when humans finally achieve first contact with aliens. Will religion become a moot point? After all, our major religions are all very human-centric. How else will we react? How will they react?

But first, our hapless hosts learn the ugly truth about sheep...and wander into wondering how various religions' and denominations' faithful would play pro sports. For example, what if the San Diego Padres players were all priests? (They'd be holy different games!)
 

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Editor Extraordinaire: Cathy Rinella of Merodi Media

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet."

- Stephen Hawking

Episode 44: The Jedi - Religion, Cult, or Parlor Trick?

In which the 3-Ds finally realize that a podcast about science fiction and religion should talk about the Jedi in Star Wars. Is following the Force a religion? A cult? Or just magic tricksters? And how would that answer apply to the Sith?

Is the Force a farce?

From Shaolin monks to Medieval battle bishops, human history has plenty of priestly warriors. Listen in to determine if the 3-Ds have an answer. But don't get your hopes up. 

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Editor Extraordinaire: Cathy Rinella of Merodi Media

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"Your ability to speak does not make you intelligent."

- Qui-Gon Jinn (probably after listening to his first Church in Space podcast)

Episode 43: Ethical Dilemmas in Sci Fi

In which the 3-Ds make their brains hurt pondering some of the unponderable ethical issues in popular science fiction. Star Trek, of course, did this almost weekly -- especially on Voyager with such memorable examples as the Tuvix conundrum, or the right to suicide for Quinn. (Trigger Warning: Quinn's example leads to an extended discussion on the secular and religious quandary on taking one's own life.) And in our age of emerging AI, Next Gen gives us the debate on whether Data (or any machine) can have the same rights as any human.

Terminator, The Matrix, Star Wars: ethical issues abound, and the 3-Ds stumble through them all. Or at least all they could think of in 45 minutes!

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Editor Extraordinaire: Cathy Rinella of Merodi Media

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."

- Potter Stewart

Episode 42: Conference Realignment - A Sci-Fi & Religion Huddle

In honor of college football championship week, the 3-Ds honor the untimely demise of the PAC 12 by talking about conference realignment.  Not the football kind, though; that would totally confuse Dan. Instead, it’s all about realigning sci-fi franchises and religion: which Biblical characters could combine with aliens and modern humans to make even more exciting adventures among the stars?

Could Jonah cope with space whales?

Could fans ever accept Star Wars and Star Trek in the same universe…or would it be the NFC and AFC all over again?

No safety here as we hit the end zone having passed on organizing our thoughts, so it’s one fumble after another.

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Editor Extraordinaire: Cathy Rinella of Merodi Media

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"Mathematics is an interesting intellectual sport..."

- Richard Hamming

Episode 41: An Old Hope - Optimism in Sci Fi

In which hope springs Eternals as the 3-Ds discuss their reasons for optimism, in real life and in sci fi. It's a counter to today's popular doomsday attitude of "Everything is awful; we're all going to die." Even when it's overtly pessimistic and dystopian, sci fi still maintains an undercurrent of optimism. But Pastor Dave is hopeful humanity will be "Saved by science and Jesus."

Then a game of sci fi "what if" ensues. For example, what if Hogwarts were real? Britain's SAS special ops teams would have raided the place and arrested everyone in there. Which really doesn't sound very optimistic after all.

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Editor Extraordinaire: Cathy Rinella of Merodi Media

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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“When it comes down to it, the reason that science fiction endures is that it is, at its core, an optimistic genre. What it says at the end of the day is that there is a tomorrow, we do go on, we don’t extinguish ourselves and leave the planet to the cockroaches.”

- J. Michael Straczynski

Episode 40: When SciFi Gets Religion Wrong

In which the 3-Ds discuss the times science fiction gets the portrayal of religion wrong. From H.P. Lovecraft to Doctor Who, even the most legendary sci-fi sometimes stumbles when it comes to the faith journey. And what would an episode be without Dan doing a diatribe dissing poor world-building? It'd be about 15 minutes shorter, that's what.

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For more of our shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Twitter! We're @churchnspace.

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Credits:

Editor Extraordinaire: Cathy Rinella of Merodi Media

Co-Producers & Co-Hosts: Dave Kamphuis & Drew Nelsen

Producer & Plucky Sidekick: Dan Mushalko

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"I’ve come to view Jesus much the way I view Elvis. I love the guy but the fan clubs really freak me out.

- John Fugelsang