The Message

By Samuel Bauserman

One civilization sends a message into space. Civilizations on two other planets receive it and react in their way. Characters discuss overpopulation, religion, evolution, and others. This is written to show the state of the environment and how to preserve it. No specific dates are given, and most measurements are in metric units.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 26, 2001
• ISBN: 9781469712192

Samuel Bauserman

Samuel Bauserman graduated from Marshall University Laboratory High School in June 1967. After that, he spent four years at Marshall University, receiving a BS degree in Biology. Samuel has studied overpopulation and environmental matters since graduating from High School.

Book preview

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Cast of Characters

Prologue

PART ONE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

PART TWO

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

PART THREE

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

Epilogue

Afterward

About the Author

Preface

This preface will appear on this and all of my other novels, if I write more than one. This contains general information relating to all novels I will write. This preface will contain information about my novels, overpopulation and environmental issues, and religious material. This might not be extremely wise, since people might browse through this preface, learn my beliefs about the environment, the economy, and interpretation of the Bible, and decide not to buy it.

People need to know and accept various things about the planet we live on, and this might be a way to provide the information. This can show the results of bad national policy and the types of policies needed to have avoided such horror. Unfortunately, people might read this and just consider it a good work of fiction, leaving civilization on a high speed collision course with disaster.

I am extremely concerned about the dismal state of our civilization and the fact that our current policies are making things even worse. While many people worry about the state of the economy, the real problems facing the United States are overpopulation, economic growth, and dependence on nonrenewable resources. Those three are even larger threats to the survival of civilization as it is known today.

***

This novel, and most others I might write, will contain information about overpopulation, the environment, the economy, food, and energy.

They will also provide information about Christianity, science, and evolution. They will provide some religious symbols and some information about another subject, which will be different in each novel.

When writing, I try to put the information of what is needed where people can read it. I hope this novel, and perhaps others, will be helpful both to bring people to Christ, let them know God expects civilization to care for this planet, and tell some things that must be done for civilization as it is known today to survive. God will not directly punish a country for its misdeeds. If people from another country attack the United States, God did not send them. God will all this country to suffer the results of bad policies.

The United States, and the rest of the world are suffering from many problems. The main problem is overpopulation, which either causes other problems or makes them worse. We are also dependent on nonrenewable resources and face hunger in this country and other places on this planet. Some claim hunger is not food supply but politics. It is both, and caused by overpopulation. If food was grown in ways that would not damage the environment, food shortages would be worse.

The United States is critically overpopulated and cannot sustain its present population and GNP without seriously damaging the environment. The maximum population that can be sustained without damaging the earth depends partly on the maximum wealth that can be maintained using only renewable energy and without damaging the environment. Eventually, the wealth of the world must be produced only with recycled raw materials. Uneven distribution of wealth can cause poverty, but the main cause is overpopulation. Poor countries cannot be brought to a higher standard of living until their populations are reduced.

The maximum population depends on the amount of food that can be produced. Hunger and starvation also are the result of uneven distribution of food, but the planet cannot provide enough food to feed all its population without much environmental damage. Since farming on irrigated land can damage the earth, it should not be considered.

Some things absolutely must be done for civilization as it is known in the United States to survive. Population must be reduced. Economic growth must stop. Coal must be converted into substitutes for oil and gas. Renewable resources must be produced and we must gradually switch to them. We must conserve energy as much as is reasonable. We must drive and fly less often and ride trains and buses more often. Eventually, we must recycle everything.

Population can be reduced with or without abortion. A fetus is not a human being, although many people believe it is. Abortion does not kill a human, but prevents one from coming into existence. Now, many women are having abortions while other couples cannot have children, but want them. The best uses of abortion would be if the fetus is extremely deformed, or the birth control method being used failed. The United States and the rest of the Earth are so critically overpopulated that the birth rate must be kept as low as possible, so all methods of population reduction are needed. Abortions should be made available to anyone wanting them, although people should be encouraged to use birth control to prevent pregnancy. Governments and other organizations should spend time assuring couples they can have a full life without children.

If abortion is available, women could be forced to have an abortion if they got pregnant after having a healthy baby. This way, if their first child died young, they could have another. Without abortion, if there are not enough people willing to faithfully use birth control to keep the average number of children per family any higher than one, women would have to be sterilized after having a healthy baby. That way, the couple would not be able to have a second child if the first died when it was young. If a birth control method was available that required very few treatments each year, women could be forced to go on that after having a healthy baby.

China now is forcing women to have no more than one child. For some, this involves abortion. This might appear to be a harsh way to treat people, but life in China would continuously get worse if their population continued to increase. The United States is in the same condition, except we are able to use nonrenewable resources and farming techniques that have bad effects on the environment to maintain a good standard of living for a good portion of Americans. If the United States does not reduce population very soon, the United States will face a very dismal future. Even though China’s one child policy is quite harsh, it is much less harsh than the future if the Chinese do not continue that policy. China must not be criticized for this policy. It is their best choice.

The United States now cannot feed its own people now without damaging the earth, and cannot be expected to feed the rest of the people in the world, but should help other countries reduce their populations. Since the United States is overpopulated, it does not have room for more. The standard of living in undeveloped countries cannot be increased until their populations are reduced.

Capitalism and economic growth have brought the United States to a level of prosperity in the past. The present economic system is designed to operate in a climate of material and population growth. Our Social Security system now is designed so that retired people collect money contributed by working people. With an increasing population, the ratio of workers to retirees is one that will allow the system to work well. In a continuously increasing population, economy, and productivity, the government can continue to provide more services without increasing taxes.

The increased productivity and economic growth allowed each worker to produce more products and earn more money. This gives each worker a higher salary and a higher standard of living. However, this requires a continuously increasing supply of raw materials, food, and energy. The Earth is not capable of producing the needed materials, energy, and food needed to sustain this type and size of economy. The economy has now grown into something much larger than the planet can sustain without damage. The economy must now drastically change its method of operation.

***

My novels are written both to inform and entertain, which is probably a very unusual style of fiction today. They deal with more than one subject. They contain (NOTE: Some information is here.) sections to tell how parts of the story relate to the real world and to give the sources of some information. These sources are not in the correct form for a research paper, but this is not a research paper, but an unusual type of fiction, similar to writing found in parts of the Bible. Readers who do not like such notes are free to ignore them.

In dialog, the name of the character who said something almost always comes first. This is not the usual way of doing this, but I have a computer program that counts how many words each character says, and that program requires a Someone said at the beginning of the line. Also, I have read a few novels where no character’s name would appear in two pages, and I had to mark the lines spoken by the main character. The lines beginning with an indent and a double quote are lines spoken by characters I did not name.

Also, my characters are of no race, ethnic, or other group. My characters are neither tall, short, thin, or fat. They have no particular hair or eye color. This is not part of the story, but if any reader would like to assign physical features to the characters, that will not affect the story, and they are free to do so. Since these novels are set on different planets, the characters quite likely do not even look like humans living on the Earth. They probably do not have names common with Earth people, but I had to give major characters some type of names, and what I used were the best I could invent.

The same information, or even the same sentences, might be in different parts of the same novel or in different novels. This shows similar activity happening in different places.

At one time, I wrote dialog where the characters did not speak complete sentences. Later, I decided I liked complete sentence dialogs better. Therefore, my writing now contains both types of dialog.

My novels contain discussions about evolution and abortion. My major characters, and myself, accept evolution and favor making abortion available. The characters are Christian, but quite liberal. This type of scene is a minor part of the novel, but readers might want to be notified. I hope this does not cause people to decide not to read my novels.

***

Sometimes, I write debates, which must have an equally strong argument for each side of the issue. Unfortunately, when reading them, some readers might agree with the wrong side.

HINT: the main characters always argue for the correct side of the issue, and they are usually named Nancy, Sally, or Susan. I do not have those characters argue something unless I am certain the main characters are correct.

I place symbolic numbers and items in parts of my novels. Also, I sometimes use symbolic numbers in the number of chapters in each part, and in other ways, often to the detriment of literary quality. Most of my novels contain three parts, and each part contains seven chapters. Sometimes, this causes a problem of finding a chapter to insert time between two other chapters in one part. If I write something that needs that to happen too often, a part would need more than seven chapters. Sometimes, I combine chapters.

***

My novels are set on different planets in space, and the Bible on other civilizations (if any) would be different than our Bible. Our Bible is based on legends and events of the civilizations present when the stories in it were created. Bibles of other planets would contain the same values, but would be told differently. The other civilizations would have their own languages, also. However, in a work of fiction, these points can be ignored.

Nature and the Bible both reveal God, and we must study both. We can learn about God both by studying the laws of nature and by studying the Bible. We must worship only God, but must study nature also. God made the entire universe, and when scientists learn more about the way a part of the universe works, they learn about God. When people study the Bible, they learn the ideas, values, and ethics of God. Both are important. The problems of overpopulation, dwindling resources, and continuous economic growth were not mentioned in the Bible because they did not become destructive until well after the Bible was written.

HINT! I rarely mention what a character is wearing, so if I do, it probably does not mean I like that type of outfit.

***

People need to know and accept various things about this planet, and this might be a way to provide the information. This can show the results of bad national policy and the types of policies needed to have avoided such horror. Unfortunately, people might read this and just consider it a good work of fiction, leaving civilization on a high speed collision course with disaster.

I am extremely concerned about the dismal state of our civilization and the fact that our current policies are making things even worse. While many people worry about the state of the economy, the real problems facing the United States are overpopulation, economic growth, and dependence on nonrenewable resources. Those three are even larger threats to the survival of civilization as it is known today.

***

People must know they can accept evolution and still be faithful to God. I am concerned about people believing false ideas about the nature of the Bible and use writing similar to Bible writing in here. Some chapters may be more symbolic than others. Today, some beliefs are based on the literal interpretation of the Bible. This is wrong, and can lead people to lose faith when they finally realize the universe was extremely old when humans evolved. That belief would also make non believing scientists less likely to accept Christ.

How evolution happened is not known for certain today. Many who reject evolution completely use that to argue that evolution itself is false. This is not true. Evolution is a fact. There are various theories of how evolution happened, but that disagreement does not take away the fact that evolution happened in some way, and we are a result of that process. It is also a fact for all Christians who accept evolution that God started that process about twenty billion years ago.

I am concerned that some people who do not believe in God will be led away from God by some who believe God works through the supernatural or give the impression that to accept God and Christ, you must reject evolution. God actually created the universe about 15-20 billion years ago in such a way that humans would evolve on at least one planet. The Earth was not the planet God created specifically to put humans on, but is the one, or one of many, planets where humans actually evolved. In a sense, that could be said to mean God meant for us to evolve here. After that, God places ideas into the minds of some, if not all, people and expects them to follow His orders. However, humans make mistakes, sometimes large ones, and all the things God wants do not always get done.

The information I provide about bushes that burned but were not consumed were not found in any commentaries. However, that is physically impossible, and anything physically impossible will not happen on this planet. Also, some ages given are rare at that time and just happen to be symbolic numbers, or other types of special numbers. They are not to be taken literally, but are notices that the event or thoughts coming near them are special. Those who believe God uses the supernatural on the Earth, or suspends the laws of nature at times, will disagree.

Supernatural is used to represent something outside nature. Since everything that happens in the physical universe is within nature, it is not supernatural. Some events in the Bible are considered supernatural by people living today. These events are natural occurrences. Some natural occurrences of today can be considered signs of God. When some say something is supernatural, that is because they find the event outside what they understand with their present understandings of nature. With God, and in the physical universe, there is no supernatural, but some things are beyond the understanding of humans.

God exists in Heaven, which is a spiritual universe that cannot be sensed by our scientific instruments. While in the physical universe, we can only touch the spiritual universe by prayer and by God placing ideas in our minds. We arrive in the spiritual universe when we die physically and reach Heaven. Today, God works through people by giving them ideas of things they should do. The people do the work. If God appears not to be doing all of His work, that is because some people He assigned to do parts of it are not doing their parts of His work.

The opinions expressed in my novels are my opinions and not those of any organization where I belong. I write as a hobby, but hope my writing can communicate vital information about Christ and caring for the environment to readers.

Finally, I hope churches will work to assure people that Christianity and evolution do not conflict with each other. People can accept God, Christ, and evolution. I also hope churches will challenge their members to do what they can to care for this planet, including having no more children if they have one or more now and having no more than one if they have none now. This should be done in a manner that would not make couples that already have more than one child feel guilty for that. Many sermons have already been written on caring for the planet. I also hope everyone will slow down and enjoy the scenery whenever possible.

Acknowledgments

First, thanks to God for the ability, and opportunity to write and publish this novel, an example of some writing styles in the Bible, for word processors that check for spelling mistakes, and grammar checking programs, and for not giving me a deadline. The grammar checkers I have used are not perfect, but they are helpful. Also, thanks for forgiveness if any factual matters are wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, and I know there will be some in this book. With something this large, mistakes cannot be avoided, but they can be minimized and forgiven.

I also appreciate encouragement from friends.

The photograph on the front cover was taken by the author in the past, when color slide film was not extremely good. In the 30-40 years between the time the photograph was taken and the time this novel was published, the color dyes changed, giving the picture a good look for a setting on another planet.

The photograph on the back cover was taken by Arline Beveridge, who attends the same church the author attends.

My High School English teacher, Miss Dora Mitchell told the class she would like to write a story of a class where, at times, the intercom calls various students from the class until the classroom is empty. In the Biology Class chapter, this happens.

Jack Haga, retired pastor at my church helped with some secons of this book.

The sources of many quotations used in the novel will appear near the quotes themselves.

Introduction

This novel is designed to inform as well as entertain. It shows possible results of bad environmental and economic policies, and ends with a possible view of a nearly perfect world, although that is not the only way such a perfect world can be formed. It is quite possible the type of nearly perfect world I described would be impossible on the Earth. Actual communication between planets the way it happens here is almost impossible, which I mention during the story. However, this is a work of fiction, and in fiction anything that can be described with words can happen.

Since this is my first novel, and might also be my last, I wanted to put as much information on the environment, religion, and government in it as possible. This is one reason this novel is a bit large. Another reason is I put some information in more than one place, as the Bible also does.

I am not certain of this, but I believe God set things up so that much important information appears in more than one place in the Bible because the information had to go through many human brains before it was written in the book we call the Holy Bible. This way, people could read information stored in different places, using different types of writing. Readers might be able to take the different presentations and put them together.

Although I cannot predict the actual future of the United States, or any other economic, political, or social entity, I can give a general idea of a possible future if certain policies are followed. In the March-April 1993 issue of THE FUTURIST, page 9, Frederik Pohl discusses the work of science fiction writers. Such writers do not use formal methods of trying to predict the future. Pohl does not try to predict the future, but thinks of different types of things that might happen in the future. When one seems interesting, he writes a story about it. Not all works of science fiction are scenes the authors believe will actually happen in the future. Some are pure fantasy, and the author of them knows they are fantasy. Others are not. Pohl makes a statement, They are actually intended to serve as a distant early warning of stormy weather ahead, since the futures I describe are generally the sorts of things I would really dread and would do a lot to avoid.

Pohl also mentions a comment by Ray Bradbury when someone asked him if he thought FAHRENHEIT 451 was an accurate prediction of a real future. Ray replied, Good lord, no. I’m not trying to PREDICT the future. All I want to do is PREVENT it. This is what I would like to do here, but the chances this novel will make any changes are quite slim. At least, when I get to Heaven and God asks me what I did to make this planet a better place, I can say, I tried this.

Most of the In Memory chapter is quite gruesome and is not the type of reading to be digested close to mealtime, so read it with caution. Still, I consider it helpful for you to read that chapter, along with the rest of the book. A few other chapters are also horror stories, such as Nuclear Nightmare. In some chapters, characters warn of dire consequences if their suggestions are not followed. Generally, those people are ignored. I have probably put too much in this paragraph, already and given you a terrific hint of how the story ends, so no more of this. After all, I want you to read all of this book, including the horror stories and try to keep the real world from becoming a horror story in itself.

This was not an easy novel to write. With a limit of three parts, seven chapters per part, and needing an occasional chapter than does very little except to show the reader that time elapsed between two other chapters. Also, some information is presented in more than one chapter.

This began as a short story written in the fall of 1985, for a class in Creative Writing, featuring Sally and Her Planet. Soon after, that short story was re-written and became the beginning of this novel. During 1991, I added Nancy and Her Planet, and finally Susan and Her Planet.

Civilization on Nancy’s planet was on the verge of collapse. Just before it dies, a small group of people discovered another groups had sent messages into space, but those messages said the destructive policies were good ones. The small group manages to transmit instructions telling any other civilization that might receive it how to avoid that bad ending. Two other civilizations on two other planets receive the messages, and if I said any more of this, I would give away too much of the story. The three planet version was revised at different times.

I discuss abortion and gay rights in this novel. Gay rights appears in a short section in the The End is Near chapter. Abortion discussions are scattered in many short places, but the main discussion is in Perils of Capitalism.

I agree with Sally, Nancy, and Susan on the major issues they discuss, which is probably obvious. These are unusual characters. There are probably very few like them in the real world, which might be one reason the real world is in such bad shape. If any readers want to know ahead of time, my being pro-choice should have already come out in the preface. I also favor gay rights.

Dreams I write contain messages. The messages in this dream are more open than most. This is a good way to present messages from God to some human. In the Visit From Above chapter, I did my best to write quotes by the visitor that would agree with God’s thoughts. However, if I made a mistake, this could be considered an error in Nancy’s brain when she was interpreting the information.

In this novel, I am extremely rough on fundamentalism, capitalism, and economic growth. I am also rough on democracy, and just about all other types of government. You might say I am rough on the human race, itself. I hope this novel will influence civilization to improve.

Communion is observed in seven chapters. The chapter, In Memory was the first story I wrote containing communion. For quite some time, I wasn’t certain a layperson should write what could be considered to be a sermon. Later, I decided to write it, anyway.

Finally, in the entire novel, all chapters have seven scenes, or sections. This is done from the prologue to the epilogue, even though it sacrifices some of the literary quality of the novel.

Cast of Characters

All characters in this story are completely fictitious. No resemblance with actual people is intended. Some real people have the same names as characters in the story, but the story is not about any of them. These people and the planets where they live exist only in the story. However, if any readers would like to think of themselves as one of the good characters, that would be fine. If they want to consider themselves to be one of the not-so-good characters, that is ok with me, but such readers might wish to keep that to themselves.

Nancy and Her Planet

Alex: Owner of a chemical plant. Bill: Member of environmental organization, Major Country. Bob: Member of environmental organization, Major Country. Connie: Works with group sending the messages. David: Radar expert, Major Country military. Dennis: General, Major Country military. Don: An environmental scientist, Major Country military. Ellen: Pastor, at Nancy’s church. Fred: High school students. Harry: A conservative fundamentalist television preacher. Harvey: Principal at school where Nancy taught.

Joan: Members of Board of Education.

Larry: Nancy’s husband and liberal Defense worker.

Laura: Extremely conservative and fundamentalist Defense worker.

Mike: Connie’s husband.

Nancy: Environmentalist, high school science teacher, and writer.

Peggy: Extremely conservative and fundamentalist radio talk a show

hostess.

Scott: Members of Board of Education.

Steve: Members of Board of Education.

Sue: Members of Board of Education.

Sally and Her Planet

Ann: Nature photographer and environmentalist.

Betty: Part of a group studying the messages.

Carol: Owners of a large farm.

Darlene: Character in a dream.

Debbie: Extremely conservative and fundamentalist radio talk a show

hostess.

Gary: Conservative businessman, Major Country.

Gloria: Elected representative, Major Country.

Howard: Character in a dream.

Jim: Collects dead bodies for government.

Judy: Pastors at Sally’s church.

Karen: Fortuneteller.

Lewis: A conservative businessman.

Margaret: Part of a group studying the messages.

Mary: Elected representative, Major Country.

Roger: Extremely conservative preacher.

Sally: Environmentalist, high school science teacher, and writer.

Tim: Sally’s husband.

Susan and Her Planet

Alice: Citizen of Minor Country. Barry: Citizen of Minor Country. Dan: Citizen of Minor Country. Henry: Citizen of Minor Country. Susan: Environmentalist, high school science teacher, and writer. Charles: Susan’s husband. Cathy: Population policy official, Minor Country. Lois: Pastor at Susan’s church. Helen: Representative, Major Country. Jane: Population policy official, Minor Country. Jenny: Citizen of Minor Country. Kim: Citizen of Minor Country. Linda: Woman wanting two children, Minor Country. Martha: Population policy program manager, Minor Country. Maureen: Citizen of Minor Country. Peter: Citizen of Minor Country. Ralph: Extremely conservative television talks a show host.

7000 years later

Barbara: A religious scholar. Elaine: Works for a railroad. George: Historian. James: Sandy’s husband. John: Newspaper editor. Ruth: Scientist. Sandy: Works for a railroad. Also, a writer.

Prologue

In the beginning, God created the spiritual and physical universes. The design of the physical universe in the beginning was extremely important. God did not make the universe as a watchmaker makes a watch. This universe was designed to assemble itself. The amount of matter first in the physical universe was extremely critical, since it would determine how the universe would evolve. It would even determine whether living beings, and humans, could evolve. Too much matter, and the universe would expand and contract back to its original state so fast that nothing significant could evolve. Not enough and the universe would be so thin that no stars and planets could evolve. There was little difference between too much and not enough. At first, the universe was so hot that atoms could not exist. Protons, neutrons, and electrons could not even exist. The universe contained only the basic particles, forces, and natural laws. Some people have discovered six quarks. They have been named up, down, strange, charm, top, and bottom. Some people have discovered the weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force, gravity, and magnetism. Some natural laws have also been discovered. If the weak force was slightly stronger, the universe would be nothing but hydrogen. If the weak force was slightly weaker, the universe would contain nothing except helium. Both results would have prevented us from evolving. In the beginning, everything was planned and designed to evolve in the manner God desired. This part of creation was done by God’s design. After this phase, both chance and design would be involved. A period of time had elapsed and the universe was about to evolve as God intended. God said it was good.

Immediately after the creation, the universe began to expand. In time, atoms could exist. As the expansion continued, parts of the universe cooled. About one billion years after the beginning, clouds of hydrogen gas formed, being more dense in some places, forming what would become stars and galaxies. Some of the dense areas of hydrogen became compressed by gravity and began to get hot. Their gravity attracted more hydrogen and they got hotter. In time, the hydrogen began to fuse into helium. Stars had just evolved. Some early stars burned their hydrogen fuel until it was gone, and then exploded and released the helium into space. The helium fused into heavier elements in other stars. Other stars collapsed into white dwarves, neutron stars, and black holes. After many billion years, many heavy elements were present in the universe. As some dense clouds of material gathered, some heavy elements formed clumps dense enough to hold the chemicals together, but not dense enough to ignite, while a dense clump in the center of the system ignited and formed a star. The results of the ignition blew all other gases away from the rest of the young solar system, forming a cloud of comets about one light-year from the sun. One solar system contained several planets and a dwarf star, emitting no light, orbiting its sun about once in thirty million years. One planet contained the amount of gravity and density needed to sustain life, but its atmosphere was poisonous at that time. This might also be happening around other stars. Close to the time stars and galaxies began to evolve, random elements would shape the universe and everything in it, but the random elements would be restricted by the natural laws God created in the universe. A period of time had elapsed and the universe was evolving as God intended in the beginning. God said it was good.

More time passed. By human measure, very much, but by God’s measure, very little. On one young planet (and almost certainly other planets at various times) volcanoes belched out many chemicals, including carbon dioxide. The atmosphere also contained methane, hydrogen, and water vapor. Violent electrical storms caused other chemicals to form. Eventually, compounds formed that could make crude copies of themselves. Extremely crude, single celled life forms evolved on one planet in the universe, although there was no oxygen there. These life forms reproduced very quickly. Most offspring died. The process of evolution is a simple one. Basically, evolution of life forms was done by the process of natural selection of random mutations. Life forms produced more offspring than could survive. At first, the life forms contained only one cell, and they reproduced simply by dividing. The two offspring contained copies of the genetic material in the parent. Usually the genetic material was copied correctly, but mistakes happened at times. These mutations formed completely by chance. Natural selection was based on the laws of nature God made in the beginning and the conditions formed by the process in the past. This was the element of design. A few were not reproduced exactly, but contained mutations. Most mutations were fatal, but occasionally, a mutated offspring was able to survive conditions better than others, or could survive some conditions extremely few, if any, others could. Those had more offspring, and became a larger portion of the population. A period of time had elapsed and the universe was evolving as God intended in the beginning. God said it was good.

Again, more time elapsed. The process of evolution continued. Life forms evolved that were able to take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen. Of course, other materials were used in the process. These life forms were in shallow water, where there was enough light. Gradually, oxygen became a major part of the planet’s atmosphere, and an ozone layer formed that would block some ultraviolet light, making the planet safe for other forms of life that would evolve later. A period of time had elapsed and the universe was evolving as God intended in the beginning. God said it was good. There was another type of life, also. The single cell organisms contained all the chemicals needed to reproduce themselves. Other life forms, commonly known as viruses, also evolved, although it is not certain which evolved first. These viruses contained a protein coat and a strand of genetic material inside. The protein coat would attach itself to a single celled life form and inject the genetic material inside. Then, the single cell would use its chemicals to make copies of the virus genes and later make complete viruses. The viruses would eventually cause the single cell to rupture and spill the viruses in search of other single cell organisms too invade. A period of time had elapsed and the universe was evolving as God intended in the beginning. God said it was good.

Time elapsed and evolution continued. Multicellular organisms evolved. Later, in these colonies, some of the cells evolved into specialized sensory receptors, such as eyes and ears. Part of the universe could then see and hear. So far on the planet, life forms were in the water. The oceans were filled with different creatures. A crude form of sexual reproduction evolved about this time, and speeded up the process of evolution. This sexual reproduction basically consisted of two single cell life forms of the same species coming together, forming tubes between their cell membranes, and exchanging genetic material. This is known as conjugation. A more advanced form of this would evolve later. Animals evolved and ate the plants and sometimes other animals for food. The animals ate the food and used the oxygen. In the deep areas, other life forms gained energy for life directly from chemicals spewing from vents in the ocean floor, since there was no light there to support photosynthesis. The planet contained many different types of environments, and life forms evolved to fit the environments that could sustain life. Evolution basically was the same everywhere, but the different environments selected different types of life forms. A period of time had elapsed and the universe was evolving as God intended in the beginning. God said it was good.

Much more time elapsed. On at least one planet, life forms evolved ways to hold water inside their bodies while they were not in water and moved on the land. At times (approximately thirty million years) a group of comets that were blown away when the sun first ignited were sent out of the cloud, possibly by a dwarf star orbiting far away from the sun. Some comets bombarded the planet, causing catastrophic changes in the environment, causing many species of life to suddenly become extinct (according to theory: this star has not been found, but periodic mass extinctions have occurred on the planet), and prodding the process of evolution. More complex forms evolved. Later, larger brains evolved. After a few more billion years, the planet (and again, perhaps other planets) contained life forms with brains complex enough to contain a mind, or consciousness, and a soul, or contact with the Creator. God then created souls for those creatures and left them in charge of the planets they inhabited. God told them to fill their planets to the carrying capacity with other such creatures. Unfortunately, there were still some single cell life, multicellular life, and viruses that attacked those higher life forms. A period of time had elapsed and the universe was evolving as God intended in the beginning. God said it was good.

From God’s basic design of the universe, life forms in God’s image had evolved in the physical universe. These were life forms able to contain souls, and able to communicate with God to some limited extent. They are referred to as sentient life forms in science fiction, and perhaps other things. Communication from one of the humans to God was easy, although the humans misunderstood God’s messages to them at times. Some understood God’s messages better than others. This was possibly the only such life form on the planet they inhabited, but not necessarily the only such life forms in the universe. God instructed the life forms to enjoy the universe they inhabited and to understand it the best of their ability. God also instructed them to be stewards of all they were capable of exploring and using, to preserve, not destroy, the parts of the universe under their charge. This phase of creation was finished. God rested and said everything was very good. This time was the beginning of a Second Phase of the Creation. In the First Phase, God created the universe and allowed it to assemble itself what it is today. In the Second phase, God would again take an active role in the universe. This would be done in those planets containing sentient life forms, such as humans. God placed instructions into the minds and souls of the humans. Unfortunately, none of those humans obeyed God exactly, and a large portion were really bad. God provided ways to atone for their sins. God established ways for people to make sacrifices and offerings. Then, God provided the Third Phase. God sent His Son Jesus to die for the forgiveness of the sin of everyone. No more sacrifices were needed. Until this time, life forms produced almost as many offspring as their bodies were physically able to do. These humans in time were able to limit the number of children they bore, and were expected to use that knowledge to avoid overloading the planet they inhabited. Some of those sentient life forms pondered the question of whether they and the planets they inhabited came into existence by chance or design. God used both processes to create the universe and everything in it. Humans were not intended to exist on specific planets, but on some planets somewhere in the universe. God designed the universe so that many galaxies would form. The galaxies would have many stars. A portion of those stars would have planets. A portion of the planets would be suitable for life. Life would actually evolve on some of those planets. Intelligent life would form on some of those. Advanced civilizations would form on some of those. This planet is suitable for life because, if it was not, people would not be on this planet, but would be on a planet that is, asking why it is suitable for life.

PART ONE

Nancy and Her Planet

CHAPTER 1

Visit from Above

Nancy heard of three basic dream plots. Falling, trying to do something without success, and learning experiences. Sometimes, Nancy would dream of falling. Actually, all her senses turned off, but she stayed in that state for about seven seconds and would wake up. She often dreamed of trying to convince someone to believe something, with no success. She also dreamed of learning all sorts of things, but could not remember them after she woke up.

(NOTE: These came from Carl Sagan’s THE DRAGONS OF EDEN. The book mentioned two more, but five is not a symbolic number and three is.)

Nancy knew all people dream every night, but usually do not remember the dreams at all. Of the dreams people remember, most are remembered only for a short time. However, Nancy occasionally remembered a dream for a larger period of time. Most such dreams were extremely unrealistic. During the dream, Nancy would believe it was real, but after she was awake, she would realize it was only a dream.

In the dreams, strange things would sometimes happen. Sometimes, Nancy had a supernatural power and could point at another person, desire something to happen, and some force would come from her hand and either kill or another horrible thing to the person. In other dreams, Nancy would look at a book. She would not be able to read, but would somehow know what was written in the book.

Nancy remembered her nightmares were in three basic types. In one of the first type of dream, the setting was the living room of a house. However, each time she walked through a door, Nancy would re-enter the same living room. Other times, she would walk into a room, turn around, and notice that the door had vanished and she was trapped.

In the second type of dreams, Nancy would attempt to do something and fail. One was that she woke up and was late for some appointment. Once, this was a class at the university. She had problems getting ready. After becoming extremely frustrated, Nancy would wake up and notice she really had plenty of time. In other dreams of this type, she would attempt to convince someone else of some fact, but the other person would not accept the facts.

In the third type, Nancy would be running to try to keep someone from catching her. In some of these, Nancy would actually see someone trying to either kill her of beat her up. In others, she would only know someone wanted to hurt her. During the dream, Nancy would be extremely frightened, but after she really woke up, she would realize she was only dreaming. Nancy would feel like she had just watched a movie, even though it was sometimes like a horror movie.

Almost all Nancy’s dreams (that she could remember) had no more than five scenes. Most had only four or less. One scene would be like one room Nancy just left. If Nancy walked from one room to a hall, and then outside, that would be three scenes. Sometimes, she would get trapped in the last scene. Other times, the last scene would disintegrate while she was dreaming. In some dreams, the last scene would get smaller, collapsing in on Nancy.

In many dreams, the scenes would not be consistent. Once, Nancy walked to a very small shack and inside the door. The inside was extremely large. In another dream, Nancy walked from one room into another. Then, she walked back to the first room. However, this was not the room she just left, but something completely different. Often, this different room was the last scene, either trapping Nancy or collapsing on her.

Once, Nancy had an extremely realistic dream. She was on the platform of a train station. She walked along the platform and came to the station building. She saw a schedule posted beside a door, listing one train due in four hours. One section of the building projected out so that people inside that section could see activity on the track going both ways.

Nancy entered the main building and found herself inside a small room. There are several rows of wood seats in the room. What looked like an old teller window at a bank was at one corner of the room, which was a ticket window. Nancy looked through the ticket window and saw nobody. A place to hand baggage between the waiting room and a railroad employee was beside the ticket window.

Nancy sat on one of the seats in the waiting room and thought of the enjoyment she once had riding passenger trains. While she was sitting in the room, someone entered from the outside door. The visitor said he was sent from Heaven to seek Nancy. This man was wearing what appeared to be an ordinary suit, except it was white as snow. Nancy was wearing a black dress.

***

The visitor said, I am a minor representative of God who took the form of a human to visit this planet. Some people have occasionally announced an exact date when all Christians will suddenly be transported to Heaven, calling it Rapture and describing it as like a time all Christians are suddenly brought to Heaven by some supernatural force. They believe a non-Christian living when the Rapture occurs will see Christians suddenly vanish into thin air, or something like that. Those people were mistaken about the end of the world. Many such dates have passed and this planet is still here. Besides, that is not the way that will happen. The Scripture references they gave to support those rapture times were symbolic passages and were not literally true. Judgment Day is different for each person. For each person, it is the day that person dies.

Nancy said, I never believed a representative from God would visit me. Such visits should go to people of more intelligence, wisdom, and understanding. I almost doubt that you are a representative of God, but, somehow, I have this feeling that you are who you say you are. I still wonder why God would send you to me, unless you picked me at random. I am not popular. I am not persuasive. Actually, people usually ignore my opinions. I am not like most people. Most people say I have exceedingly lousy judgment. They say my judgment in political, economic, and environmental matters is even worse.

The visitor said, You are very different and also very special. You have found extremely great favor with God. You are one of a few people to have such favor with God. You serve God exceedingly well.

Nancy said, Why would God choose me?

The visitor said, God asked me to visit you. He mentioned you by name. Your beliefs that you just told me are correct. You have much wisdom and intelligence. God has an assignment for you.

Nancy said, Tell me more about this assignment God wants me to do.

The visitor said, This world, and even this country, are critically overpopulated. Your country can only sustain about 40 million people, and this planet can sustain about 250 million people. These are the maximum numbers of people that can be sustained without damaging the planet. You must remember the type of future that the present policies are moving civilization toward.

Nancy said, If I said that in public, almost everyone would laugh at me, even normally polite people. Those who didn’t laugh at me would only be trying to be polite. Nobody would believe that, and after I said that, people would not listen to anything else I say for the rest of my life!

The visitor said, Almost all activity in this country depends on oil. Automobiles, trucks, airplanes, trains, and food harvesting equipment either use something refined from petroleum or electricity. Industry uses coal, oil, natural gas, and electricity. Homes use gas, oil, and electricity. Electricity is generated mainly by burning coal, but the coal is transported to the electric generating plant by devices that use oil. Food is harvested and transported to the grocery store by machines fueled by oil. Substitutes for oil can be produced, but the equipment for producing them must be built before the substitutes are needed. Also, oil or oil substitutes will be needed to construct those plants.

Nancy said, Everyone is certain we have plenty of oil. The gas stations have plenty on hand.

The visitor said, The oil reserves are almost gone, and if this country does not make preparations soon, the food production system will collapse.

Nancy said, If you are right, civilization is in grave danger.

The visitor said, It will be bad enough if the country does not do what I said it must. You are extremely wise and smart. You can tell right from wrong much better than most people.

Nancy said, I might be wise and smart, but I am usually broke. I could have been quite rich for the last seven years if I agreed not to reveal trade secrets, but I am certain that is immoral, although the capitalist economy here just about forces business to do the evil things. Still, I don’t want to do what I thought was evil. Now, I live day to day, wondering if I will find enough work to make enough money to keep up to date on environmental issues, pay the bills, and buy enough food to stay alive for another week. I hope I will not get sick, since I cannot afford health care. Still, I fell better about myself than I would if I did what that business wanted. Most of my friends tell me those who do what is right in the sight of God will prosper while those who do what is evil in God’s sight will not prosper. As I see it, it is the other way around.

The visitor said, You have the correct priorities. God never said you would prosper in the physical world if you followed Him. Indeed, Jesus said you would face hard times in the physical universe if you followed Him, but would eventually find rest in Heaven.

Nancy said, Is there a real chance that some relatively good future can come to pass, or will everyone be forced to live the miserable future you described earlier?

The visitor said, Unfortunately, the truth is often not accepted until too late. In the past, when there was none of the high technology we have now, mistakes did not cause as much damage, and civilization would suffer, but would eventually recover. Now, the people of the planet are in a position to tell if the planet the next generation will inherit will be able to sustain this type of civilization. Mainly, the population must decrease.

Nancy said, I do not approve the use of fertility drugs, in vitro fertilization, and surrogate mothers, when the country is so critically overpopulated. A good alternative would be to assure people they can live good lives even if they do not have children. Adoption might be another good alternative. Even so, an average of three children per family has the same effect on the environment, whether the children are born to the families raising them or are adopted.

The visitor said, Whatever methods are used, the population must be reduced, economic growth must stop, and everything must be recycled. As it becomes possible, all energy must be switched to renewable sources as the population comes down. This will require an immensely expensive policy now, but not doing the things I said must be done in past conversations will cost even more in the future. Unfortunately, your generation has been given the responsibility of making decisions that will determine the fate of civilization in the far future. Indeed, this generation might even determine whether or not the planet future generations will inherit will even be habitable.

Nancy said, Those things are so unpopular that people probably will not even listen to me. Even if they do listen, not nearly enough, if any, will believe. And if anyone does believe, they will not get enough people to do enough to do any good. If those things really must be done, we’re doomed!

The visitor said, They must be done.

Nancy said, I think the best plan would be to force women to be sterilized after having a healthy baby. This will not be the most fair plan, but will be the easiest to implement. I also believe the use of fertility drugs, in vitro fertilization, and surrogate mothers, when the country is so critically overpopulated is not wise. A good alternative would be to assure people they can live good lives even if they do not have children. Adoption might be another good alternative. Even so, an average of three children per family has the same effect on the environment, whether the children are born to the families raising them or are adopted.

The visitor said, You show good reasoning ability.

Nancy said, I don’t think anyone, even God himself, could convince many people to have only one child, and shooting most of the people to reduce population is certainly a bad idea. Most people do not believe the country is overpopulated, and most also do not believe the coal, oil, and gas shortages really exist. If I speak of those things, people will quit asking for and accepting my opinion on other matters, and they do not do that many times, as it is now. Many people care about me as a fellow Christian, but consider my judgment lousy.

The visitor said, But these things absolutely MUST be done. Actually, this must be done so soon that we might as well say these things must begin to be done right now.

Nancy said, Still, fewer than one in 7000 people will even believe it is needed, and fewer still will be willing to do those things.

***

The visitor said, Economic growth must stop. I already said that. The economy must become sustainable. Business that extract material from the ground must close. Business must quit releasing pollutants to the environment, but everything they produce must be a useful product that does no harm to the environment, be degradable, or be used as a raw material for another business. All raw materials must be recycled materials or renewable resources.

Nancy said, Everyone I know believes economic growth is needed. They tell me the economy would collapse if it quits growing. It is reasonable that it cannot grow forever, but I will never get the rest of this country to believe growth must stop.

The visitor said, Capitalism and economic growth have brought this country to a level of prosperity in the past. The present economic system is designed to operate in a climate of material and population growth. Your Social Security system now is designed so that retired people collect money contributed by working people. With an increasing population, the ratio of workers to retirees is one that will allow the system to work well. In a continuously increasing population, economy, and productivity, the government can continue to provide more services without increasing taxes. The increased productivity and economic growth allow each worker to produce more products and earn more money. This gives the workers higher salaries and a higher standard of living. However, this requires continuously increasing raw materials, food, and energy, and the planet is not capable of producing the increased raw materials, energy, and food needed to sustain this type of economy. The economy has now grown into something much larger than the planet can sustain without damage. Growth must stop now, and the economy must change its method of operation.

Nancy said, I prefer a communist or socialist economy. That might be partly because I cannot work well, if at all, in a working environment where I am paid according to what I produce, which is the basic philosophy of capitalism.

The visitor said, That does not make you a bad person. I consider you better than most because you want to make the country better. Most just want to get as much money as they can, regardless of how they get it.

Nancy said, Still, almost everyone else favors capitalism. Most believe God directly instructed us to use capitalism.

The visitor said, If this country retains capitalism as its main economic system, business, wages, dividends, interest rates, and prices should be regulated to allow the small business to remain in business as they would with the government running large businesses. Regulation could also make certain that all needs are met. Whatever economic system is used, business must be regulated so that it is sustainable, does not harm the environment, and uses recycled materials, and renewable energy as that energy becomes available.

Nancy said, I cannot understand why people would favor capitalism. The Bible instructs us to work not only for our own interests, but for the interests of others. Communism is almost exactly like that instruction and capitalism is the exact opposite.

The visitor said, I am concerned by some things I hear. The communist economic system is based on everyone contributing whatever abilities they have for the benefit of the community and take what they need. Communist economies do not pay people according to what they produce, and so people do not work for personal profit, but to benefit the community. In a capitalist economy, people work to obtain profit for themselves and are paid according to how much they produce. The communist economy is almost exactly what Jesus commands us regarding work and property. Capitalism is the opposite, but some Christians appear to believe capitalism is the type of economic system God instructed us to use. Also, capitalism is both the most popular system and the most successful at providing a good standard of living. This bothers me because it shows that people are selfish, and work mainly when rewarded by material wealth and not when rewarded by a sense that they helped God provide for others.

Nancy said, "I think you are right about people being greedy. I also think selfishness and stupidity are the main causes of overpopulation and will be the reasons this civilization is not likely to do the main things needed to survive. They insist on capitalism and democracy. Many critical things are unprofitable and unpopular. With democracy, the