Double Glance
This is a novel I started in April 2011. It is a Christian novel based in the 2051 postmodern America about the topic of human cloning. I had not been giving out much information about it, but now I am doing a big reveal. I also will post an excerpt online.
I am more optimistic about this novel than I have about any other novel I have started, and that is saying a lot. So far, the novel is going very well. I am excited about the progress of the novel so far. At the moment, I am writing the ending of the novel and will write more of the novel this way (it is easier for me to keep up with the novel's progress). At the time of my writing this, I have written 40 pages, or 5,858 words, and I plan for the novel to be 200-300 pages (at this rate, it may take a while, but I am very glad at the pace I have been writing it).
It is written so everyone can enjoy it. It is not just a book for Christians.
I am more optimistic about this novel than I have about any other novel I have started, and that is saying a lot. So far, the novel is going very well. I am excited about the progress of the novel so far. At the moment, I am writing the ending of the novel and will write more of the novel this way (it is easier for me to keep up with the novel's progress). At the time of my writing this, I have written 40 pages, or 5,858 words, and I plan for the novel to be 200-300 pages (at this rate, it may take a while, but I am very glad at the pace I have been writing it).
It is written so everyone can enjoy it. It is not just a book for Christians.
Characters:
Cedric Sharp - A pastor in 2051 postmodern America.
Kathryn Rosa - An anchorwoman for a television station.
Cedric Sharp - A pastor in 2051 postmodern America.
Kathryn Rosa - An anchorwoman for a television station.
Double Glance
Excerpt. Chapter 1
Chapter 1: We Meet Cedric
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” Genesis 1:27.
The year was 2051, and the United States of America had just seen its next scientific advancement—or so it thought. The first human was successfully cloned, and the media was growing more and more excited about the ramifications that this would bring humans. News of this success had already spread to the rest of the known world in less than two hours after the completion of the delicate operation. Most of the US citizens took to this advancement very well; however, there still were skeptics to the scientific discovery. One of the major opponents was a well-respected preacher by the name of Cedric Sharp. Although he was a well-respected preacher in the Christian circles, his political standing was still not accepted by the world, and his position on the cloning issue was no exception.
Despite a small opposition, the scientists behind the cloning experiment were soon overwhelmed with requests to be cloned. Their photographs were on countless front pages of newspapers, and they were constantly bombarded with interview requests from all types of media. Weeks later, and they would still be the most discussed news item.
The scientists involved with the experiments kept the clone and its human model for further testing over a period of several months. If all tests came back successful, the scientific team would be able to get Congress’ approval for a government grant to allow citizens to clone themselves. News of this possibility spread through the media, and well-known celebrities gave their opinions on the topic as well.
Pastor Cedric Sharp was on the news during the following few months and viewed negatively by the media and by American citizens that were, for the most part, enthusiastic about the new breakthrough. Since the first decade of the 21st century, America had seen a large decline in church attendance as well as a large moral decay unlike any preceding century. Divorce was now at seventy-five percent of the population, and marriage itself had seen a large deterioration since the majority of the couples lived together unmarried. Part of this decline in marriage was the sudden economic crisis that had happened almost forty years earlier, causing many citizens to file bankruptcy or get larger loans. However, the majority of the failed marriages was caused by the moral decay of the country. This was the world in which Cedric Sharp was to speak up as a Christian preacher. America had quickly become as apathetic toward religion as Europe became during the end of the 20th century.
Being the minority in a postmodern world, Pastor Cedric’s interviews with the media were always put in a negative light. Television crews now asked his opinion on the issue of cloning.
“Cedric, what is your take on human cloning?”
“Well, the way I see it, we were created in God’s image, and if we ourselves were created by God, then we should not attempt to play God and find new ways to create new humans.”
“Most of us here in the US do not have the same view on religion as you do. Why should we listen to your views on cloning?”
“America started with a freedom of religion, but it also started with a Christian majority. Our roots as a country are in Christianity; even if some of the Founding Fathers were not themselves Christian, they cooperated well with the Christians and did not seem to have much of an issue with the Christian majority.”
“Over the past few decades, though, we have seen a decline in Christianity.”
“But that does not make Christianity invalid; just because something is not accepted in the majority does not make it wrong. When Christianity was accepted in the US, it was not accepted as a majority in every country worldwide. Did that make Christianity right for US citizens but not for citizens of another country where another religion was in the majority?”
The television anchor leading the interview, Kathryn Rosa, ended the interview soon after she responded to his rhetorical question. She had seen enough of his views, and she had no intentions of ever seeing things his way. That night, the station aired the interview during its nightly newscast, and the interview was aired with major portions of the interview cut out, carefully leaving the audience with only the negative things that Pastor Cedric had said.
Pastor Cedric saw the interview, but he didn’t expect the station to leave in any of the good parts of the interview since his world was much darker and the media wanted to twist his views for the audience.
Not only had the US become less Christian: the world had become significantly more anti-religious. Treaties between countries had been signed that would have been considered miraculous, had the current world believed in miracles. With this new peace that seemed to inhabit the entire globe also came an arrogance among the inhabitants of the world’s countries. Mankind had come to a point where it believed itself was the answer to solving problems; therefore, in this new widespread belief, cloning was deemed one of the major ways to solve problems, and humans would be the agents to solve these problems. A god was not needed in this postmodern world since man was the god of the planet. Any problem that needed to be solved could be resolved by man’s desire to fix the problem rather than an unseen celestial being that did not seem to respond in time. This is how the people began to think in the middle of the 21st century. These thoughts were not new, but this was the widespread consensus of the world, and it was the first time that all countries seemed to share this belief as a whole. Religion, in the eyes of the world, was old-fashioned. Science held all the answers, according to the world, and cloning was just the beginning to solving the world’s problems.
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” Genesis 1:27.
The year was 2051, and the United States of America had just seen its next scientific advancement—or so it thought. The first human was successfully cloned, and the media was growing more and more excited about the ramifications that this would bring humans. News of this success had already spread to the rest of the known world in less than two hours after the completion of the delicate operation. Most of the US citizens took to this advancement very well; however, there still were skeptics to the scientific discovery. One of the major opponents was a well-respected preacher by the name of Cedric Sharp. Although he was a well-respected preacher in the Christian circles, his political standing was still not accepted by the world, and his position on the cloning issue was no exception.
Despite a small opposition, the scientists behind the cloning experiment were soon overwhelmed with requests to be cloned. Their photographs were on countless front pages of newspapers, and they were constantly bombarded with interview requests from all types of media. Weeks later, and they would still be the most discussed news item.
The scientists involved with the experiments kept the clone and its human model for further testing over a period of several months. If all tests came back successful, the scientific team would be able to get Congress’ approval for a government grant to allow citizens to clone themselves. News of this possibility spread through the media, and well-known celebrities gave their opinions on the topic as well.
Pastor Cedric Sharp was on the news during the following few months and viewed negatively by the media and by American citizens that were, for the most part, enthusiastic about the new breakthrough. Since the first decade of the 21st century, America had seen a large decline in church attendance as well as a large moral decay unlike any preceding century. Divorce was now at seventy-five percent of the population, and marriage itself had seen a large deterioration since the majority of the couples lived together unmarried. Part of this decline in marriage was the sudden economic crisis that had happened almost forty years earlier, causing many citizens to file bankruptcy or get larger loans. However, the majority of the failed marriages was caused by the moral decay of the country. This was the world in which Cedric Sharp was to speak up as a Christian preacher. America had quickly become as apathetic toward religion as Europe became during the end of the 20th century.
Being the minority in a postmodern world, Pastor Cedric’s interviews with the media were always put in a negative light. Television crews now asked his opinion on the issue of cloning.
“Cedric, what is your take on human cloning?”
“Well, the way I see it, we were created in God’s image, and if we ourselves were created by God, then we should not attempt to play God and find new ways to create new humans.”
“Most of us here in the US do not have the same view on religion as you do. Why should we listen to your views on cloning?”
“America started with a freedom of religion, but it also started with a Christian majority. Our roots as a country are in Christianity; even if some of the Founding Fathers were not themselves Christian, they cooperated well with the Christians and did not seem to have much of an issue with the Christian majority.”
“Over the past few decades, though, we have seen a decline in Christianity.”
“But that does not make Christianity invalid; just because something is not accepted in the majority does not make it wrong. When Christianity was accepted in the US, it was not accepted as a majority in every country worldwide. Did that make Christianity right for US citizens but not for citizens of another country where another religion was in the majority?”
The television anchor leading the interview, Kathryn Rosa, ended the interview soon after she responded to his rhetorical question. She had seen enough of his views, and she had no intentions of ever seeing things his way. That night, the station aired the interview during its nightly newscast, and the interview was aired with major portions of the interview cut out, carefully leaving the audience with only the negative things that Pastor Cedric had said.
Pastor Cedric saw the interview, but he didn’t expect the station to leave in any of the good parts of the interview since his world was much darker and the media wanted to twist his views for the audience.
Not only had the US become less Christian: the world had become significantly more anti-religious. Treaties between countries had been signed that would have been considered miraculous, had the current world believed in miracles. With this new peace that seemed to inhabit the entire globe also came an arrogance among the inhabitants of the world’s countries. Mankind had come to a point where it believed itself was the answer to solving problems; therefore, in this new widespread belief, cloning was deemed one of the major ways to solve problems, and humans would be the agents to solve these problems. A god was not needed in this postmodern world since man was the god of the planet. Any problem that needed to be solved could be resolved by man’s desire to fix the problem rather than an unseen celestial being that did not seem to respond in time. This is how the people began to think in the middle of the 21st century. These thoughts were not new, but this was the widespread consensus of the world, and it was the first time that all countries seemed to share this belief as a whole. Religion, in the eyes of the world, was old-fashioned. Science held all the answers, according to the world, and cloning was just the beginning to solving the world’s problems.
