“No people was ever held in subjection long except through their own consent.”īut the fact is that Heinlein’s writing in Revolt in 2100 is unable to clear the bar that he set for himself in such later, more polished novels as Methuselah’s Children. “Openly expressed piety is insufferable conceit” “You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.” “You can’t conquer a free man the most you can do is kill him.” Heinlein posited some thoughts on organized religion, government, power and revolution that were memorably thought-provoking and, if they were relevant in the 1950s, then they are even more important and relevant today: But when he commits the “crime” of falling in love with one of the Prophet’s brigade of “virgins”, held in thrall for sexual services, he is forced to seek out the help of The Cabal, an undercover resistance movement dedicated to overthrowing the theocracy. John Lyle, a young man proud of his recent appointment to the First Prophet’s corps of bodyguards, believes himself to be happy, devout and confirmed in his faith. It rules the former USA from New Jerusalem, the seat of an oppressive, right-wing government that punishes sin, heresy, blasphemy or even any openly expressed lapses of a doubting faith with all of the awesome power of modern technology, science and even applied psychology or psychotherapy. Once a low IQ itinerant backwoods preacher, he now sits at the pinnacle of a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. The USA today seems intent on proving Heinlein right!Īs the 21st century comes to a close, Nehemiah Scudder is First Prophet.

The rise of Al-Qaeda and the earlier rise of Soviet communism can also be explained using the same social symptoms. In an epiloguecal aside, Heinlein states that he will never write a direct story about Scudder because he dislikes him so much, but he goes into an interesting explanation about his ideas for the possibility, if not probability, of a Scudder like emergence in our culture.

The Future History of RAH is sprinkled liberally with mention of them both, and so for a devoted fan of Heinlein, this is a must read.ĭivided into three loosely connected parts, the first tells the tale of the end of the theocracy Scudder started. Any serious reader of RAH will want to know more about Nehemiah Scudder and the origins of Andrew Jackson Libby, and both can be found in the pages of Revolt in 2100. Revolt in 2100 is not at all a bad Heinlein, though, it is quite good. I am going to join with Spider Robinson and so many other literary critics who populate the science fiction genre of literature in stating that a bad Heinlein novel is still better than a “good” novel by most anyone else.

Robert heinlein revolt in 2100