Last year, Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson introduced his first series of novels: “Fatherless,” “Childless” and “Godless.”
The novels take place several decades in the future when America is trying to recover from an economic collapse. Julia Davidson, an acclaimed journalist, is famous for her columns that celebrate the global drop in fertility and criticize marriage and motherhood. As Julia digs deeper into the modern views of life and family, she begins to uncover the consequences of the value shift.
America has become a nation where almost all babies are genetically screened and pre-selected before being implanted in the womb. “Accidental pregnancies” are aborted and the babies’ bodies sold for money. Women who have multiple children are labeled “breeders.”
The government portrays the elderly and disabled as burdens, financial drains on their families and their country. In an effort to bolster the economy, the government encourages the large elderly population to “transition” (assisted suicide).
The novels take a futuristic look at American society and individuals’ right to life — but not in a dystopian way. What I’ve enjoyed about the books so far is the way Dobson and co-author Kurt Bruner make the future world seem realistic. Most dystopian novels paint a frightening picture of a concept taken to its extreme. Dobson’s novels, on the other hand, take a more moderate approach that makes readers think, “This could actually happen.”
He gives pro-lifers a picture of what our nation could look like if it continues to denying certain people a right to life. But his novels also bring hope that, through the work of pro-lifers, we can change people’s hearts and minds and restore a culture of life in our nation.
I recently finished the first two novels in the series. “Godless,” the third and final book, was released this summer, and it’s on my reading list. Put it on yours, too.