GREEN MEDDLER'S JMS on CompuServe 12/7

[DeAnna Miller]

Subj:  B5 Screen Saver Arrived!     Section: Babylon 5: General
  To:  SysOp Dupa T. Parrot         Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:16 AM
From: J.Michael.Straczynski.#412456 at ix.netcom.com

      Yes, the .avi files play full-motion video and music/sound effects.
Check your  setup menu to make sure you've selected those files, and that
they're in the  directory, and that they've been marked to play.

      jms


Subj:  <Gethsemane questions>       Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
  To:  John C. Brobston/PRCT        Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:27 AM
From:  J. Michael Straczynski       #412460

      {regarding athiest vs. agnostic}

      If all the things you describe were suddenly to happen, sure, I'd
have to give  my position serious thought, while turning down Stephen
Hawking's invitations  to dance and dodging the newly revived dead.  Now,
when is this supposed to  happen?  'Cause it hasn't happened yet, and
gives no indication of happening  anytime soon.  Which is, really, the
point.

      Let me try a different take on this whole agnostic/atheist thing, to
see if I can  better communicate my position.  My agent calls and says,
"Listen, the BBC  called, and they're interested in signing you up for a
two year documentary on the  mating habits of clams."  To which I respond,
"Great, but I'll believe it when it  happens."

      I do not say that the contract may, or may not exist; it either is,
or it isn't, and  my actions proceed from those two options.  Until I get
the contract actually in my  hand, it doesn't exist.  Until someone puts
the absolute proof out in front of me of  a deity, it doesn't exist. 
That's the difference; the agnostic says, well, maybe  there is, maybe
there isn't, who knows?  The atheist says, There is currently no  proof
whatsoever of this assertion, thus I choose not to believe it.

      There are, really, any number of schools on what atheism is or
isn't. Some  have taken this to be the notion of anti-religion, which I
think is unconstructive.  I  used to write a humor column for Madeline
Murry O'Hare's publication American Atheist back in the 1970s (betcha
didn't know that one, did you?).  Even did some  other writing, articles
and the like...until one day I realized that this (American  Atheist
Organization) wasn't about just providing equal respect and treatment for 
atheists, it was about knocking down religion and attacking others' belief
systems...at which time I resigned the magazine.

      To get back on track...mine is the kind of atheism you saw most
often around  the turn of the century, basically accommodational of
others, positive in outlook,  stressing the basic worth of the individual,
and the importance of the individual in  building a better society.

      Because of the more...rigorous atheists out there, atheism has, I
think, gotten  kind of a bad rap in some circles.  And a lot of it is
unfair, though I'd be foolish to  say that the criticisms were entirely
without merit.  But when then-President Bush  said, as he did in an
interview in Chicago during the last election, that he  "doesn't really
consider atheists patriots, since after all the idea is one nation  under
god," it brings you up a little short.  The founders of this country
weren't just  believers, they were deists and freethinkers and even the
occasional atheist.

      In any event...I hadn't meant to belabor the point.  This is simply
what I think.  I  don't usually get into it, but the question was raised,
so I answered it.  I don't  expect much of anyone else to agree, or to
convince anyone to think as I do.  And  that's fine, and as it should be.

      jms


Subj:  <Gethsemane questions>       Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
  To:  Tom Knudsen                  Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:17 AM
From:  J. Michael Straczynski       #412457

      {regarding athiest vs. agnostic}

      Yeah, well, I've kinda given it a *lot* of thought over a *very*
long period....

      jms


Subj:  From jms: info               Section: Babylon 5: General
  To:  George  F. Kraus       Wednesday, December 06, 1995 8:13:12 PM
From:  J. Michael Straczynski       #412188

      Alas, no tapes are currently available.

      jms


Subj:  ATTN:JMS <? About B4>        Section: Babylon 5: General
  To:  Stephen C. Smith             Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:14 AM
From:  J. Michael Straczynski       #412455

      {regarding Boxleitner taping "B5 Classic" intro}

     To which they would reply, "Terrific, great idea, but we're not going
to sacrifice  15-30 seconds of commercials so you can do this, so you're
going to have to go  in and cut 15-30 seconds out of the show."

     That time has to come from somewhere.

     jms


Subj:  To JMS                       Section: Babylon 5: General
  To:  Michael Milutinovic    Wednesday, December 06, 1995 8:13:26 PM
From:  J. Michael Straczynski       #412191

     No, there's really just the one Minbari religion, and the warrior
caste tends to  follow it, but not lead it.


     jms


Subj:  $0.04: <A Day in Strife>           Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming  
To:  Ruth Ballam              Wednesday, December 06, 1995 8:28:00 PM
From:  J. Michael Straczynski             #412207

     You're saying Sinclair was the chosen one...first, you don't know
what he was  chosen FOR.  Second, if this is entirely true, why would
Zathras look Sinclair  dead in the face and say "NOT the one"?

     As for "why would he change his story"...nothing is set in stone; if
you were a  writer, you'd know that an outline only gets you into the
story and the main points.   I've had whole novels that I've written
abruptly change direction halfway through  because of something I
discovered midway that was better than what I'd planned  initially.  You
adjust.  No outline ever survives contact with the enemy.

     If, tomorrow, I decided that the rest of this story would be better
if Sheridan  were transformed into a giant blue space moose, that's
exactly what I'd do.

     jms 


Subj:  Max (Richard Moll)           Section: Babylon 5: General
  To:  Melanie Moser                Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:24 AM
From:  J. Michael Straczynski       #412459

      Thanks.  At this point, Richard's part was a one-shot, but if we
come up with  the right role, I'd love to see him again.

      jms