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“War. War never changes.”
But the world around us is always changing.
Life is active, moving, and evolving with every moment. But humanity’s propensity to try and interfere or corrupt that harmony is also unchanging.
This sentiment crossed my mind as I was watching the “Fallout” television series. In the world of entertainment and pop culture, few franchises have captured the imagination of gamers and now viewers quite like “Fallout”.
This video game series, known for its rich storytelling and deep exploration of post-apocalyptic survival, has recently expanded its universe to the small screen with a television adaptation by the mind behind Westworld, Jonathan Nolan.
The franchise's narrative offers a poignant reflection on human nature and societal constructs, making it an unexpected but compelling groundwork for discussing the Christian call towards Creation Care.
The games primarily explore life after a devastating nuclear war, known as the Great War, which occurred on October 23, 2077. By taking place after devastation, the stories are a fascinating exploration of survival, governance, and the remnants of humanity trying to rebuild. There’s betrayal, bloodlust, and lots and lots of bottle caps.
The recent television adaptation takes a slight detour from the norm, focusing quite a bit more on the events leading up to the apocalypse. What exactly happened other than the obvious bitter reality of war? Who was influencing who? The show does a fantastic job at letting us peek behind that curtain.
This shift provides those watching with a deeper understanding of the societal and corporate dynamics that contributed to the catastrophic outcome. In turn, this also helps us witness a playful exploration of how we as humanity often use power as the fuse towards our own annihilation. This tendency again and again leads humanity into abusing the very task they were commissioned for by God at the very start of the Biblical narrative.
But first, what exactly is Creation Care?
Genesis and the Call to Creation Care
Genesis provides the first directive for humanity’s relationship with the world. Genesis 1:28 details God’s instruction to humanity, entrusting them with the stewardship of Earth. This divine mandate highlights not only the authority given to humans over creation but also implies a profound responsibility to maintain and protect it. It would be nice if that was the end of that call to serve creation, but alas, as fills the pages of the Bible, humanity has a way of throwing a kink into things.
It doesn’t take long to find plenty of examples of humanity's failure to adhere to divine commands. The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) illustrates the consequences of hubris and the misuse of collective human effort, while the story of Noah (Genesis 6-9) underscores a divine reset prompted by human wickedness. But these are simply the two most well-known accounts of humanity dropping the ball on our commission to be good stewards of God’s provisions.
Thankfully, we are Easter people who believe in the power of grace and resurrection. Despite our biggest failures, there are now many impassioned people who are breathing new life into the commission to care for God’s creation. By creating Green Teams that promote communal gardening to task forces helping reduce the carbon footprint of the local church, there are people spending their time and energy on ecological efforts to steward God’s creation.
However, before we can build these new initiatives, it might benefit us to tear down what got in our way in the first place. I believe that “Fallout” does an excellent job of presenting the root of the problem that leads to our environmental sabotage.
Fallout’s Reflection of Human Fallibility
Fallout echoes the Biblical themes above by illustrating the downfall of a civilization obsessed with power and control. Entities like the Vault-Tec company, depicted in the series as having significant influence with fans constantly speculating on whether or not they may have initiated the nuclear war, mirror the Biblical warnings against the concentration of power and the human propensity for self-destruction. As Uncle Ben says in Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility. And that power can find itself easily corrupted. So how do we work against that force?
Christian stewardship calls for a balance between authority and humility. We are endowed with power over creation, yet this power comes with the caveat of humility—a recognition of our role as caretakers, not destructors. This dual role is vividly reflected in the “Fallout” series, where the misuse of authority leads to ruin, and the path to redemption often lies in humble cooperation and communal effort. Often, even the up-and-coming resurrections of society are swiftly demolished in the post-apocalyptic setting by those vying for more power.
In this way, the brutal narrative of “Fallout” showcases the dangers of authority when combined with unchecked ambition. The series reveals the machinations of Vault-Tec and other factions, whose manipulation and power plays lead to widespread devastation time and again until the ultimate evil is unleashed upon the entire world. This is a cautionary tale for the real world, emphasizing the need for humility in leadership and stewardship.
As the Church, we are called to exercise a form of authority that is paradoxically empowering and self-limiting. This means engaging actively in Creation Care, not as rulers but as humble stewards. By adopting an approach that values respect, responsibility, and restraint, we can avoid the pitfalls depicted in Fallout. Instead, we can foster a world that reflects the harmony and balance God originally intended and called us to.
A Vision of the Future Fallout
While “Fallout” may be a fictional series set in a dystopian future, its themes resonate deeply with the Christian ethos of care and responsibility for the world. By examining our own lives through the lens of this popular franchise, we can find renewed vigor in our call to Creation Care, ensuring that our actions contribute to a future marked by restoration and reconciliation rather than destruction and despair. As we navigate our roles within God's creation, let us choose the path of humble stewardship, where power is exercised with wisdom and grace, ensuring the flourishing of all creation.
Nathan Webb is a major nerd in just about every way. He loves video games, anime, cartoons, comic books, tech, and his fellow nerds. Hoping to provide a spiritual community for people with similar interests, he founded Checkpoint Church--"the church for nerds, geeks and gamers." Nathan can be found lurking on some visual novel subreddit, reading the latest shōnen entry, or playing the newest Farm Sim. Nathan is an ordained provisional elder in the United Methodist Church in the Western North Carolina Conference. He hosts a weekly newsletter podcast: To The Point.
