Born in captivity

One popular theme in modern SF is the distinction between real people and virtual characters. Some virtual characters are artificially intelligent. Like real people, they have consciousness.

But unlike real people who are immersed in the simulation, the virtual characters don’t know it’s a simulation. To a virtual character, even a conscious virtual character, the virtual world is the only world it knows. The virtual world is the real world. Even if a real person immersed in the interactive program explains to a virtual character that this is just a simulation, the virtual character won’t believe him.

Real people in the virtual world sometimes suffer from amnesia. At first they mistake the simulation for reality. But then they begin to remember. Remember their past. Remember the world they came from.

Christians are like real people immersed in a virtual world. But God has given us the story behind the story. And God not only made us self-aware, but aware of the unseen world beyond the world of our senses.

Likewise, some wild animals are captured in the wild and transferred to zoos. But other animals are born in captivity. The zoo is all they know. They live and die in captivity. This is their home. If you released them back into the wild, they would feel lost. Out of place. They are content with their fenced-in quarters.

When the Babylonian exile ended, some Jews stayed behind. They were born in captivity. Their prison became their home.