# Jesus on Star Trek **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126 "2009-09-22T19:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/1 "2009-09-22T19:49:32Z")
Please forgive my ignorance. I love Star Trek but am not a real fanatic. Questions are… Have there been episodes that deal with Christianity in the future? Is there a logical way out of it on the show? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/2 "2009-09-22T19:51:40Z")
**Star Trek: TOS** - “Bread and Circuses” **Uhura:** “Captain, they’re not talking about the sun up in the sky. They’re talking about the Son of God.” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/3 "2009-09-22T19:55:59Z")
There was one in the original series, which is the only one I have really watched. It is a truly awful episode. It’s been a lot of years but they were dealing with a planet whose people worshiped the Sun which was supposed to mean that they were primitives or something. At the end, Uhura has this revelation, “they don’t worship the Sun in the sky, they worship the Son of God!” How retarded is that? It’s one thing to believe that they have a universal translator that can figure out how to go from one language to another. It’s quite another thing to have it so that the puns come out the same. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/4 "2009-09-22T19:56:56Z")
Gene Roddenberry was an atheist and, in general, his (unrealistic in the extreme IMHO) view was that religion in humans had died out by the 24th century. [Cite:](http://sidmennt.is/2006/08/16/every-religion-has-a-mythology/) > [@](#): > > And most importantly to the context of our meeting here today, religion is completely gone. Not a single human being on Earth believes in any of the nonsense that has plagued our civilization for thousands of years. This was an important part of Roddenberry’s mythology. He, himself, was a secular humanist and made it well-known to writers of STAR TREK and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION that religion and superstition and mystical thinking were not to be part of his universe. On Roddenberry’s future Earth, everyone is an atheist. And that world is the better for it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/5 "2009-09-22T20:01:31Z")
“Who Mourns For Adonais” suggested monotheism at least was alive and well during TOS. TNG and later would happily embrace whatever “spiritual” babble drove that week’s episode. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/6 "2009-09-22T20:03:30Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How retarded is that? It’s one thing to believe that they have a universal translator that can figure out how to go from one language to another. It’s quite another thing to have it so that the puns come out the same. To be fair (if you want to be fair to such a silly episode), Spock pointed out that the residents of the Roman planet actually spoke English, so it wasn’t being translated. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/7 "2009-09-22T20:14:17Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How retarded is that? It’s one thing to believe that they have a universal translator that can figure out how to go from one language to another. It’s quite another thing to have it so that the puns come out the same. Or that “God” is the Judeo-Christian god. Why not Hercules/Mithras/Horus/a zillion other demi-gods? I always wondered why Roddenberry let that one get past him. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/8 "2009-09-22T20:34:22Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > To be fair (if you want to be fair to such a silly episode), Spock pointed out that the residents of the Roman planet actually spoke English, so it wasn’t being translated. Yes, for whatever reason, that particular planet was just Earth running about 2500 years behind schedule or something. 😃 I actually thought it was pretty funny, and no worse than numerous other weirdities in Star Trek. The original series implies that people still did have religion, although afterwards they abolished it. Of course, then people got into all kind of BS mysticism. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/9 "2009-09-22T20:35:19Z")
In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, McCoy mentions the Bible (more specifically, Genesis) as “Ancient Earth mythology.” In the book made from the movie, there’s a little more about it, but it’s been a long time since I’ve read it. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/10 "2009-09-22T20:36:34Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Or that “God” is the Judeo-Christian god. Why not Hercules/Mithras/Horus/a zillion other demi-gods? > > I always wondered why Roddenberry let that one get past him. Get past him? He [wrote](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_Circuses_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)) it! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/11 "2009-09-22T20:38:59Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > To be fair (if you want to be fair to such a silly episode), Spock pointed out that the residents of the Roman planet actually spoke English, so it wasn’t being translated. OK. Fair enough. > [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Yes, for whatever reason, that particular planet was just Earth running about 2500 years behind schedule or something. 😃 Except for that they spoke 20th Century English and not Latin. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/12 "2009-09-22T20:47:21Z")
Well over on the USS Voyager the Doctor played played a priest in that Irish village the crew created in the holodeck (Janeway also had an afair with one of the holo-villagers which someone led to them becoming aware that they were holograms). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/13 "2009-09-22T20:49:34Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Except for that they spoke 20th Century English and not Latin. It wasn’t that the Earth-copy was 2500 year behind, it was that the Roman Empire never fell. But they had 20th century technology. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/14 "2009-09-22T20:59:53Z")
Picard does not profess a faith, but he clearly understands some basic tenets of Abrahamic monotheism: > [@](#): > > **Picard** Q, what is going on? > **Q** I told you. You’re dead, this is the afterlife, and I’m God. > **Picard** [laughs scornfully] You are not God! > **Q** Blasphemy! You’re lucky I don’t cast you out, or smite you, or something. The bottom line is, your life ended about five minutes ago under the inept ministrations of Dr. Beverly Crusher. > **Picard** No, I am not dead. Because I refuse to believe that the afterlife is run by you. The universe is not so badly designed. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/15 "2009-09-22T21:19:32Z")
[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_V) has a powerful entity that professes to be a god (of indeterminate religion). He wants the Enterprise so he shoots some lightning and scares some crewmembers and then Kirk asks “What does God need with a starship?” and saves the day. ETA: Actually, that God actually [looks](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYW_lPlekiQ) like the generic Judeo-Christian “white bearded old dude”. ---
**Author:** ![strqwert44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@strqwert44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/strqwert44)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/16 "2009-09-22T21:21:50Z")
More than most people probably need to know…behold the power of people who really love their star trek universe. > **[Christianity](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Christianity)** > > Christianity was a Human religion based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth), born from the Virgin Mary. The prophets of the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible like Methuselah, Solomon, Lazarus, and Saint Paul and many... ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/17 "2009-09-22T21:22:33Z")
On TNG they pointed out that society had developed beyond religion… with the exceptions of all those Native American style animism that always works out to be correct in episodes that feature it. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/18 "2009-09-22T21:29:00Z")
> [@strqwert44](#): > > More than most people probably need to know…behold the power of people who really love their star trek universe. > > [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Christianity](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Christianity) Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/19 "2009-09-22T21:42:44Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Please forgive my ignorance. I love Star Trek but am not a real fanatic. Questions are… Have there been episodes that deal with Christianity in the future? Is there a logical way out of it on the show? The last episode of Deep Space Nine “what you leave behind”. They couldn’t have said “Sisko is Bajoran Jesus, and Dukat is the Bajoran Antichrist” any harder if they wrote it on their foreheads. Dukat dies, and is then resurrected, with super natural powers, by the Bajoran version of fallen angles, Pah-wraiths. Sisko finds him and after a struggle manages to seal Dukat with the Pah-wraiths in the fire caves (which look a lot like Hell) forever. Then he’s transported to the Celestial Temple to be with the prophets with the promise that, he doesn’t know when, but he’ll return. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126/20 "2009-09-22T22:09:57Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, McCoy mentions the Bible (more specifically, Genesis) as “Ancient Earth mythology.” In the book made from the movie, there’s a little more about it, but it’s been a long time since I’ve read it. But in one of the old episodes, the one with the bored Adonis no one mourns for, I think, Kirk says something like “Earth doesn’t need gods. One is enough”. I can’t imagine the writers were referring to any God but the Christian one. (Aside from that, the remastered episode is really sweet. I was curious to see what they did about the Big Green Hand). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-on-star-trek/511126.md?page=2)