Religion in Sci-Fi

In My Humble Opinion
1

Is it just me, or will all of mankind be default Unitarian Universalist in the future? I’m basing my observations off my two favorite TV sci-fi shows, “Star Trek” and “Babylon 5.” (I know darn right well there’s a lot of quality science ficion, sci-fi and fantasy out there that deals with religious intolerance, but for the sake of this thread let’s stick to the ones I mention here.) In “Star Trek” characters like Chakotay freely talks about his religious beliefs and everyone listens raptly, some even going so far as to give his beliefs a try. In “Babylon 5” Sinclair introduces the ambassadors to a person of every religious flavor he can get his hands on to show the diversity of beliefs on Earth. Both of these things, and other examples, are the very essence of UUism - believe what you will, respect what others do, learn from each other, and feel free to change your mind at any point on your religious journey.

So is it just me? And why do we not see any Christian Fundamentalists in space? (Not that I’m complaining, mind you…)

Esprix

2

My guess would be that there aren’t any Xian Fundies out there because they don’t even believe we’ve landed on the moon. The whole “Flat Earth” idea doesn’t go too well with space travel.

3

The existence of alien cultures would probably be a serious blow to any fundie’s beliefs, since they probably are sure we’re the only ones out here.

My personal take on this is that the only way we could become a successfully spacefaring society is to become a classless one. Getting a serious amount of people up in space requires a lot more economic and social cooperation than we’ve got now. I mean, look at it. The U.S. is the richest country in the world and we can only afford to send six or seven people up at a time for a few days. How else are we as a race going to coordinate the resources necessary to build fleets of starcraft that can keep people going for years at a stretch?

So, concomitant with that, we’d have a worldview that is more tolerant and understanding of a wider range of beliefs and opinions. Not that I think everyone within earshot would listen to someone professing those beliefs like it was the Second Sermon on the Mount. :slight_smile:

4

It’s in mid-outline now–a sci-fi novel with religion as a major (but not dominant) theme, and a Fundy chaplain on a colony world. And he’s stuck working with a Wiccan.

I don’t know if I’ll finish it, much less get it published, but I’m trying.

5

Anyone here remember Revolt in 2100? Seems that Heinlein really tore organized religion (at least, the thinly-veiled cult that did a stand-in for the Mormons) a new asshole. Come to think of it, I guess Stranger in a Strange Land wasn’t exactly complementary, either.

6

You people have to stop relying on TV sf to get your fix. There’s a LOT of sf about religion – see the entry on religion in Nicholls and Clute’s Encyclopedia of Science fiction. Here are a few books in which religion is pivotal (and VERY non-UU)

Dune and its sequels(Frank Herbert)
A Case of Conscience (James Blish)
The Quest for Saint Aquin (forget author)
Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion (Dan Simmons)
Stranger in a Strange Lan (Heinlein)

7

How about Job- A Comedy of Justice by Heinlein? I agree with CalMeacham, don’t rely on TV for good science fiction. ST and B5 are the best of a bad lot, but they’re still crappy SF.

8

TV/movie science fiction predictions of what religion is going to be like in the future, just like TV/movie science fiction predictions of what fashion or design is going to look like in the future, generally stink. So we’re all going to believe in some vague, general, touchy-feely, feel-good religion. Right. Just like we’re all going to wear these loose, perfectly laundered, but flashy-looking robes while we drive these aircars that look like '50’s automobiles with fins. A lot of written SF isn’t much better on predictions. I consider that any book, TV show, or movie that doesn’t picture the future as being diverse, with many co-existing fashions, styles of architecture, societal patterns, religions, etc. has got it wrong. We’re not going to all look alike in the future.

9

+What about the Jesus guy in Johnny Mnemonic? True, it wasn’t space (or a good movie for that matter) but he was like a futuristic Jehovah’s Witness.

10

Esprix, is UU even really a religion? It seems more like a philosophy to me by your descriptions in this thread and others. Perhaps it’s just far more… tentative in its assertions for me to think of it as a religion, but it seems almost too nebulous to fit the mold.

This is not, by the by, meant as an attack or an insult. But the “all are welcome, seek your own path” message is what I am used to reading here. Perhaps there are central tenets that you haven’t spoken of, or that I have not seen. Still, I’ll gladly take anything, whether religion or philosophy, that’s as tolerant as UU over any of our less tolerant organizations around the world.

11

Um, hello? Did you read the OP? Sheesh. I may like sci-fi schlock, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate good sci-fi. It was just an observation about these two specific shows.

Mamma mia…

Esprix

12

Um, no - if you would also read the OP, you’d see the examples I gave showed tolerance for other religious beliefs, not that we’d all actually be the same religion. When I asked, “Would we all be UU?” I meant it as a general way of asking, “Would we all be as tolerant of other religious beliefs as UU’s are?”, facetiously implying that we’d all indeed then be UU’s ourselves.

Esprix

13

If you really want to, throw this into Great Debates (as I don’t care to get into it in this particular thread), but I assure you it does qualify as a religion. See http://www.uua.org for more info if you want details on the tenents of the faith, or ask me any specific questions you like in GD.

Esprix

14

Mamma Mia!

“You people” is plural. Other people were responding in a way that didn’t suggest familiarity with anything but. Besides, restricting it to the two examples you give with a blanket statement about it all being like UU, while calling the thread “Religion in Sci-Fi” invites the sort of comment I made, I think. TV sf is going to be pretty watered down and non-controversial because they want to keep the networks and advertisers happy. That, more than any other reason, is why it seems watered-down.

15

Well, Star Trek was originally pretty strongly athiest, I thought. Had it been made a couple of decades later, it might have been a bit more blatant about it, but it still comes across pretty strong. Usually the only time religion comes up is when its used for something terrible.

I’m going to avoid discussing Voyager, because then I’d have to rip it to pieces, which would result in hurt feelings all around. :slight_smile:

B5’s take on religion was much more complicated. Sinclar may have been a closet UU, but Doc Franklin was definatly an athiest, and Sherriden didn’t seem to be much concerned with religion at all. There wern’t any fundies in space, but representitves of several religions did show up from time to time. I remeber a couple of rabbis, an inam, a minister, and of course that incredibly cool monk guy. All of which were pretty tolerant, which isn’t really that surprising, given their role in the story.

Though come to think of it, It’s surprising that there weren’t any “missionary” types. I guess JMS wanted to avoid that whole issue. He was obviously trying to avoid demonizing religion, being an athiest himself, and he might have ended up going a bit soft on it. All the “negative” sides of religion were only shown on alien religions.

I think it’s the “default” SF universe simply because it’s a projection of the way most americans like to see themselves. Well, that and the fact that if they get too contravercial, they’ll get yanked off the air. I mean, is CBS really going to fund a show that claims a major religion is outright false? Or even a minor one?

Walter Jon Williams “Aristoi” has a character who’s worshiped by people on the planets he terraformed. He lets it happen because he decided it would have been unethical to actually outlaw a religion. :slight_smile:

So, you’re a big B5 fan, then? :slight_smile:

–
“And the rock cried out, no hiding place.”

16

Dammit. I gotta learn to type faster. :frowning:

17

If you are interested in religion and space travel, check out Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow and its sequel, Children of God. Both are about Jesuit missions to a planet inhabited by sentient creatures. Russell does not shy away from compelling religious and moral issues. Both books are fine reads, to say the least.

MR

18

Actually, on “Babylon 5,” Dr. Franklin wasn’t an atheist- Garibaldi was. Dr. Franklin was a Foundationist, a member of a religion that Joe Straczinski made up (the theory was that, once mankind knew of the existence of aliens, a religion would arise that tried to incorporate the best features of all interplanetary religions).

Though “Babylon 5” didn’t endorse any specific faith, it treated numerous religions respectfully. There were Baptist preachers and Benedictine monks in space, and they were depicted positively, for the most part. Susan Ivanova was Jewish, as you may recall from the episode where her rabbi (Theodore Bikel) visited. And Sheridan was a spiritual wanderer (he’d studied with the Dalai Lama).

Now, I’m about as Catholic as they come, and I have no complaints about how B5 treate Catholicism. It took the Church seriously, even if it didn’t give the Church a glowing recommendation. I even got a kick out of the sneaky reference to “Pope Elizabeth 2nd.”

Frankly, if religion got similarly respctful (though not reverent) treatment on MOST television shows, I’d be delighted. Most shows either ignore religion entirely, or give it only vague, sentimental notice around Xmas time.

19

Or was it “Pope Bernadette”? I forget.

Point is, IF you’re going to do a show dealing with the future, why WOULDN’T you show how attitudes toward sex, religion, etc. have changed? “Star Trek” cops out (or chickens out) by never dealing with such things.

“Star Trek: Next Generation” got a lot of publicity for a show in which Riker falls in love with an androgynous alien. But the actress playing the alien was OBVIOUSLY female, so there was no real dilemma at all.

On the other hand, in one comical episode, Jason and Dr. Franklin are checked into the Honeymoon Suite of a hotel. In a comical way, then, B5 made the point that, in the future, homosexual marriage is common and accepted, so much so that two men could share a Honeymoon SUite without arosuing indignation!

20

“Babylon 5” seemed to endorse one particular religion (or at least way of life) over several others - Minbari. Sinclair converted (in a very unique way ;)), Sheridan married into it, Delenn lead it, Lennier obeyed it, the whole planet believed in it… :smiley:

Esprix