Real-world religions on futuristic sci-fi

Why wouldn't he be? Did he say otherwise?

That seems like a really close minded attitude. Just because a sophont is not from Earth doesn't mean they can't be what they want. That's specist.

I don't see that, although I remember in the old Mechwarroir rpg background info, it said Muslems were rather put off by space travel and stayed on Earth.

I don't know why any religion would be bothered by more people unless their whole basis is there is no more people, in which they'd be pretty much out.

And just to add, I thought the atheists, Garibaldi and Marcus, were well done on Babylon 5, too. They weren't constantly trying to mock the characters that had a religon or make them feel stupid for believing in something bigger than themselves. I really liked the one time that Garabaldi told Sinclair, "You better pray to that God of yours Jeff..." something, they were having trouble. It might be seen as mocking, but he said it as We need all the help we can get and I thought it was two freinds with different beliefs interacting in a believable manner.

 

Besides, he's half-human. Why can't half-humans be Christians?

 

They already explained that in season 6 of TNG...

 

The end of Kirk's eulogy: "Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most...human."

Well, what's the Catholic Church's stance on polygamy? I imagine that would be a sticking point for Phlox.

 

The Old Testament doesn't have a problem with polygamy. Who's to say the Catholic church hasn't changed that particular doctrine in the coming centuries? (Certainly a wwiii apocalyptic environment could trigger social changes aimed at restoring the population).

 

^ It doesn't "endorse" the practice. Some people did it, but it's not being advocated or commanded or anything like that. Just something that happens.

 

Jacob had two wives and two concubines.

 

^ And probably not a moment's rest. *runs away*

 

One thing I've been intrigued by is how Roddenberry and Meyer, for all their differences, seemed to think humans and others in Starfleet would be overwhelmingly atheist, with McCoy and Spock referring to Genesis as myth (the latter as ancient myth) and Valeris not even recognizing a representation of the expulsion.

I would imagine that a lot of the writers had some antagonism toward the religions of their day (and may have wanted to imply that they would diminish as progress) or, even without hostility, felt they couldn't write a religious character convincingly enough or it would introduce too much conflict between characters and distraction from the main plots.

 

Heck, this goes back to "The Cage" when Pike's hellfire-and-brimstone torture is attributed to "a fable you once heard in your childhood."

And, honestly, I'm not sure why anyone would expect Valeris to recognize an image out of Earth mythology when she's not even half-human like Spock is. There must be thousands of creation myths in the Federation alone; there's no way even a Vulcan could be familiar with every cultural reference on every planet.

The expulsion from Paradise is a common theme in Western art and culture, on the planet Earth, but on Andor or Vulcan or Romulus? We might as well expect Sulu to immediately recognize a scene from Argellian myth or history.

This isn't even necessarily a religious thing. Would Valeris recognize a painting of, say, Aphrodite rising from the foam, Arthur receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, or even Washington crossing the Delaware?

Maybe she just never took Terran Humanities 101?

 

Well, probably not with Leah, anyway. They had six boys and one girl together.

 

True but Valeris was at the top of the class and in both 23rd and 24th century Starfleet personnel have generally been characterized as overwhelmingly human so I would assume historical and cultural influence in training and socializing would also be Earth-centric. If so this emphasizes how much humans were portrayed as moving away from awareness, let alone taking seriously, major religious ideas.

 

Anybody brought up this dialog in "Balance of Terror" yet? I always liked this:

Very pluralistic and inclusive.

 

Great post, I love that episode and that's a really good part of it.

I think in a future with many different kinds of sophonts, man and woman sound very human-centric. Even Spock says, "No. Nor am I a man. I'm a Vulcan..."