I guess God didn't create aliens then, and/or aliens don't have a soul and go straight to hell?
Religion in Star Trek
- Thread starter JarodRussell
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I guess God didn't create aliens then, and/or aliens don't have a soul and go straight to hell?
Hey, that would even make sense.
But have they been exiled from paradise, too?
Hey, that would even make sense.
But have they been exiled from paradise, too?
I don't see why not. Of course, not all Trek races have a Jesus, but that is due to their fictional nature
Just ask Sisko.
Don't you love the smell of imagined persecutions in the morning? Picard voices an opinion (presumably, his own), and immediately some people are jumping at the thought that somehow, in the super-tolerant Federation, human religions are suppressed, oppressed and harrassed. Because you know, being persecuted makes them special.
And you know this... how?
That kind of sounds like what Diane Duane did in the Young Wizards series (and implied in The Wounded Sky). Her implication was also that each species made its own choice and were not tied to each other (though at one point I did see some comments that made me think she intended to portray Earth as having had special circumstances).
Interesting, I have never read any of the above. My original remark was made somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but that said, I really don't see any conceptual problem off hand with the idea that a transcendant deity would provide every sentient race with an incarnated redeemer, wherever life evolved, or that a particularly gifted/blessed individual would assume that role, thanks to an especially deep insight into the nature of reality (just for the sake of argument).
I expect it would be necessary given that, however many times sentient life evolves in a universe such as our own, I really doubt that temporal and spatial proximity, not to mention limitations on faster than light travel (is it even possible?), allow for sentient species to be practically tripping over one another once they get off planet, like they are in Trek.
With only one Jesus per universe, it seems likely that some sentient races might never get the good news, which hardly seems fair. One Jesus per race or per planet seems more appropriate.
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I never agreed with the concept of sin and redemption, nor do I understand why humans would be so ... to believe in it, so I don't see a need for a Jesus in alien cultures, and I also hope they are more intelligent than shaping their entire society around some weird things a sect leader did and said.
What color lanterns do they get?
Their lanterns are the metaphorical kind, and thus lacking in visible color.
I like where you're going with your colored lantern idea, though, you should really try to flesh that out a bit and see where it leads
I figure Blue_Trek's remark was meant tongue-in-cheek, since a believing Christian wouldn't characterize salvation through Jesus as a “ransom.”
How do we know they didn't -- and weren't?
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Hell, why Geoff Johns thought it made sense for all seven (eight, nine) of them to somehow conform to a trichromatic, human, even specifically Western conception of color is the first question I want to ask Space Jesus when he shows up...
It's actually pretty great. I call it... "Lensman."I like where you're going with your colored lantern idea, though, you should really try to flesh that out a bit and see where it leads
Oops. As you can see, I've edited my post. Must be getting senile or something.You'd have to ask Blue_Trek about the “ransom” aspect of things
A “Western conception of color”? Is there such a thing? I mean, regardless of culture or geography, human beings all see the same visible light spectrum, right?
Saquist
Commodore
And it wasn't necessarily a negative depiction either.
There really is no need to crucify religion in sci fi. I figure if this is supposed to be an enlightened time then all things must learn to really coexist...not just people but philosophies aswell.
Let's be clear here. We are talking science fiction, not fantasy. On that note, science, as opposed to any faith view or religious view, is the most consistentyl reliable way to assss reality. That much is a fact. Indisputeable.
So too is the fact that a person of religious bent can be an impartial scientist just like anybody else, when it comes to the material world. Mr. Dobzhansky is a perfect case in point.
Sure, generally speaking, we all see the same color, but it's possible to interpret it within a different paradigm than the Western one; not all languages impose the ROY G. BIV structure (or, its more interesting converse scheme, Virgins In Bed, Get Your Organs Ready). This is the structure that Geoff Johns unaccountably decided to use for the 99.9999% alien members of the seven "rainbow" Lantern Corps, assuming even all humans conceive that rainbow the same way. For example, green is often considered a shade of blue.scotpens said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguishing_blue_from_green_in_language
Were it not for Newton, Opticks, and a predilection for the number seven, I suspect we would not sharply distinguish between violet and indigo (and in many situations we often don't, subsuming both as shades of purple). It's conceivable we might not count orange as a "separate" color either. If we spoke Japanese, the Lanterns of Oa (Ao?
) could be either blue or green (aoi), or else need to be referred to by a loan word as the Midori Lanterns.But although it would be a lot clearer, I suppose 510 Nanometer Lanterns doesn't have the same ring to it!
The point is, where are the Infared Lanterns? The X-Ray Lanterns? Why are there White Lanterns, when the stimulus for white would likely be different between two species, let alone hundreds? Beyond that, why are most aliens in science fiction implied or at least assumed to have trichromatic RGB optical pickups, like humans, but not--for example--like most species of birds?
I'll grant Star Trek at least occasionally implies some pretty radically different optical traits to some of its species. I mean, have you seen what the Ferengi wear?
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