I've always wanted to ask this, for the believers on here. Please don't jump on me

[Candleicious Ghost]

I've always wanted to ask this for those that are believers here or in any way religious how did you find Star Trek and why do you like it?

some of these recent threads have made me think about a few things and one of those is how believers approach science fiction, especially when it includes things such as racial diversity, aliens, and a positive outlook on the world and not doom and gloom all the day, every day, all the time.

Back in the 90s when I was a Pentecostal and somewhat devout and blinded by that I was told I shouldn't be watching shows like this because it's the devil's work blah, blah, it will rot your brain and introduce you to bad things. For quite a number of years though I was literally sucked into that and believed a lot of it I did cut out my secular music, movies and things because I was under the impression personally that they might be right, well before I started to see the cracks in the religion and saw that what they were telling me was only one side and one belief, and a very twisted one at that.

I still do not attend any formal church at all but still believe in my own way. I'm very wary of joining any type of organised religion.

I felt at the time like a lot of hooey was being forced on me and that's basically why I left and wandered into other different churches but never did find one to settle down in.

 

[1001001]

 

[CoveTom]

All I will say on the subject is this....

I am a middle aged, conservative Republican, Catholic Christian straight white male.

And I still like Star Trek just fine.

There seems to be an idea that has sprung up, perhaps because of just how divisive our society has become, that there is no way Trek could ever appeal to a conservative audience or a religious audience or basically to anyone who disagrees with anything Trek has to say. I just don't think that's the case.

Sure, Picard's speechifying about how humanity has moved beyond religion and all that does not express a point of view I personally agree with, for example. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the show.

 

[kkt]

I don't see much conflict between Star Trek and religion. Religion is trying to explain spiritual origins, care of the soul, explanations for origins and afterlife; Star Trek uses scientific and secular reasoning to approach some of the same questions but doesn't deny religion. Star Trek does have men and women mixing in the workplace, sometimes one-night stands by the characters. But those are things people will find in the real world as well.

 

[Candleicious Ghost]

All I will say on the subject is this....

I am a middle aged, conservative Republican, Catholic Christian straight white male.

And I still like Star Trek just fine.

There seems to be an idea that has sprung up, perhaps because of just how divisive our society has become, that there is no way Trek could ever appeal to a conservative audience or a religious audience or basically to anyone who disagrees with anything Trek has to say. I just don't think that's the case.

Sure, Picard's speechifying about how humanity has moved beyond religion and all that does not express a point of view I personally agree with, for example. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the show.

I don't see much conflict between Star Trek and religion. Religion is trying to explain spiritual origins, care of the soul, explanations for origins and afterlife; Star Trek uses scientific and secular reasoning to approach some of the same questions but doesn't deny religion. Star Trek does have men and women mixing in the workplace, sometimes one-night stands by the characters. But those are things people will find in the real world as well.

Thank you the both of you for your thoughtful replies.


NO I wasn't trying to start a fight but just musing over past a bit and where I was in regards to Star Trek in the days when I was religious, or better put more fanatically so. Back then I was not sure where I'd be if I watched it in regards to the guy upstairs and all that.

 

[Set Harth]

I don't see much conflict between Star Trek and religion.

Well in this one movie they shot a torpedo at God...

 

[kkt]

Well in this one movie they shot a torpedo at God...

Yeah, and Apollo and the other Olympians are probably none too pleased with Kirk.

 

[Candleicious Ghost]

Yeah, and Apollo and the other Olympians are probably none too pleased with Kirk.

Hey didn't one of them grab the Enterprise by the saucer?

 

[Orphalesion]

I'm a former Catholic. And I'm gonna say when I was a kid I used to be freaked out by Data because I couldn't wrap my mind around how an artificial being could be sapient and whether he had a soul or not.

However, as I got older my ideas about metaphysics changed. I still believe in a soul and a higher power but I see those things less...defined now. I'm pretty much an Agnostic Theist.

The idea of Star Trek being set in a future without organised religion has never really bothered me though, because I consider organised religion and faith two different things. Plus there's also affirming things, such as Picard's speech about how he can't imagine that death leads to oblivion or a simple paradise.
And I also grew up being taught that religion can be misused to control people, so that's how I was always able to frame episodes like "Who Watches the Watchers".

And if I might say so...Catholicism, especially were I grew up (and in modern times) also tends to be relatively chill about scientific progress, so I never had problems with things like evolutions or aliens or whatever.

Plus...you know at some point I also came to the conclusion that not every fictional universe I enjoy must match my religious/spiritual ideas.

 

[Nyotarules]

My strict, church going mum introduced me to Star Trek. She loved it, and so do I.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

Hey didn't one of them grab the Enterprise by the saucer?

When you're a God, they let you do it.

 

[Uncle Sock]

Finding Star Trek had nothing to do with my spiritual beliefs. I was raised in a Protestant household—we went to church on Christmas and “the other important ones”—but beyond that, my family wasn’t particularly religious or dogmatic. I started watching Star Trek in the early ’90s, when The Next Generation was still airing, and it wasn’t influenced by my beliefs at all. A funny side note: the pastor at our church turned out to be a huge Trekkie. I didn’t learn that until a few years later.

Today, I see no contradiction between being a Star Trek fan and being religious. Star Trek itself shows that religion still exists even in the 24th century—the Enterprise-D celebrates the Hindu Festival of Light, for example. These days, I personally identify as Buddhist. And maybe it’s my Buddhist perspective that shapes how I see this, but even though Star Trek is fundamentally rooted in science, reason, and exploration, it never suggests that science alone answers every human question. Buddhism, at least as I practice it, isn’t in conflict with that mindset; it encourages curiosity, self-examination, and an understanding of the universe grounded in experience rather than blind faith. In that sense, belief and science don’t compete—they coexist. So for me, there’s no contradiction at all between embracing Star Trek’s vision of a rational future and holding spiritual beliefs of my own.

 

[Turtletrekker]

My strict, church going mum introduced me to Star Trek. She loved it, and so do I.

Mine as well. My strict, Bible thumping mom also once called for the genocide of the LGBTQ community. THAT'S the only thing that religion represents to me. History agrees with me. Like Thanos, it's inevitable.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I style myself as "pan-denominational" (a term I coined because "non-denominational" has been co-opted by groups that are anything BUT). I bounce around among seven local churches (one Episcopal, one ELCA Lutheran, one UCC, one Presbyterian, and the other three United Methodist), and typically attend services at two of them (not the same two) each week. None of them preach intolerance, and all of them agree with me that there is nothing the slightest bit Christan about "Christian Nationalism," and that Bibles are for reading, not thumping.

Any conflict between religion and science is cooked up intentionally by those who have agendas to discredit one or the other.

And atheism is a religion: like any other, it is a belief system, without any unambiguous evidence to support it, concerning a supreme being or beings (in the case of atheism, a devout belief in the nonexistence of such beings). The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

And I used to know someone (my model train dealer at the time, who also ran a weekly game of his own scaled-up variant of Risk) who devoutly believed that Dungeons & Dragons was a crypto-satanic ritual. But he had no problem with Star Trek. (By the time I lost all regular contact with him, I'd realized that D&D had become far too proprietary for my taste, with the whole "house rules trump the published rules" ethos out the door, and replaced with canned dungeons.)

 

[CoveTom]

(Random aside: Right before checking in on this thread, I had seen a clip of "The Blacklist" on YouTube. While reading this thread, I suddenly realized that I was, in my head, hearing the messages in Raymond Reddington's voice and style of delivery. I must tell you, that makes threads WAY more fun. )

 

[fireproof78]

I grew up in a very religious and conservative household and Star Trek, tolerance and diversity were all celebrated. There was no need to separate the two. I've had more discussions about diversity in churches and with Bible believers than on my college campus.

 

[Set Harth]

And I used to know someone (my model train dealer at the time, who also ran a weekly game of his own scaled-up variant of Risk) who devoutly believed that Dungeons & Dragons was a crypto-satanic ritual.

"They have books that depict Bathomet and discuss his worship!"

...Yes. Yes we do.

Bibles are for reading, not thumping.

Well you gotta read them if you want to find out all the politically incorrect stuff that's in there. All you're gonna accomplish with the thumping is getting some dust off the thing.

None of them preach intolerance

In theory there are some things that Christianity isn't supposed to tolerate, though. According to the outdated concept that words should mean things, an organization welcoming all belief systems at some point isn't going to be able to reasonably call itself Christian anymore. Then it's just cheap therapy.

 

[fireproof78]

In theory there are some things that Christianity isn't supposed to tolerate, though

From other believers. Living at peace and loving everyone is the primary commandments, beside loving God.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

From other believers. Living at peace and loving everyone is the primary commandments, beside loving God.

I am now a permanently lapsed catholic, I experienced the disdain and mockery of other christians when I attended regularly. I've read how He feels about hypocrisy.

Precisely. I am of the opinion that if someone proclaims themselves to be Christian and they persist in staying racist, they are refusing to obey the commandment to love one another as they love Jesus.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

"They have books that depict Bathomet and discuss his worship!"

...Yes. Yes we do.

Well you gotta read them if you want to find out all the politically incorrect stuff that's in there. All you're gonna accomplish with the thumping is getting some dust off the thing.

In theory there are some things that Christianity isn't supposed to tolerate, though. According to the outdated concept that words should mean things, an organization welcoming all belief systems at some point isn't going to be able to reasonably call itself Christian anymore. Then it's just cheap therapy.

I think those are Unitarians