Nah.
Even Roddenberry didn't see religion going away. Just that it would become more private.
Roddenberry and the Biblical Allusions in TOS.
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Even Roddenberry didn't see religion going away. Just that it would become more private.
Oh? Spock's katra is reunited with his body in a Vulcan ritual that's at least partly an expression of faith (conducted by a priestess). There's a constant presence of religion in the fabric of DS9 and to a lesser extent on Voyager. You can't judge the entire franchise by what Picard pontificates. It's obvious that he lives in his own little bubble.
A certain part of ST fandom loves to skip over the very reason Spock was able to fully return, and the (continuing) unequivocal statement TSFS made about the presence and power of faith in the franchise.
Indeed, but some viewers choose to stuff themselves in that little bubble, then spurt out false claims about ST and species / characters' belief in religion / faith in the higher power.
But aren't the great majority of religious people in Star Trek non-humans?
Other than the few references in the original series, it's Vulcans, Klingons, Bajorans, Telaxaians and whatever aliens of the week.
Also Roddenberry and the movies after TMP didn't really mix. His word was given and usually ignored apparently.
Roddenberry's later stance was that HUMANS moved on from religion. Not Picard. Unless I missed some episodes in other series. I guess Chakotay had some spirit animal.
Other than the few references in the original series, it's Vulcans, Klingons, Bajorans, Telaxaians and whatever aliens of the week.
Also Roddenberry and the movies after TMP didn't really mix. His word was given and usually ignored apparently.
Roddenberry's later stance was that HUMANS moved on from religion. Not Picard. Unless I missed some episodes in other series. I guess Chakotay had some spirit animal.
A future Trek society should be enlightened enough to accept differences, as long as said differences intent, belief or practice is not to do harm to others.
Extreme believers of political or religious views only fear being a significant minority and loss of political power, if they spent their own time in power abusing their fellow humans. (As our real history shows they did).
(And I write this as a Christian believer)
We have no idea. But I find that extremely unlikely.
We just don't have enough evidence to extrapolate any kind of "trend" in regards to religious beliefs. We've seen human characters who are religious (Christopher Pike is a Christian), and also aliens who are (Kira). But these are only isolated examples. Not enough to get any hard data.
Edit: There's also the DSC episode "New Earth" which features a group of humans who were saved from WW III by the "red angel". They ended up inventing a new religion - based, IIRC, on an amalgamation of Earth religions - around the being who rescued them.
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I meant, as seen in the context of the various TV episodes. The beings who demonstrate religious faith in Star Trek from TNG on are usually non-humans. We don't see a many humans practicing or worshipping. According to Picard, humanity moved on from the worship of deities. As far as I followed the shows (and I don't know what's going on in Discovery, Lower Decks or Prodigy), other than Chakotay, that was that. Again, unless I missed or forgot an episode.
Well, no, that's not really what he said.
Picard was trying to stop the people on Mintaka III from worshipping him, specifically. He made no definitive statement regarding religious faith in general.
You know, you're right, I really misremembered Picard's stance and can't find where I got that from. So, I withdraw my statement. Sorry.
I also forgot Picard included Christmas in his Nexus fantasy, so there goes that.
Having said that, it is interesting that the majority of religions shown on Star Trek are demonstrated by the aliens and that more often references to human religion are made in the context of the original series and their films.
No, but that doesn't necessarily prove anything. I mean, most of the post-20th-century art, drama, literature, and music we see in Trek is from non-humans; anything from human culture is usually historical, like Westerns, WWII, Dixon Hill, Vic Fontaine, Captain Proton, old movies, etc. That doesn't mean human art and entertainment ceased to exist, just that the writers are more interested in imagining alien art and entertainment. Presumably the same goes for religions.
And yes, the majority of 24th-century humans are secular, but a majority view is almost never a universal view. In a free, non-discriminatory society, there are bound to be people who hold minority views of all sorts. And the human population in the Federation is far larger than the present-day population of Earth. So even a tiny minority of religious humans could still number in the millions or more.
Christmas is by no means an exclusively Christian celebration. These days it's largely secular, and there are people all over the world who celebrate the surface trappings like trees and presents and Santa Claus and carols without any religious component to it. Even if belief in deities ceased to exist, Santa Claus would probably live on.
It's easier to make up details of an alien religion than to get the details right about real religions, because there'll always be someone who disputes any claims that might be made about a real religion, or find the portrayal inaccurate, biased, or inauthentic.
It's also a lot more fun to world-build with fake stuff.
It's also a lot more fun to world-build with fake stuff.
Right, good point. It's not just Trek -- most commercial TV has generally preferred to avoid getting too much into religious storylines for fear of controversy. Even if it was taken for granted that the characters were Christian and went to church every Sunday and so forth, it would be a background element and things wouldn't get too blatant.
Plus, religions that believe in an "end of days" might struggle to reconcile far future/fantasy fictional happenings with the events depicted in their prophecies.
Not to say that it can't be done, however. I've read Christian sci-fi and fantasy that either avoids the question (by depicting characters who focus more on developing Christ-like character and faith than how their world lines up with apocalypse prophecies) or uses allegory of fictional lands to promote Christian concepts instead of having the Bible as written exist in the story.
Not to say that it can't be done, however. I've read Christian sci-fi and fantasy that either avoids the question (by depicting characters who focus more on developing Christ-like character and faith than how their world lines up with apocalypse prophecies) or uses allegory of fictional lands to promote Christian concepts instead of having the Bible as written exist in the story.
Meh. Various Westerners have been predicting the imminent end of the world in their lifetimes for 2000 years now, and every time it doesn't happen, they just push the prediction further forward.
Not all Christian denominations have chiliastic beliefs, though. For instance, Catholicism is amillennial, seeing Revelations as more allegorical than literal.
Imagining how the Bible might prophesy first contact, Starfleet, etc, or introducing an imaginary third testament that speaks of such things might pose a challenge.
He is? How do you know that?
Pike's father taught comparative religion, That's all I can think of.
And Pike once spoke of his experiences attending church.
This touches on comments made here (AND in TNZ I think) in regards the Bible as literature.
Spock is basically resurrected with his spirit or consciousness being restored into his physical body. McCoy is the person who carried that consciousness and, thus, facilitated that restoration. McCoy identifies himself as "Son of David".
In the Bible Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He is the one that facilitates a dead individual's consciousness being restored in their physical body. In the scriptures Jesus is referred to as the "Son of David".
Was that in "New Eden"? Not finding a reference to it in the transcript. He identifies a building as a church, though. I assume his father might have taken him to churches and other places of worship.
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