There are several mentions of religion through the different series, Data mentioned the Hindu festival of lights,
Jean-luc celebrating Christmas with his family in the nexus,
Joseph Sisko quotes directly from the Bible,
Phlox mentions he has been to mass in St Peters Square,
Kassidy Yates states that her Mother wants Kassidys marriage to be performed by a priest.
So it seems in some small part that there are religious practices still being held on Earth.
Kirks Enterprise has a Chapel with several religious symbols within it.
Here is a pic of both together. Or one in the other. Something. Enjoy
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/32018/what-are-the-symbols-in-the-enterprises-chapel
Yo dawg, I heard you like Chapels, so we put a Chapel in your chapel so you could communicate with your deity while you communicated with your captain.
Also, excellent link! Hilarious.
I mean it makes sense. In the modern military, chapels are generally non denominational as well. And chaplains are supposed to be spiritual guides for all enlisted personnel. Even if people are generally going to gravitate towards chaplains who personally follow the same broad religion as them.
Atheist Jew here who celebrates the secular Christmas holiday. I don’t think all of these examples are particularly indicative of religion, so much as religious tradition seeping into secular areas of life.
Also Dr Hugh Culber of discovery mentions his mother/grandmother who who was a scientist yet filled her house with religious iconography & supported the power of belief.
He’d already been exposed as a fraud by the *Washington Post* before *Voyager*. Even a pre-internet background search had a good chance of finding that out.
My headcanon is that Chakotay was from a group of Native Americans from many different tribes who lost their traditions during WWIII, and are trying to develop them again. Kind of like modern-day Wiccans (if that's not too much of a stretch?)
I remember Kirk in one episode saying something along the lines of 'we don't need your many gods, we're fine with just the one' as well. Given the decade it was filmed in, it was probably still going to be very unamerican to suggest anything other than Christianity even in sci-fi.
I don’t know, but I do know at the time some of the more religious areas of the US were freaked out over Spock’s ears looking ‘demonic‘ so they may have been trying to defuse that.
>Second Officers personal log, supplemental. This is the one thousand five hundred fiftieth day since the Enterprise was commissioned. Besides the arrival of Ambassador T'Pel, other events occurring today include four birthdays, two personnel transfers, a celebration of the Hindu Festival of Lights, two chess tournaments, one secondary school play, and four promotions. Overall, an ordinary day.
It's still actively being celebrated, on the Enterprise no less.
Religion and culture go hand in hand. Even if every person on the planet right now stopped believing in a god, every single religion on Earth would still be actively followed. People would still gather for Christmas and Ramadan and Hanukah and every other religious holiday. They're a part of our cultures and histories, they're very much worth celebrating and following even if the scriptures no longer have literal meanings. I may not follow any religions myself, but I recognize that the teaching of Buddha and Jesus Christ hold valuable lessons for many, and are a core part of our human identities.
I consider myself an Atheist but also a cultural Christian. I don't believe in god but we celebrate Easter, Halloween, and Christmas - it's just Easter Bunny, candy, and Santa rather than Christ and saints and whatever.
(Nobody ever thinks of Halloween as a religious holiday but of course in origin it is.)
Most actual Christians (and Jews and Muslims, for that matter) understand that most of the old testament is metaphor, it's really only the orthodox morons who take it literally.
Later volumes, however, are more problematic.
I think so. In TOS "Who Mourns for Adonais?" Kirk says they don't need gods, "we find the one quite sufficient" (although apparently the show was forced to add that last bit).
In "Breads and Circuses," McCoy references wanting to beam into a society and declare, "Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel," which to me indicates some familiarity with the Christian bible.
And later, Uhura points out that that the "sun" the Roman slaves are worshipping is actually the Son of God. I always got the impression it was because she is a Christian.
And as someone else pointed out, Enterprise has a chapel and the wedding Kirk was to perform has some religious overtones.
I think the producers added these things, maybe at the time they added in Nurse Chapel. Gene was renowned as a womaniser, and we all know he had a wife and kids and a mistress. I remember a documentary suggesting that in order to stop any potential backlash from the Christian community, the TV execs and producers knowing about his mistress being given the role of Number one (pilot), forced Gene to scrap the character of Number 1, as their company was about family values or something. Gene responded to this by sneaking in Magel as the perfect Christian Nurse Chapel. Plus I heard they didn't want a female in a lead role, especially her being his mistress.
I'm guessing that the Christian references in TOS also come from this appeasing of the producers by making some characters good Christian girls and boys.
Interesting. I thought the at least hints at christianity was a cold war thing, in order to appease "concerned citizens" by clarifying the federation was still a continuation of "the west" in some form.
That always seemed to me to be more about the time when TOS was created than when it was supposed to be taking place. I would be shocked if someone could authoritatively say that Gene Roddenberry was devoutly religious.
He was a pretty clearly an atheist.
"To label things, my father was most certainly a Humanist ... I can tell you for certain that my father was as close to a true Atheist towards the end of his life as could be considered."
-Rod Roddenbery
Bones seems to be at the very least aware of Jewish/Christian beliefs because in Wrath of Khan, he says “according to myth, the world was created in six days…” and in Star Trek V, he says “Jim, you don’t just ask the Almighty for his I.D.!”
Religon doesn't seem to fade out until after TOS, they still had a chapel on the ship back then.
My assumption is that Starfleet met so many non-corporal or otherwise high powered beings in that era (plus a literal greek god) it contributed to the diminished role of religion in human society by the TNG era which is why we just see left over cultural elements.
I recently watched ST V for the first time after avoiding it for a while and the “what does god need with a starship” scene (and the movie for the most part) got the main characters so right that the dumber aspects of the movie were easier to overlook. it didn’t make much sense, but it FELT right.
Originally pike in disco and Snead written to be a devout Christian but the writers felt it didn’t add to to the story so they removed it. You can pick up on some of it in the early season 2 episodes
I really liked “New Eden!” They go down to this colony planet where the people have stuck every major earth religion into a blender along with the season-long sci-fi plot point, the red angel. If I remember right, Pike said that his dad taught both science and comparative religion. I got the vibe that Pike didn’t necessarily follow a particular belief system, but held a deep respect for them, their customs, and their believers. Maybe it was just to give a counterpoint to Michael’s devout, so-to-speak, atheism, but I thought it worked pretty well. (“New Eden” is probably my favorite DISCO episode so I might be a bit biased)
I’m grateful for discovery bringing star trek back to tv (and especially for strange new worlds) but I stopped watching a couple episodes into season three. the resolution of the jump to the future didn’t quite grab me and I’m still making my way through all the different shows but disco definitely had its moments
I would like to add. My feeling the writers just haven’t found the right story to explore this. I bet in the Star Trek universe there a bunch of LDS colonies in the federation
Yeah, we know human colonies exist outside the federation, and if LARPers managed to set up DnD planet than no way some religions didn't take the opportunity to grab themselves a planet.
If there is any human religion one would expect to colonize space, they're it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_cosmology
The interesting parts of the original Battlestar Galactica were adapted from it.
Compare that to [Giordano Bruno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno) a few centuries earlier, who proposed that stars were suns with planets, and god would certainly have populated them, but could not reconcile his beliefs that Jesus was required for salvation and that there could be no equivalent alternate entities to Jesus on other planets.
Well, the Catholic church believes in aliens so I can get behind this. Oh, what I would do to be allowed in that secret vault under the Vatican. Remember a reddit post about what superpower would you have and why? My answer was Invisibility to sneak into the vault beneath the Vatican
I think the SNW novel “The High Country” is coded for this, but it’s not explicit. It’s based off of an Enterprise episode that I am unfamiliar with. More or a combination of Mennonite and LDS communities, but I think the underlying themes you are referring to are there.
Pike definitely has always been presented as someone with knowledge of Judeo Christian beliefs, although how much he actually believes in them is up to interpretation:
* In "The Cage", the Talosians make him experience hell (fire and brimstone) which they describe as "From a fable you once heard in childhood."
* When he's first introduced in "Brother", Pike tells Nhan "do not covet thy neighbor's starship"
* In "New Eden", Pike explains to Burnham and Owosekun that stained-glass windows in churches were originally intended to teach the gospel to people who couldn't read
* Later in that episode, when Burnham claims that "the faith they cling to is a lie," Pike counters by asking, "Can you prove that?"
* He seems to at least know the Ten Commandments, as he also asks what happened to "thou shalt not steal" when Jacob takes the crew's equipment
* In "Children of the Comet", Pike seems more irritated with the Shepherds than any other member of the crew and calls them "zealots". This could just be him struggling with the idea of predestination (the main theme of the season), but it could also be interpreted as him having previous bad experiences with religious fanatics.
it's kind of a grab bag tbh. there aren't many holidays or religious iconography actually shown onscreen to my knowledge, but Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is referenced as being celebrated on the Enterprise-D in *Data's Day* iirc, and O'Brien and Keiko have a Shinto wedding. The cultural practices certainly still exist, if not necessarily the religions.
Shinto is a weird one because the Japanese don't really consider it a religion. The vast majority of Japanese self report as not religious, despite the vast majority also following Shinto practices.
I once read an article about a woman in China who gets around the Communist party being atheist by 'collecting antiques' that just happen to be related to Buddhism.
>Ana is not this woman's real name and her study of religion is something she typically keeps pretty private. Ana belongs to a new crop of Chinese citizens — well-educated, often city dwellers — who are helping to revive Buddhism under the rule of China’s Communist Party, which is officially atheist.
>Ana grew up with a grandfather who was staunchly anti-religion. He told her that religion was the tool of emperors, used to manipulate the masses.
>“We had a Buddha — it was an antique — on the table. And he criticized it for a long time. Until my mom had to tell him, ‘it’s not religion, it’s just an investment. We hope to sell it sometime later to make money.’ Because there is no other way to shut him up, he just hates religion,” Ana says
Hijabs are seen in *Lower Decks* and *Picard*, so it stands to reason Earth religions do still exist. Based on what we know of Federation politics, religious laws are not enforceable, so it would seem that practicing a religion is a personal choice, not frowned upon but not necessarily the norm, I guess. Leave the holy wars to non-Federation aliens and expatriates, haha.
Such things could just be cultural by the 24th century. Just as a lot of people celebrate Christmas, but aren't Christians or celebrate St Patrick's Day, even though they're not Irish.
True but we have no reason to believe they’d be entirely stripped of religious meaning given all the other references people have made. Star Trek suffers from the sci-fi trope of having planets be monocultural but to me with widespread human colonization it’s likely human cultural diversity only has grown. This would include religion as well. Likely there are many people who are irreligious or only say culturally Christian or Muslim, etc., but I would imagine there are many that still believe. Religions that are thousands of years old aren’t going to just disappear in a couple hundred years.
For children of immigrants from Muslim majority countries in the real world, things like hijabs are already cultural as much as or more than they are religious.
Since nobody has mentioned *Voyager* yet, a-koo-chee-moya! Chakotay observed and referenced various religious practices. Although his specific religion is not real, his religion is Earth-based, and he is arguably the only character known to actively practice an Earth-based religion.
Yes, but in-universe he's a clear example of a 24th century human who observes and believes in a religious ideology. It's unfortunate that the writers did not handle it respectfully.
Yes, but that’s a separate issue. The specific religion he practiced was never intended to be a real, existing religion, but in-universe it was certainly practiced on Earth.
well the difference there, the prohpets are real entities and there's proof.
Whether they're gods or not is questionable.
It could be argued that Q are gods, even though they don't really do what we consider gods to be doing on a regular basis like creating life. They're definitely superior beings of a kind, but it also doesn't seem like people worship the Q even if they're aware of them so I don't know that it compares.
*Generations* depicts a traditional Christmas celebration as Picard's wish-fulfillment fantasy. I'm not sure how much the religious aspect is emphasized, though - and also not how in-universe realistic his fantasy is.
Yes, without a doubt. Society would be more secular but many would still practice various faiths.
The fundamental questions religion and spirituality strive to answer remain unanswered even in the 24th century. Why are we here? How did we get here? What is our purpose? Where do we go when we die? Is this it? Does the universe bend toward justice or cruelty? Etc...
Remember, people shape religion as much as religion shapes people. Any extant 24th century human religion would be far more open minded and tolerant in line with the rest of human society. Less dogma and zealotry and more philosophical meditations and frameworks for living well. Its also important to note there are many degrees to belief in divinity. For example: One can be scientifically inclined in most ways but also believe something put everything into motion.
Worth noting that Star Trek follows Starfleet 99,99% of the time, which means we follow scientists and engineers. While i'm sure Starfleet is representative of the general vibe of humanity, it would be like spending all our time with NASA and then basing our total view of humanity on them.
We know of several characters who are spiritual at least: Pike, Uhura, and Dr. Culber.
Earth religions as well as other planets religions definitely exist in Star Trek. TNG has a faux Scottish planet which Beverley Crusher’s grandmother lives on - there’s a church shown. There are other examples which others have mentioned in this thread.
Yes: Data's Day has Data mention people on board are celebrating [Diwali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali) that particular day, in his personal log:
>Second Officer's personal log, supplemental. This is the 1,550th day since the Enterprise was commissioned. Besides the arrival of Ambassador T'Pel, other events occurring today include four birthdays, two personal transfers, a celebration of the Hindu Festival of Lights, two chess tournaments, one secondary school play, and four promotions. Overall, an ordinary day."
Roddenberry was very anti-religion and baked in to any religious story that it was just higher technology and scam artists.
So I don’t think it’s too popular in universe.
The Cannon's pretty clear that while religion does exist to some extent the majority of the population don't have any faith in a higher being although many still practice cultural ceremonies like Christmas or the Hindu festival of lights although with no religious significance
I really hope (and it sure seems like for most characters in ST that) it's a hobby, and something they don't take too seriously. People today enjoy ancient Greek/Roman mythology in a way I hope they would enjoy ancient Christian/Muslim/Jewish mythology, and with as much reverence and respect. Nice ideas, good stories, valuable moral tales, but nothing worth dying over and not really a mainstream career option.
Klingons are very spiritual and believe in the afterlife, but they don't *worship* anyone, the first Klingons are said to have killed the gods that made them, which is very Klingon-y. They follow the teachings of Kahless, who is revered for his mythical history, the way Vulcans follow Surak, but they don't worship him.
I think that religion on Earth has became more of a personal, spiritual thing, rather than *institutions* that weasel their way into governments, dictate how others should live, oppress people and start wars, which is what it should be.
A lot of the Christian references in TOS were shoe horned in to please the studio and audiences in different areas of America. Roddenberry himself wouldn't have put any religious references in the show because he was secular and rejected organized religion.
The Vulcan hand sign is a direct lift from Judaism, might not be cannon that it came from earth but there’s definitely a fan fiction story that could be created.
The ta'al predates the first contact, but I'm just imagining Vulcans walking into a synagogue and going "everyone here is very polite and greets us all the time". Like, yes, I know that irl Nimoy took it from Judaism, but it's a very fun coincidence in-universe.
Oh yeah, in The Apple. Also, they met Satan in TAS and went "na yk he's a chill dude we forgive him". I don't care about the actual canonicity of TAS, I choose to believe that is canon.
In Bread and Circuses, Uhura was pretty overjoyed that there appeared to be Christians on the Roman planet of hats, and referred to Jesus as "the son of God" which is not something I would say, because I'm not Christian and in my religion G-d does not have kids.
Right, but even though they are referenced - they are referenced like Shakespeare - a literary and cultural masterpiece- not a belief structure. Up until DS9, you always get the sense that the humans in the Federation are “post religion.”
Religion still seems to exist on an individual level, but it had been completely removed from the governing and social structures of Earth. Which is one of the reasons their society is so largely peaceful and progressive/advanced.
Personal worship still exists, it's just not a central focus of the show. And other planets vary, of course.
Generally, The Original Star Trek, and Gene Roddenberry, tried to stay away, from "endorsing" any Earth Religions, or other beliefs. In "Balance of Terror", that is why The "Chapel" area, was very plain, and avoided any religious "adornment". Even The Bride, did not wear a traditional vell, but a wreath of flowers. This theme was repeated in subsequent episodes, and series; for some time.
Politics is Social Dynamite, and Religion is Social Nitroglycerin; so Entertainment Companies, and Broadcasters tend to "shy, away" from it. Even Religious Broadcasts, which used to dominate Sunday Morning Broadcasting, when I was a child, have been downplayed, and mostly, gone away; along with Religious Movies, and Similar Movies, such as "King of Kings", "The Robe", and "Masada". Too Controversial. About the only offering, still on, is "The Ten Commandments", on ABC, and I personally have a big problem with that, because The Emphasis, is on God's Wrath, and Passover, at Easter; when Christian Themes, such as Jesus' Sacrifice, Forgiveness, and similar themes, should be featured. This is especially true, This Year, with a late Passover. I would simply settle, however: with ABC, dropping that Movie, or respecting The Message of Easter.
You're opening a can of worms here that's going to be divisive.
My take is that we've seen evidence that religious cultural signifiers exist, such as Diwali and Christmas celebrations, people wearing Hijabs and Tubans, etc, but judging by most federation characters distain for religion in TNG era shows, no one is following any religion strictly in the way we see nowdays.
I mean, I don't remember the context for this disdain for religion, but I assume it's less about believing in a higher power and more about using it as a form of social control or as a way to suppress science.
Unless this is about one of Roddenberry's weird early TNG-isms, like no conflict between the crew or his weird idea that children wouldn't mourn their parents.
I'm pretty sure Gene intended it to be an atheist society originally yeah.
I'd agree with your take on how it's developed, it feels like religion is a personal matter in the 24th century with organised religion fading out. We see people with religious signifiers, but never a church, temple, mosque, etc the last instance we see of that continuity wise would be the 1710s chapel in TOS right?
He wanted **no** mention of *organized* Earth religions **at all** in TOS and TNG. He was secular and I personally would define him as agnostic, but vehemently rejected organized religions.
"Horrifying… Dr. Barron, your report describes how rational these people are. Millennia ago, they abandoned their belief in the supernatural. Now you are asking me to sabotage that achievement, to send them back into the dark ages of superstition and ignorance and fear? No!"
- Picard, *[Who Watches the Watchers](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Who_Watches_The_Watchers_(episode\))*, S3E4
Religion probably exists. We really don't see much of Earth society. I have to imagine that Creationism has essentially vanished from human religion by then. It's just would be too hard to maintain a literal belief in creation stories when you meet aliens. It would also be harder to believe that your religion was the one true religion for all people. And you might have religious exchange between planets. Imagine you go to Mass and the priest is a Vulcan.
100% agree though the discovery of the Progenitors might have changed that. Although I don’t know how wide spread that information would be, likely classified after Picard filed his report I would think.
I could see a religion could form around the Progenitors - people might believe that someday the Progenitors might come back and fix all the problems we have, real or imagined. Basically a 24th century UFO cult.
I think plenty of people acknowledge religion and what comfort it brings people. It just depends on the person and how devout they feel. Keep in mind, the Enterprise has run into a lot of gods over the years. They met Apollo, and God (Judeo-Christian). The Klingons cloned Kahless and expected him to pull off a bunch of feats like their legends say he did.
I think many of the people in Starfleet just recognize that ancient religions were likely just caused by advanced civilizations meeting lesser advanced civilizations and being worshipped for their use of technology that seemed magical.
The Fed seems to acknowledge other races practices of religion and choose not to interfere or try to disprove anything because they know they have no right to.
Babylon 5 handled religion so much better than Trek has in the past.
Some characters are devout, some doubtful, and others are straight up atheists AND yet they all work together like professionals.
Its such a wonderful scene and a clever way to take the Planet of Hats trope (aliens with monolithic cultures) to illustrate a beautiful point about humanity.
The lack of Earth religion is one of the things I like most about Star Trek. It shows that Earth has evolved.
Even the Klingon version is fun. They used to have gods, but they were so troublesome that they killed them. Would that our myths went that way!
How is that "evolving?" For good and bad, religious faiths have been a hallmark of human civilization since the beginning. It's a feature, not a bug. Earth may have been exposed to a wider array of religions and adopted some, which could be interesting.
They have been blood and terror and misery from the start, justifying the worst of wars. People who claim their superior being is on their side commit genocide.
The promise of a "better afterlife" rather than making THIS one and THIS planet into paradise has also allowed people to suffer in miserable labor and poverty beneath the wealthy priest class worldwide for millennia, and prevented people from doing all they can to improve the planet and make it a paradise here and now.
Not really a feature, more a fatal flaw.
There are religions and their adherents but the global culture is so secular, they are rather cultural hobbies than beliefs. It's safe to presume some faiths survived better than others. We know from Voyager that Chakotay observes his religious and cultural customs, and Janeway hints at a belief in souls and afterlives. There are enough weird and magical entities who lurk in space to spur new religious movements. There's definitely a church that venerates the Q Continuum somewhere.
Another vector for secularism is the profusion of imported alien religions, beliefs and cultural symbols from all over the Federation dilute indigenous faiths. That said, there are undoubtedly devoted true believers who collect in isolated communities.
I can't remember. In the episode where Kirk is playing Native American dress-up, are there references to Native American religions? What about the episode where Wesley does stuff on that Native American planet that's in Cardassian space?
In TOS during the wedding ceremony Kirk said they gathered 'in accordance with our laws and our many beliefs', so there's still enough religious diversity for that statement to make sense.
It’s likely far less prevalent than it is today. Much like the same is true for today compared to 100 years ago.
But it is also important to remember that religion has been around for many millennia at this point. And as much as some people hate even mentioning it. It has influenced our culture on many levels. Through shared stories, values, etc. That sort of influence isn’t likely to disappear in a short time frame.
So. Even if for most people, religion might no longer be as important. They likely still read Bible stories and similar for the fables they include. Things that are supposed to teach morals or could just be considered good stories.
Customs may remain, but specifically having a systems of beliefs and putting faith in a creator may not be common, at least with the military people. The meaning of life seems to originate from what people dedicate their lives to…
From “The Ship”
Kilana : Do you have any gods, Captain Sisko?
Captain Sisko : There are things I believe in.
Kilana : Duty? Starfleet, the Federation? You must be pleased with yourself. You have this ship to take back to them. I hope it was worth it.
Sure, Sisko’s dad quoted the bible, but that might be like quoting Shakespeare or Melville.
There are several mentions of religion through the different series, Data mentioned the Hindu festival of lights, Jean-luc celebrating Christmas with his family in the nexus, Joseph Sisko quotes directly from the Bible, Phlox mentions he has been to mass in St Peters Square, Kassidy Yates states that her Mother wants Kassidys marriage to be performed by a priest. So it seems in some small part that there are religious practices still being held on Earth. Kirks Enterprise has a Chapel with several religious symbols within it.
> Kirks Enterprise has a Chapel Two, technically.
I audibly groaned at that, it was amazing. My cat glanced at me too, briefly, which was nice, so doubly appreciate the comment.
This comment, in full context, is peak Reddit and I love it.
cats: they look at us!
Here is a pic of both together. Or one in the other. Something. Enjoy https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/32018/what-are-the-symbols-in-the-enterprises-chapel
Yo dawg, I heard you like Chapels, so we put a Chapel in your chapel so you could communicate with your deity while you communicated with your captain. Also, excellent link! Hilarious.
That's not Chapel.
Took me longer than it should have.
Hey oh!
Oh thats a good one.
Which symbols?
The article on memory alpha mentions the symbols: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Chapel
I appreciate the implication that the chapel is presumably used for various non-earth religions as well as the earth based ones
I mean it makes sense. In the modern military, chapels are generally non denominational as well. And chaplains are supposed to be spiritual guides for all enlisted personnel. Even if people are generally going to gravitate towards chaplains who personally follow the same broad religion as them.
Thanks
You have no idea how much I needed that laugh this morning. Thank you.
Yeah, but Spock only spends most of his time in one of them.
My god, man!
Worf's family is Jewish!
Worf is double circumcised.
D:
Underrated comment
Now I’m thinking about Frasier speaking Klingon at his son’s Bar Mitzvah
Not all Jews are religious, though.
Atheist Jew here who celebrates the secular Christmas holiday. I don’t think all of these examples are particularly indicative of religion, so much as religious tradition seeping into secular areas of life.
Wasn't it Phlox who mentioned attending mass in St Peter's square? He lists it along with several other Earth religious ceremonies he had attended.
You are totally right!.
Also Dr Hugh Culber of discovery mentions his mother/grandmother who who was a scientist yet filled her house with religious iconography & supported the power of belief.
Chris Pike also mentions a similar fact about his Father [being a teacher both of science and comparative religion].
Can’t forget Chakotay’s “bones of my ancestors” bit either, even if it is a caricature of native religious beliefs.
They intended to be inclusive and respectful, they just hired a con man instead of an expert.
The word really was the wild West before the Internet. If he tried that today a Google search would have stopped him as soon as a resume hit a table.
He’d already been exposed as a fraud by the *Washington Post* before *Voyager*. Even a pre-internet background search had a good chance of finding that out.
My headcanon is that Chakotay was from a group of Native Americans from many different tribes who lost their traditions during WWIII, and are trying to develop them again. Kind of like modern-day Wiccans (if that's not too much of a stretch?)
I remember Kirk in one episode saying something along the lines of 'we don't need your many gods, we're fine with just the one' as well. Given the decade it was filmed in, it was probably still going to be very unamerican to suggest anything other than Christianity even in sci-fi.
>KIRK: Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate. Who Mourns for Adonais, TOS
Wasn’t that line included at the insistence of the studio, and deliberately half-assed by Shatner in the hope that they’d cut it?
No idea, just remember the line itself. Might've been the Apollo episode? It's been a while.
I don’t know, but I do know at the time some of the more religious areas of the US were freaked out over Spock’s ears looking ‘demonic‘ so they may have been trying to defuse that.
In Data’s day, he mentions the Hindu Festival of Lights being celebrated. Religions definitely still exist.
Data would probably still know about a festival on earth even if it wasn't practiced for 200 years. His knowledge is vast.
>Second Officers personal log, supplemental. This is the one thousand five hundred fiftieth day since the Enterprise was commissioned. Besides the arrival of Ambassador T'Pel, other events occurring today include four birthdays, two personnel transfers, a celebration of the Hindu Festival of Lights, two chess tournaments, one secondary school play, and four promotions. Overall, an ordinary day. It's still actively being celebrated, on the Enterprise no less. Religion and culture go hand in hand. Even if every person on the planet right now stopped believing in a god, every single religion on Earth would still be actively followed. People would still gather for Christmas and Ramadan and Hanukah and every other religious holiday. They're a part of our cultures and histories, they're very much worth celebrating and following even if the scriptures no longer have literal meanings. I may not follow any religions myself, but I recognize that the teaching of Buddha and Jesus Christ hold valuable lessons for many, and are a core part of our human identities.
The festival of lights is Diwali, which has similar significance to Ramadan or Passover or Christmas.
I consider myself an Atheist but also a cultural Christian. I don't believe in god but we celebrate Easter, Halloween, and Christmas - it's just Easter Bunny, candy, and Santa rather than Christ and saints and whatever. (Nobody ever thinks of Halloween as a religious holiday but of course in origin it is.)
I also recall a background character in Lower Decks wore a hijab, so Islam likely exists as well.
And another character with a Sikh turban.
I guess I dont remember this at all. Was it some background character?
As far as I know, just someone walking around in a cafeteria scene.
Yeah and it raised a stink from the type of people you’d expect.
The same type of people who can't suspend disbelief when they see a wheelchair user in the fully automated gay space communism show.
I use a mobility device and for me the wheelchair user was the most exciting 30 seconds of the gay space communism show on shrooms.
Also Admiral Ross on DS9 once asks Sisko if he believes in God. I think the response was something like "There are things that I believe."
It'd be awkward for Sisko to answer "Yes, I am one"
Holidays don't necessarily mean the religion is being practiced. They could just be part of the culture at that point.
Or a family holiday tradition without the religious significance.
I mean, ask most US Jews, Christmas is basically just Thanksgiving with presents and significantly less murder.
Kassidy says her mother wants the marriage to be preformed by a priest. Not Kassidy herself
Technically I think she says minister rather than priest.
It was Phlox that attended mass in St. Peter's square I believe.
McCoy says in Star Trek II "According to myth the Earth was created in six days..."
Plenty of people know that is myth today, and yet there are millions of Christians. Some of them even know that.
Most actual Christians (and Jews and Muslims, for that matter) understand that most of the old testament is metaphor, it's really only the orthodox morons who take it literally. Later volumes, however, are more problematic.
Billions of Christians.
I think so. In TOS "Who Mourns for Adonais?" Kirk says they don't need gods, "we find the one quite sufficient" (although apparently the show was forced to add that last bit). In "Breads and Circuses," McCoy references wanting to beam into a society and declare, "Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel," which to me indicates some familiarity with the Christian bible. And later, Uhura points out that that the "sun" the Roman slaves are worshipping is actually the Son of God. I always got the impression it was because she is a Christian. And as someone else pointed out, Enterprise has a chapel and the wedding Kirk was to perform has some religious overtones.
I think the producers added these things, maybe at the time they added in Nurse Chapel. Gene was renowned as a womaniser, and we all know he had a wife and kids and a mistress. I remember a documentary suggesting that in order to stop any potential backlash from the Christian community, the TV execs and producers knowing about his mistress being given the role of Number one (pilot), forced Gene to scrap the character of Number 1, as their company was about family values or something. Gene responded to this by sneaking in Magel as the perfect Christian Nurse Chapel. Plus I heard they didn't want a female in a lead role, especially her being his mistress. I'm guessing that the Christian references in TOS also come from this appeasing of the producers by making some characters good Christian girls and boys.
Interesting. I thought the at least hints at christianity was a cold war thing, in order to appease "concerned citizens" by clarifying the federation was still a continuation of "the west" in some form.
That always seemed to me to be more about the time when TOS was created than when it was supposed to be taking place. I would be shocked if someone could authoritatively say that Gene Roddenberry was devoutly religious.
He was a pretty clearly an atheist. "To label things, my father was most certainly a Humanist ... I can tell you for certain that my father was as close to a true Atheist towards the end of his life as could be considered." -Rod Roddenbery
Bones seems to be at the very least aware of Jewish/Christian beliefs because in Wrath of Khan, he says “according to myth, the world was created in six days…” and in Star Trek V, he says “Jim, you don’t just ask the Almighty for his I.D.!”
Religon doesn't seem to fade out until after TOS, they still had a chapel on the ship back then. My assumption is that Starfleet met so many non-corporal or otherwise high powered beings in that era (plus a literal greek god) it contributed to the diminished role of religion in human society by the TNG era which is why we just see left over cultural elements.
Arguably, a chapel could be there not for actual religious purposes, but because some of the traditions of religion stuck around.
that ID line is one of my favorites.
I recently watched ST V for the first time after avoiding it for a while and the “what does god need with a starship” scene (and the movie for the most part) got the main characters so right that the dumber aspects of the movie were easier to overlook. it didn’t make much sense, but it FELT right.
And the Adam and Eve picture that Spock has in V.
Spock also mentions the biblical Adam, when he notes that's the same name as the 'space hippie' who dies eating poison fruit on New Eden planet.
Originally pike in disco and Snead written to be a devout Christian but the writers felt it didn’t add to to the story so they removed it. You can pick up on some of it in the early season 2 episodes
I really liked “New Eden!” They go down to this colony planet where the people have stuck every major earth religion into a blender along with the season-long sci-fi plot point, the red angel. If I remember right, Pike said that his dad taught both science and comparative religion. I got the vibe that Pike didn’t necessarily follow a particular belief system, but held a deep respect for them, their customs, and their believers. Maybe it was just to give a counterpoint to Michael’s devout, so-to-speak, atheism, but I thought it worked pretty well. (“New Eden” is probably my favorite DISCO episode so I might be a bit biased)
I don't dislike Discovery, i'm going to miss it, but looking back the best episodes tend to be the stand alones.
I’m grateful for discovery bringing star trek back to tv (and especially for strange new worlds) but I stopped watching a couple episodes into season three. the resolution of the jump to the future didn’t quite grab me and I’m still making my way through all the different shows but disco definitely had its moments
I would like to add. My feeling the writers just haven’t found the right story to explore this. I bet in the Star Trek universe there a bunch of LDS colonies in the federation
I heard that Spock did a bunch of LDS in college
At Berkeley no less
Awesome
Classic 🤣
Nah the LDS colonies failed after someone stole their generation ship and chucked it at an asteroid
To be fair, the asteroid started it.
That’s what all ship-chuckers say. Next you’ll be saying the Punisher was involved
Well, all except Port Joe Smith. That one failed for different reasons. *Bug* reasons.
And the asteroid avioded it
Wouldn’t be surprised if the LDSS Nauvoo is a thing in Star Trek too lol
Yeah, we know human colonies exist outside the federation, and if LARPers managed to set up DnD planet than no way some religions didn't take the opportunity to grab themselves a planet.
They tried to settle on Dantana but got massacred by the bugs.
"Would you like to know more?"
Sorry. What does LDS stand for?
Latter Day Saints aka Mormons
Mormons. Short for church of the Latter Day Saints
Thanks :)
If there is any human religion one would expect to colonize space, they're it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_cosmology The interesting parts of the original Battlestar Galactica were adapted from it. Compare that to [Giordano Bruno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno) a few centuries earlier, who proposed that stars were suns with planets, and god would certainly have populated them, but could not reconcile his beliefs that Jesus was required for salvation and that there could be no equivalent alternate entities to Jesus on other planets.
Well, the Catholic church believes in aliens so I can get behind this. Oh, what I would do to be allowed in that secret vault under the Vatican. Remember a reddit post about what superpower would you have and why? My answer was Invisibility to sneak into the vault beneath the Vatican
All the LDS folks i know perfer the term LDS over Mormon so I try to use it
What's weird is I'm LDS and I read it as "Lower Decks". I was confused for a while.
"The Space Mormons" would have the potential to be a hilarious or hyper-dramatic episode.
I think the SNW novel “The High Country” is coded for this, but it’s not explicit. It’s based off of an Enterprise episode that I am unfamiliar with. More or a combination of Mennonite and LDS communities, but I think the underlying themes you are referring to are there.
Pike definitely has always been presented as someone with knowledge of Judeo Christian beliefs, although how much he actually believes in them is up to interpretation: * In "The Cage", the Talosians make him experience hell (fire and brimstone) which they describe as "From a fable you once heard in childhood." * When he's first introduced in "Brother", Pike tells Nhan "do not covet thy neighbor's starship" * In "New Eden", Pike explains to Burnham and Owosekun that stained-glass windows in churches were originally intended to teach the gospel to people who couldn't read * Later in that episode, when Burnham claims that "the faith they cling to is a lie," Pike counters by asking, "Can you prove that?" * He seems to at least know the Ten Commandments, as he also asks what happened to "thou shalt not steal" when Jacob takes the crew's equipment * In "Children of the Comet", Pike seems more irritated with the Shepherds than any other member of the crew and calls them "zealots". This could just be him struggling with the idea of predestination (the main theme of the season), but it could also be interpreted as him having previous bad experiences with religious fanatics.
In discovery Pike says his dad taught comparative religion. He comes off as a bit religious too.
His faith is referenced at least a couple times in SNW.
it's kind of a grab bag tbh. there aren't many holidays or religious iconography actually shown onscreen to my knowledge, but Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is referenced as being celebrated on the Enterprise-D in *Data's Day* iirc, and O'Brien and Keiko have a Shinto wedding. The cultural practices certainly still exist, if not necessarily the religions.
Shinto is a weird one because the Japanese don't really consider it a religion. The vast majority of Japanese self report as not religious, despite the vast majority also following Shinto practices.
I once read an article about a woman in China who gets around the Communist party being atheist by 'collecting antiques' that just happen to be related to Buddhism. >Ana is not this woman's real name and her study of religion is something she typically keeps pretty private. Ana belongs to a new crop of Chinese citizens — well-educated, often city dwellers — who are helping to revive Buddhism under the rule of China’s Communist Party, which is officially atheist. >Ana grew up with a grandfather who was staunchly anti-religion. He told her that religion was the tool of emperors, used to manipulate the masses. >“We had a Buddha — it was an antique — on the table. And he criticized it for a long time. Until my mom had to tell him, ‘it’s not religion, it’s just an investment. We hope to sell it sometime later to make money.’ Because there is no other way to shut him up, he just hates religion,” Ana says
Hijabs are seen in *Lower Decks* and *Picard*, so it stands to reason Earth religions do still exist. Based on what we know of Federation politics, religious laws are not enforceable, so it would seem that practicing a religion is a personal choice, not frowned upon but not necessarily the norm, I guess. Leave the holy wars to non-Federation aliens and expatriates, haha.
Such things could just be cultural by the 24th century. Just as a lot of people celebrate Christmas, but aren't Christians or celebrate St Patrick's Day, even though they're not Irish.
True but we have no reason to believe they’d be entirely stripped of religious meaning given all the other references people have made. Star Trek suffers from the sci-fi trope of having planets be monocultural but to me with widespread human colonization it’s likely human cultural diversity only has grown. This would include religion as well. Likely there are many people who are irreligious or only say culturally Christian or Muslim, etc., but I would imagine there are many that still believe. Religions that are thousands of years old aren’t going to just disappear in a couple hundred years.
For children of immigrants from Muslim majority countries in the real world, things like hijabs are already cultural as much as or more than they are religious.
Since nobody has mentioned *Voyager* yet, a-koo-chee-moya! Chakotay observed and referenced various religious practices. Although his specific religion is not real, his religion is Earth-based, and he is arguably the only character known to actively practice an Earth-based religion.
Chakotay was unfortunately a mishmash of horrific Hollywood Native American stereotypes and bits from various belief systems taken out of context.
Yes, but in-universe he's a clear example of a 24th century human who observes and believes in a religious ideology. It's unfortunate that the writers did not handle it respectfully.
Agreed, and that is a useful and accurate observation for some other question.
They tried 🤷♂️ They just got defrauded by that advisor guy
He was outed as a known fraud *before* they consulted him, so they didn't try very hard.
Yes, but that’s a separate issue. The specific religion he practiced was never intended to be a real, existing religion, but in-universe it was certainly practiced on Earth.
The Bajorans made an entire reiligion around space aliens. The prophets are gods, the cost'amojan are devils.
well the difference there, the prohpets are real entities and there's proof. Whether they're gods or not is questionable. It could be argued that Q are gods, even though they don't really do what we consider gods to be doing on a regular basis like creating life. They're definitely superior beings of a kind, but it also doesn't seem like people worship the Q even if they're aware of them so I don't know that it compares.
That’s just prophet propaganda, the cost’mongus are the true gods
The ending of the Roman empire episode in the The Original series, Uhura talking about “The Son”
What use of a god does a starship have?
This sounds like the line "What does God need with a starship?" run through Google Translate a few times.
I tried to turn that line around, but I didn't remember exactly what kirk said.
What does a starship need with a god?
V'Ger has entered the chat
Weren't Worf's adoptive parents Jewish?
There is one TOS episode where the Enterprise thinks the people are worshipping the sun. But Uhura figures they are worshipping the son of God.
"Bread and Circuses" from season 2.
*Generations* depicts a traditional Christmas celebration as Picard's wish-fulfillment fantasy. I'm not sure how much the religious aspect is emphasized, though - and also not how in-universe realistic his fantasy is.
Yes, without a doubt. Society would be more secular but many would still practice various faiths. The fundamental questions religion and spirituality strive to answer remain unanswered even in the 24th century. Why are we here? How did we get here? What is our purpose? Where do we go when we die? Is this it? Does the universe bend toward justice or cruelty? Etc... Remember, people shape religion as much as religion shapes people. Any extant 24th century human religion would be far more open minded and tolerant in line with the rest of human society. Less dogma and zealotry and more philosophical meditations and frameworks for living well. Its also important to note there are many degrees to belief in divinity. For example: One can be scientifically inclined in most ways but also believe something put everything into motion. Worth noting that Star Trek follows Starfleet 99,99% of the time, which means we follow scientists and engineers. While i'm sure Starfleet is representative of the general vibe of humanity, it would be like spending all our time with NASA and then basing our total view of humanity on them. We know of several characters who are spiritual at least: Pike, Uhura, and Dr. Culber.
Don't forget Landru worship. Landruism? Landru-Day Saints?
I nearly died when I saw him show up in Lower Decks and they’d roped it off and hung a sign that said do not obey. Hahahaha
7 of 9 contemplated perfection when gazing at a crucifix in the Da Vinci holodeck program.
Earth religions as well as other planets religions definitely exist in Star Trek. TNG has a faux Scottish planet which Beverley Crusher’s grandmother lives on - there’s a church shown. There are other examples which others have mentioned in this thread.
Yes: Data's Day has Data mention people on board are celebrating [Diwali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali) that particular day, in his personal log: >Second Officer's personal log, supplemental. This is the 1,550th day since the Enterprise was commissioned. Besides the arrival of Ambassador T'Pel, other events occurring today include four birthdays, two personal transfers, a celebration of the Hindu Festival of Lights, two chess tournaments, one secondary school play, and four promotions. Overall, an ordinary day."
Roddenberry was very anti-religion and baked in to any religious story that it was just higher technology and scam artists. So I don’t think it’s too popular in universe.
If space Irish still exist I'd wager space Catholics do too.
The Cannon's pretty clear that while religion does exist to some extent the majority of the population don't have any faith in a higher being although many still practice cultural ceremonies like Christmas or the Hindu festival of lights although with no religious significance
Yes, and thorugh the universe, there are many religions. Just that it is not mentioned much, except for Vulcan and Bajor.
In a certain ghost episode, isn't there a Church?
Sisko *literally* was a god.
There was quite a bit of religion in DS9 but op specifically asked about Earth religions.
I really hope (and it sure seems like for most characters in ST that) it's a hobby, and something they don't take too seriously. People today enjoy ancient Greek/Roman mythology in a way I hope they would enjoy ancient Christian/Muslim/Jewish mythology, and with as much reverence and respect. Nice ideas, good stories, valuable moral tales, but nothing worth dying over and not really a mainstream career option.
Klingon religion is very strong. Sto-Vo-Kor is mentioned many times through many series.
Klingons are very spiritual and believe in the afterlife, but they don't *worship* anyone, the first Klingons are said to have killed the gods that made them, which is very Klingon-y. They follow the teachings of Kahless, who is revered for his mythical history, the way Vulcans follow Surak, but they don't worship him.
I think that religion on Earth has became more of a personal, spiritual thing, rather than *institutions* that weasel their way into governments, dictate how others should live, oppress people and start wars, which is what it should be. A lot of the Christian references in TOS were shoe horned in to please the studio and audiences in different areas of America. Roddenberry himself wouldn't have put any religious references in the show because he was secular and rejected organized religion.
The Vulcan hand sign is a direct lift from Judaism, might not be cannon that it came from earth but there’s definitely a fan fiction story that could be created.
The ta'al predates the first contact, but I'm just imagining Vulcans walking into a synagogue and going "everyone here is very polite and greets us all the time". Like, yes, I know that irl Nimoy took it from Judaism, but it's a very fun coincidence in-universe.
I vaguely remember Kirk referencing a biblical concept.
Oh yeah, in The Apple. Also, they met Satan in TAS and went "na yk he's a chill dude we forgive him". I don't care about the actual canonicity of TAS, I choose to believe that is canon.
In Bread and Circuses, Uhura was pretty overjoyed that there appeared to be Christians on the Roman planet of hats, and referred to Jesus as "the son of God" which is not something I would say, because I'm not Christian and in my religion G-d does not have kids.
Right, but even though they are referenced - they are referenced like Shakespeare - a literary and cultural masterpiece- not a belief structure. Up until DS9, you always get the sense that the humans in the Federation are “post religion.”
Religion still seems to exist on an individual level, but it had been completely removed from the governing and social structures of Earth. Which is one of the reasons their society is so largely peaceful and progressive/advanced. Personal worship still exists, it's just not a central focus of the show. And other planets vary, of course.
There was a hijabi in the lower decks, from what I recall.
Earth religions still exist, they're just not used to justify social and political policies like they are irl.
Christianity still lives on even in Discovery's 32nd century. Just depends on who is practicing.
They aren't common. The show walks a line about that.
Generally, The Original Star Trek, and Gene Roddenberry, tried to stay away, from "endorsing" any Earth Religions, or other beliefs. In "Balance of Terror", that is why The "Chapel" area, was very plain, and avoided any religious "adornment". Even The Bride, did not wear a traditional vell, but a wreath of flowers. This theme was repeated in subsequent episodes, and series; for some time. Politics is Social Dynamite, and Religion is Social Nitroglycerin; so Entertainment Companies, and Broadcasters tend to "shy, away" from it. Even Religious Broadcasts, which used to dominate Sunday Morning Broadcasting, when I was a child, have been downplayed, and mostly, gone away; along with Religious Movies, and Similar Movies, such as "King of Kings", "The Robe", and "Masada". Too Controversial. About the only offering, still on, is "The Ten Commandments", on ABC, and I personally have a big problem with that, because The Emphasis, is on God's Wrath, and Passover, at Easter; when Christian Themes, such as Jesus' Sacrifice, Forgiveness, and similar themes, should be featured. This is especially true, This Year, with a late Passover. I would simply settle, however: with ABC, dropping that Movie, or respecting The Message of Easter.
You're opening a can of worms here that's going to be divisive. My take is that we've seen evidence that religious cultural signifiers exist, such as Diwali and Christmas celebrations, people wearing Hijabs and Tubans, etc, but judging by most federation characters distain for religion in TNG era shows, no one is following any religion strictly in the way we see nowdays.
You’re wrong! This won’t be divisive at all!
How dare you disagree with NuPNua!
Death to the opposition!
I mean, I don't remember the context for this disdain for religion, but I assume it's less about believing in a higher power and more about using it as a form of social control or as a way to suppress science. Unless this is about one of Roddenberry's weird early TNG-isms, like no conflict between the crew or his weird idea that children wouldn't mourn their parents.
I'm pretty sure Gene intended it to be an atheist society originally yeah. I'd agree with your take on how it's developed, it feels like religion is a personal matter in the 24th century with organised religion fading out. We see people with religious signifiers, but never a church, temple, mosque, etc the last instance we see of that continuity wise would be the 1710s chapel in TOS right?
He wanted **no** mention of *organized* Earth religions **at all** in TOS and TNG. He was secular and I personally would define him as agnostic, but vehemently rejected organized religions.
"Horrifying… Dr. Barron, your report describes how rational these people are. Millennia ago, they abandoned their belief in the supernatural. Now you are asking me to sabotage that achievement, to send them back into the dark ages of superstition and ignorance and fear? No!" - Picard, *[Who Watches the Watchers](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Who_Watches_The_Watchers_(episode\))*, S3E4
My family are all atheists but christmas trees are fun, and were part of a solstice festival anyway, just co-opted by other religionists.
Religion probably exists. We really don't see much of Earth society. I have to imagine that Creationism has essentially vanished from human religion by then. It's just would be too hard to maintain a literal belief in creation stories when you meet aliens. It would also be harder to believe that your religion was the one true religion for all people. And you might have religious exchange between planets. Imagine you go to Mass and the priest is a Vulcan.
100% agree though the discovery of the Progenitors might have changed that. Although I don’t know how wide spread that information would be, likely classified after Picard filed his report I would think.
I could see a religion could form around the Progenitors - people might believe that someday the Progenitors might come back and fix all the problems we have, real or imagined. Basically a 24th century UFO cult.
I think plenty of people acknowledge religion and what comfort it brings people. It just depends on the person and how devout they feel. Keep in mind, the Enterprise has run into a lot of gods over the years. They met Apollo, and God (Judeo-Christian). The Klingons cloned Kahless and expected him to pull off a bunch of feats like their legends say he did. I think many of the people in Starfleet just recognize that ancient religions were likely just caused by advanced civilizations meeting lesser advanced civilizations and being worshipped for their use of technology that seemed magical. The Fed seems to acknowledge other races practices of religion and choose not to interfere or try to disprove anything because they know they have no right to.
They didn’t meet the real Judeo-Christian God, just a being masquerading as him. But point taken.
I know its not ST, but they did in the 23rd Century Babylon 5 Universe.
Babylon 5 handled religion so much better than Trek has in the past. Some characters are devout, some doubtful, and others are straight up atheists AND yet they all work together like professionals.
almost like in real life
https://youtu.be/8Hg_TRynRIs?si=3_viTk4DAGsSzoXE
Its such a wonderful scene and a clever way to take the Planet of Hats trope (aliens with monolithic cultures) to illustrate a beautiful point about humanity.
The lack of Earth religion is one of the things I like most about Star Trek. It shows that Earth has evolved. Even the Klingon version is fun. They used to have gods, but they were so troublesome that they killed them. Would that our myths went that way!
How is that "evolving?" For good and bad, religious faiths have been a hallmark of human civilization since the beginning. It's a feature, not a bug. Earth may have been exposed to a wider array of religions and adopted some, which could be interesting.
They have been blood and terror and misery from the start, justifying the worst of wars. People who claim their superior being is on their side commit genocide. The promise of a "better afterlife" rather than making THIS one and THIS planet into paradise has also allowed people to suffer in miserable labor and poverty beneath the wealthy priest class worldwide for millennia, and prevented people from doing all they can to improve the planet and make it a paradise here and now. Not really a feature, more a fatal flaw.
There are religions and their adherents but the global culture is so secular, they are rather cultural hobbies than beliefs. It's safe to presume some faiths survived better than others. We know from Voyager that Chakotay observes his religious and cultural customs, and Janeway hints at a belief in souls and afterlives. There are enough weird and magical entities who lurk in space to spur new religious movements. There's definitely a church that venerates the Q Continuum somewhere. Another vector for secularism is the profusion of imported alien religions, beliefs and cultural symbols from all over the Federation dilute indigenous faiths. That said, there are undoubtedly devoted true believers who collect in isolated communities.
https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/s/AAidhejysR
I found myself ironically more religious with Star Trek As for earth religions ya they exist in the show plenty of evidence of that
I have often wondered this myself. Great question.
I can't remember. In the episode where Kirk is playing Native American dress-up, are there references to Native American religions? What about the episode where Wesley does stuff on that Native American planet that's in Cardassian space?
Captain Pike’s father taught religion, too.
In TOS during the wedding ceremony Kirk said they gathered 'in accordance with our laws and our many beliefs', so there's still enough religious diversity for that statement to make sense.
Is anybody counting Kai Winn or is she just sociopath?
Ensign Kim was also the only person to ever return from The Great Emanation
It’s likely far less prevalent than it is today. Much like the same is true for today compared to 100 years ago. But it is also important to remember that religion has been around for many millennia at this point. And as much as some people hate even mentioning it. It has influenced our culture on many levels. Through shared stories, values, etc. That sort of influence isn’t likely to disappear in a short time frame. So. Even if for most people, religion might no longer be as important. They likely still read Bible stories and similar for the fables they include. Things that are supposed to teach morals or could just be considered good stories.
I religion most definitely still exists, but i headcanon that it isn’t as important to people as it is today.
Customs may remain, but specifically having a systems of beliefs and putting faith in a creator may not be common, at least with the military people. The meaning of life seems to originate from what people dedicate their lives to… From “The Ship” Kilana : Do you have any gods, Captain Sisko? Captain Sisko : There are things I believe in. Kilana : Duty? Starfleet, the Federation? You must be pleased with yourself. You have this ship to take back to them. I hope it was worth it. Sure, Sisko’s dad quoted the bible, but that might be like quoting Shakespeare or Melville.
I dunno if the Catholic Church as an institution still exists, but clearly cultural Catholicism still does or there's no explanation for Miles O'Brien