Religious systems in Sci-Fi

[Flaviosky]

Hello everyone,

Thinking in my side project, it came to my mind that I haven't encountered decent religious systems in my little exposure to Sci-Fi. All my experiences have been cult-like organizations with a somewhat evil side.

On the other hand, it must be difficult to think about a comprehensive system of beliefs that succesfully blends with advanced technology and understanding of the wacky yet real physics of an interplanetary or intergalactic setting.

I'd love to recieve opinions and/or examples of what may be successful attempts to build a realistic and not cult-like religion in a sci-fi context.

Thanks!

 

[Toby Frost]

My first thought is the Catholic Church in A Canticle for Liebowitz, which becomes the thread of continuity after the world is flattered by an apocalypse. Definitely worth a look.

 

[JS Wiig]

Check out Scalzi’s Interdependency series.

 

[Justin Swanton]

A must is The Mote in God's Eye, where the Catholic Church has no problem with a galactic empire or hi-tech space travel, but has a real headache figuring out where the Moties fit in the theology of salvation. There's nothing remotely fanatical about the Catholics, though the rival Church of Him is rather sectarian.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

Bene Gesserit and the Orange Catholic Bible from Dune jump to mind. As does the Zensunni religion of the Fremen.

The Earthseed religion in Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Mercerism in Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep (filmed as Blade Runner)

The Klingon Religion

Fordism in A Brave New World by Huxley

Monism in Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein

 

[tinkerdan]

gene wolfe
book of the long sun
book of the short sun
book of the new sun
A must read.

 

[Montero]

TV Series The 100 - people are on an "ark" space station above a devastated earth and have a religion based around a return to earth and donating a tiny bit of their water ration to keep a bonsai tree alive.

 

[Flaviosky]

TV Series The 100 - people are on an "ark" space station above a devastated earth and have a religion based around a return to earth and donating a tiny bit of their water ration to keep a bonsai tree alive.

This is interesting. The concept of Earth made something divine by a colony with a bonsai turned into the recervoir of hope. Nevertheless, it's key to understand the process that involves the dispense of rationalization about the causes and solutions for earth and the embrace of faith and symbols.

 

[Astro Pen]

The "Left Behind" series of 16 books is worth a look. Heavy on the religious aspect.

Left Behind - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Montero]

This is interesting. The concept of Earth made something divine by a colony with a bonsai turned into the recervoir of hope. Nevertheless, it's key to understand the process that involves the dispense of rationalization about the causes and solutions for earth and the embrace of faith and symbols.

Not everyone subscribes to it and there is a fair bit of workers vs bosses factionalism, though no adherence to former nations, though it is several generations or so on the space ship by this point.

 

[Parson]

Good religious systems are very difficult for me to find in S.F. Many of the authors seem to see religion as either foolish, a scam, or a force for evil in the world. Perhaps the book that comes closest to seeing religion in a positive light that I can think of would be Songmaster by Orson Scott Card. It has a bit of a positive spin on the planet Grayson in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. It plays the greatest role, both positively and negatively in that book.

Much later edit: @Flaviosky ---- I noticed to my chagrin that I did not name the Weber book in question: Flag in Exile

 

[Brian G Turner]

A big problem is that a lot of people are drawn to scfi for its rationalism - any whiff of the mystical or spiritual and it's denigrated as "fantasy". Hence the old "Star Wars is fantasy because The Force" chestnut, while Star Trek is considered science fiction in spite of a woeful lack of coherent science of any kind.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

Good religious systems are very difficult for me to find in S.F. Many of the authors seem to see religion as either foolish, a scam, or a force for evil in the world. Perhaps the book that comes closest to seeing religion in a positive light that I can think of would be Songmaster by Orson Scott Card. It has a bit of a positive spin on the planet Grayson in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. It plays the greatest role, both positively and negatively in that book.

Much later edit: @Flaviosky ---- I noticed to my chagrin that I did not name the Weber book in question: Flag in Exile

Very true. Where present, believers are almost always The Opposition, sad to say. Fantasy may be a better source of examples. Though even there, many writers seem very cagey about discussing the religion of their invented worlds. There's surprisingly little detail in The Lord of the Rings, even. I wonder if it's because atheists / agnostics are uncomfortable with portraying religion, whereas people who follw real-world religions are uncomfortable with creating a false faith?

I like Scott Lynch's treatment of the pantheistic religion in "The Lies of Locke Lamora" and sequels- some of the phrases and ideas associated with the Un-named Thirteenth are genuinely moving.

The Imperial Radch in Anne Leckie's "Ancillary Justice" series is supposedly a theocracy, but she doesn't delve into that much.

"Accelerando" by Charles Stross: one major character is an imam who's been posted to Jupiter. A nice nuanced portrayal, I thought.

"Eon" by Greg Bear: some of the inhabitants of Axis City follow a creed based on the life of Ralph Nader, of all people. This isn't played for laughs (mostly)- it's portrayed as a genuine source of spiritual support. "In the name of Star, Fate, and Pneuma and the Good Man, who sought equality and fair deals for all consumers..."

 

[Flaviosky]

A big problem is that a lot of people are drawn to scfi for its rationalism

Yeah, I agree, although it's still a leap of faith to think that spirituality will eventually fade off from humanity as science progresses. There are (literally) hours of debate between Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris about this.

Though even there, many writers seem very cagey about discussing the religion of their invented world

Well, it's a rather difficult think to address because religion is complicated. I just aim for to incorporate religion just a bit as my world comprises a fairly "non-utopia" futuristic universe in a planetary colony facing war against native creatures, and also considering that technology in general has made life easier but at the same time has rendered social hierarchy to become more complex. These two phenomena may allow belief to sprout.

 

[Wayne Mack]

Perhaps part of the issue is that religion becomes an easy justification for bad actors in a story. "I sacrifice young girls to a giant snake because my religion says to." Rather than providing a rational explanation why a character acts in a certain way, it is a cheap and easy out to simply say it is because of tradition and sacred texts.

On the flip side, the good protagonist rarely has a justification for doing the right thing. There is no religious background that is used to explain why a character would endanger him or herself to rescue strangers from giant snakes.

 

[Parson]

On the flip side, the good protagonist rarely has a justification for doing the right thing. There is no religious background that is used to explain why a character would endanger him or herself to rescue strangers from giant snakes.

Of course that begs the question, "Why not?" Everything we do, we do because nurture or nature. I think more learning is done by nurture than by nature. Speaking for myself, a lot of the better* things I do, I do because I've internalized a belief system that says I should love God first, others second, and myself no more than third. On occasions, more rare than I'd like to admit, I will do something I truly do not want to do because I believe my Christian faith calls me to that action. If this is true of me, why wouldn't it be true of whole groups of people? I'm very confident that it would not be hard to find whole groups of people today who live lives of service because their religion tells them that its the right way to live. If you can't draw societies from the experience of some people that are known, I would guess that your ability to write a truly unique society is very limited.

* I'm a Calvinist so I won't say good. Original sin and all that.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Styphon, the Gunpowder God in
Lord Kalvan by H Beam Piper
Of course the protagonist is an agnostic.

 

[Lostinspace]

One interesting science fiction novella describing a religion is Greg Egan’s Oceanic Oceanic (novella) - Wikipedia.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

Of course that begs the question, "Why not?" Everything we do, we do because nurture or nature. I think more learning is done by nurture than by nature. Speaking for myself, a lot of the better* things I do, I do because I've internalized a belief system that says I should love God first, others second, and myself no more than third. On occasions, more rare than I'd like to admit, I will do something I truly do not want to do because I believe my Christian faith calls me to that action. If this is true of me, why wouldn't it be true of whole groups of people? I'm very confident that it would not be hard to find whole groups of people today who live lives of service because their religion tells them that its the right way to live. If you can't draw societies from the experience of some people that are known, I would guess that your ability to write a truly unique society is very limited.

* I'm a Calvinist so I won't say good. Original sin and all that.

If one of the Twelve Pillars of Milliganism is "Willingness to Rescue Strangers From Grisly Fates, Such As, Being Eaten By Giant Snakes," you can bet that at least /some/ of the Orthodox Milliganist community of Kizzik IV will be uncommonly keen and well-prepared to rescue strangers from giant snakes....

 

[Justin Swanton]

Though even there, many writers seem very cagey about discussing the religion of their invented worlds. There's surprisingly little detail in The Lord of the Rings, even. I wonder if it's because atheists / agnostics are uncomfortable with portraying religion, whereas people who follow real-world religions are uncomfortable with creating a false faith?

An interesting fact about LOTR, and given the historical social archetypes Tolkien used (like Anglo-Saxon society for the Rohirrim), you would expect well-developed religious practices, but there are none. This was clearly deliberate. The Silmarillion, which he wrote for himself, has an explicit religious system: there is Eru, essentially God, the Valar, basically archangels who help create Middle Earth, and so on. The whole theme of the book(s) is how good and evil both work to accomplish Eru's plan, wittingly or unwittingly. The final destiny of the Elves is spelled out, whereas that of men is unknown - clearly a reference to Old Testament ignorance of the fate of humans who go to Sheol, a shadowy place, after death.

There are hints of this religion in LOTR, but it is very muted. Like when Gandalf tells Frodo that the ring was "meant" to be found by Bilbo. Meant by whom? Tolkien doesn't say. He avoided any explicit mention of religion in LOTR. I suspect he did this because religion was no longer a common denominator in Western society. A fantasy novel - like any novel - can't look like a religious tract to any extent and hope to have a wide appeal. Novels have to stick to fundamental issues that pretty much anyone can relate to. For Tolkien it was IMHO the nature of the interplay between good and evil. We can dispense with a formal religion and get by, but we can't dispense with a moral outlook, and most people don't. Morality and religion are closely intertwined. Every major religion has morality at its core: the way you behave in this life determines what happens to you in the next - heaven, paradise, reincarnation, etc. I suspect that Tolkien, himself a very religious man, hoped that putting morality up front and centre might pave the way for the reader to eventually take an interest in religion.

Or maybe he just wanted to tell a good story about good and evil and didn't need a formalized religion to tell it.