Religion in Science Fiction

Originally posted by Starrman
Dammit, I can't believe I forgot that!

I mean really.
God Emperor of Dune?
Dune Messiah?
Heretics of Dune?

What more could one ask for as to the blending of Religion, Politics, and great SF literature?

Originally posted by amannion
I wondered if anyone's got any interesting thoughts about the portrayal of religion and religious thought in science fiction?
I've come across some really interesting stories and authors:

The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Children of God (sequel to The Sparrow) - Mary Doria Russell

The Hyperion and Endymion sequence - Dan Simmons

A Case of Conscie ...[text shortened]... are to comment?
Any thoughts about the value and/or portrayal of religion in science fiction?

Dune. There is a religion with prophecies about a chosen one or promised one named Muhadib who will deliever the Freemen from the clutches of the empire and free their planet from being a desert wasteland. It is nothing more than a spin off religion from the Bible and the promise of a coming Messiah but interesting nonetheless.

😳 Reading ahead it looks like Big Mac has beat me to the punch. Oh well. Just remember, the worm is the spice and the spice is life!!!

Originally posted by Big Mac
I mean really.
[b]God Emperor of Dune?
Dune Messiah?
Heretics of Dune?

What more could one ask for as to the blending of Religion, Politics, and great SF literature?[/b]

For me what makes the book so great is that it mirrors our own reality. You have a myriad of plots going on at the same time with politics, religion etc. all interwoven together. Then you have the spice that everyone and their brother is after because it is what brings them power and privlidge. You could say that the spice could be compared to modern day money/oil and NO cost is to great in pursuing it. As a result, great evils are committed all in the name of pursuing the spice. It is comparible to the proverb in the Bible that the root of ALL evil is the love of money. Ironically, the very existence of the spice that everyone is after is reliant upon the great worms that produce it. Likewise, the worms, in turn, are reliant on the desert like evironment that makes the planet a wasteland and miserable to live in. Once they forsake the spice, however, and are able to change the environment of the planet into one that is no longer a desert, everyone is happy. However, there is a cost for this happiness and that is to lay down personal ambition and privlidge associated with sprice production that is lost once the desert environment dissapears and, subsequently, the worms along with it dissappear with their spice they produce. You can't tell me the author of Dune did not know his Bible. It is brilliant even though his work was not based upon original thought. Then again, who has origianl thought? We all need points of reference in order to come up with such ideas.

Originally posted by whodey
Dune. There is a religion with prophecies about a chosen one or promised one named Muhadib who will deliever the Freemen from the clutches of the empire and free their planet from being a desert wasteland. It is nothing more than a spin off religion from the Bible and the promise of a coming Messiah but interesting nonetheless.

😳 Reading ahead it looks ...[text shortened]... s beat me to the punch. Oh well. Just remember, the worm is the spice and the spice is life!!!

It is so much more than simply (as if the word simple could have anything to do with Dune) a Bible Spin Off.
Yes you have a messiah, the Orange Catholic Bible, heretics, priests, etc.
But, you also have ZenSunni, human sacrifice, the Divided God, and so many more.
A study of only the Bene Gesserit would tickly the fancy of any religion lover, much more so the other groups and "religions."

Originally posted by whodey
For me what makes the book so great is that it mirrors our own reality. You have a myriad of plots going on at the same time with politics, religion etc. all interwoven together. Then you have the spice that everyone and their brother is after because it is what brings them power and privlidge. You could say that the spice could be compared to modern day m ...[text shortened]... who has origianl thought? We all need points of reference in order to come up with such ideas.

Excellent observations, but I still think Herbert was influenced fairly equally by Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity.
Determinism from Islam
One part of a Whole from Buddhism
and the things you've mentioned from Christianity, and more.

And then there's the politics.

TV, not literature, but still Battlestar Galactica has a huge religious element (and, what's nice, religion is approached non-judgmentally and without carricature in SF for a change).

Originally posted by lucifershammer
TV, not literature, but still Battlestar Galactica has a huge religious element (and, what's nice, religion is approached non-judgmentally and without carricature in SF for a change).

Nice one.
A bit off topic but many of the scenes in the early part of Season 3 - on New Caprica with the Cylon occupation reminded me of the situation in Iraq.
Did anyone else see any similarities?

Originally posted by amannion
Nice one.
A bit off topic but many of the scenes in the early part of Season 3 - on New Caprica with the Cylon occupation reminded me of the situation in Iraq.
Did anyone else see any similarities?

IIRC, RDM (Ronald D. Moore) was trying to capture the atmosphere of WWII Nazi-occupied territories (episode 3.03 is dedicated to the question of collaborators -- a WWII motif).

Originally posted by lucifershammer
IIRC, RDM (Ronald D. Moore) was trying to capture the atmosphere of WWII Nazi-occupied territories (episode 3.03 is dedicated to the question of collaborators -- a WWII motif).

Yes, but notice the sympathy placed on the rebels and their use of suicide bombing - not something, kamikazes aside, that was common in WW2.