Discussing
Boldly going where few movies have gone before

Maybe sci-fi should really be called sci-spirit-fi.

Robert J. Sawyer is a sci-fi writer who really get's into spirituality. His book "Calculating God" probably the most. Aliens land on earth and head directly to our anthropologists to compare histories for the evidence of God. They are astonished to find their anthropologist is an atheist.

It's been awhile since I read it and I remember being a bit disappointed with the ending. But there are some great lines in the book that make it well worth a read.

My father used this book and also the movie Contact for a small group he was leading. I wonder how much of a demand there is for science fiction/religion material? :)

I agree with you. Sci-fi tends to explore religion and spirituality more than other types of fiction. Star Trek is interesting, though.

Much of sci-fi (including the examples you mention) raise questions about God they often find few answers or come to a general conclusion that there must be something more out there. Star Trek, on the other hand attempts to disprove God or the need to believe in something greater. At least while Roddenberry was alive a common theme of episodes was the crew finding a community that showed devotion to some "being" and then to have that "being" uncovered as a crook or some super-intelligent computer.

This anti-God thing started to change after Roddenberry's death. Deep Space 9 is built on really interesting premise revolving around religion, and Voyager on many occasions encourages or at least doesn't completely disregard belief.

As for the Trek films, it's not terribly surprising to me that more of the films don't deal with religious ideas. The earlier ones would have likely been anti-religion in a way that might turn-off general audience or if they were to be too pro-religion it would likely contradict Roddenberry's ideal vision of the future.

I actually made a website about religion in Voyager (linked to here if you click on my name). Not the best designed website in the world but looks at the way that particular corner of the Trek franchise considered the unknown.

I'm relieved to find i'm not the only Christian who likes Sci-FI! it has always felt like a guilty pleasure to me.