From: kevin@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Kevin Ernst Duckworth)
Subject: TNG and G.O.D.
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 21:49:00 GMT

Well, it seems this was the topic of a thread a few months ago...allow
me to say what I said back then...

     I think the *best* perception of religion ever given in TNG was
in "Who watches the Watchers", about a proto-Vulcanoid race on this
planet whose name escapes me (Nelvana3?).  They get the idea that
Picard is some kind of god.
     This being a major violation of the Prime Directive, Picard asks
for solutions to try to fix the contamination they have done.  When
some visiting prof. suggests that Picard go down to the planet and
present himself as an actual god, and try to set up some kind of
belief system that will lessen the damage, Picard reacts rather
violently and says this, more or less:  
 
     I will not be the one to plunge this civilisation into thousands
of years of superstition and anarchy and religious warfare, etc. after
all the progress they have made towards a logical existence... 

     i wish I could remember exactly what he said, but memory fails;
it's been way too long since I saw that one.  Anyway, the point is
this:  the proto-vulcans had progressed beyond the need for a
supernatural being to ascribe phenomena to.  And, religious beliefs,
while they may have their advantages, also come with holy wars (check
out the middle east), discrimination (check out the Jews), and the
empowerment of some humans to be more than others, more likely to rise
to the afterlife, and to prey on the fears we all have of death,
"sin", and being pro-abortion :)
     Ahh, fear, one of the greatest tools that the modern day
religions use.  In WWtW, you will see that the Vulcans begin to fear
Picard, to the point that they think they need to sacrifice Troi and
Riker to appease him!!  Very illogical.

     Anyway, this ties sort of in to the reason why there is no
religion on TNG.  To find the answer, we must ask ourselves this: why
do so many humans believe in a god right now?  There are obviously
many reasons, p few I daresay might be: the need for a purposso the
point is:  for the idea of religion not to have gone the way of the
horse and carriage, there must still be *reasons* for religion to be
around!  To answer my own examples of reasons why religion is still
with us, I think the "big picture" question has been addressed
numerous times in TNG, most notably in "The Offspring", where Data
tries to explain to Lal what their purpose is.  THis explanation
(floating around in someone's sig somewhere) probably sums up what
most humans of that time believe.  It is a "humanist" approach, one
that places a lot of trust in the human nature.  Unfortunately, in our
current age, this is infeasible, hence, religion.
     My other example, is that most things have been explained by
science by that time...intelligence, emotion, "soul", etc.  Death is
accepted (well, not by Sisko, but at least he places the blame where
it belongs: the Borg) as just an end of life, that's it.  The Klingons
have a more spiritual view of death than your average federation
human, but I think it's more based on the code (honor, warriorness)
than a belief in an almighty and a fixed religion, unless you count
courage as a deity :)  In Power Play, Worf mentioned that Klingons
used to believe in "ghosts" (forgot the klingon term), which would say
to me that even they have moved away from the belief in supernatural.
     So, without a cause, things will not continue.  Abortion is not
an issue in the 24th century, because it's sort of moot when
birth-control is 100% effective and totally available without some
pope nay-saying.  The question of whether some people should be rich
while others starve is moot, because basic needs are free- food,
shelter, work, etc.  And the question of whether there is a god in TNG
time is moot, because, simply put, there is no real need for religion.
And, if you've been in space for all those years, you'll probably
realize that the closest you'll ever get to finding a god is Q.
(god help us!)  :-)

Or, maybe we should all start taking the advice of Kirk in STV:TFF
when he says that god is here: in the human heart.  That would
probably end a lot of fear-mongering.  

PLease take all my comments with a dash of inoffensiveness, and
willingness to listen to (and even agree with) anyone else's views on
this fascinating subject :)  Run with it, y'all.
				Kevin "food is *my* god" D.

life, something to aspire to (getting to heaven by not sinning and
helping others, following commandments, etc.), a "big picture" you can
be a part of...;  or, because they don't understand everything, and
need to have a cause to ascribe unknown things to ("why did my son
have to die", " because god only wants the good people, etc.), or
simply the whole idea of consciousness and sentientness (sp).  I could
go on, but people are probably mad at me right now as it is, so the
point: for religion to not have gone the way of the horse and carrie