Religion and Science Fiction

I watched Masters of Science Fiction on ABC for the first time this past weekend. Featuring not only Terry O’Quinn (who plays John Locke on LOST) but also the cigarette-smoking man as the U.S. president and narration by Stephen Hawking, I was quickly hooked. The episode that aired this past Saturday, “The Awakening”, was based on a scenario in which aliens with religious overtones make contact, initially through the descent of mysterious pods. The aliens within the pods send out a telepathic beam that puts individuals in a coma, in which they engage in automatic writing that produces verses from various world Scriptures, and eventually they speak in unison in a similar fashion. The references (such as Biblical ones about turning swords into ploughshares and making war no more) are taken as a demand that humankind disarm, but the U.S. military leaders are reluctant to do so, and this leads to tensions between the U.S. and other countries.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is the question of whether this in fact represents God getting in touch with humanity. And so, for instance, when the U.S. president blurts out that a demand for disarmament is unreasonable, the representative of another nation asks whether God has to be reasonable! In the end, the religious aspects are left somewhat mysterious, but very poignant points are made about the root causes of warfare and international conflict.

I also just finished watching season 3 of The 4400 on DVD, and this too has religious overtones, as when one key leader of the returnees is resurrected and takes on a Messianic status as “the preacher” (presumably also with a nod to Dune).

There was a time when people raised their eyebrows (in Spock-like fashion) if one mentioned “religion” and “science fiction” in conjunction with one another. Now it is hard to think of a current series that completely lacks religious themes, overtones or symbols.