Fringe: Science, Spirituality and the Soul

I just got caught up on watching Fringe last night. The episode was almost entirely focused on souls – whether that of William Bell in Olivia Dunham’s body (and I have to say that Anna Torv does an incredible job of acting the role of someone else in her body – there were times when it seemed like she was about to burst into laughter, but it may just have been a Leonard Nimoy grin) or that of a woman who, having been struck by lightning, can’t figure out how to get her soul to finally depart her body.

From the perspective of someone interested in the intersection and interaction of religion and science, I think this provides an opportunity for reflecting on an important point: the soul (which was also a major focus on “V“) has historically been a major focus in science fiction. Even humanistic sci-fi like Star Trek has always seemed to have room for souls or katras.

And so I found myself wondering whether this facet of science fiction does not indicate something about people. Science fiction’s writers and fans include a significant number of those who would consider themselves secular, humanist, agnostic, atheist, and/or skeptic. Yet the soul and the afterlife seem to live on in the imagination of this genre. Does this indicate that there is in fact more spirituality (if not religion, much less traditional organized religion) in these circles than some would assume?

Or to put it more provocatively, is science fiction itself typically “spiritual but not religious” rather than secular and purely scientific in character?

It may be highly illogical, but it seems we all want to live long (or forever) and prosper. 😉