Is Star Trek A Religion?

Though science fiction literature outsiders may see it as such but is Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek a “religion-in-itself”?

By: Ringo Bones

Strange how it is that during the first decade of the 21^st Century, the most vocal critics that I know of the malfeasance behind former US President George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” are dyed-in-the-wool Star Trek fans. Despite of his service during World War II and a first-hand working knowledge of the most devastating weapons at the time – Gene Roddenberry was a former US Army Air Cops bomber pilot – he is surprisingly pacifist when it comes to his views on America’s military adventurism at the height of the Cold War.

Before he passed away back in October 24, 1991, Star trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a very profound statement about a degree of a civilization and its ability to wage was in which he quoted: “The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.” Which, If you ask me, is quite a far cry from former US President Bush’s “neo-conservatives” in the White house and Capitol Hill had done after 9/11 and the ensuing chaos that resulted in the Persian Gulf that we are still feeling until this very moment.

Many had described Gene Roddenberry’s “religious belief” as “secular humanism”. In actuality, secular humanism is a non-religious worldview rooted in science, naturalistic philosophy and humanist ethics. Rather than faith, doctrine, or mysticism, secular humanists use reason, compassion, and common sense to find solutions to human problems. Secular humanists promote universal values such as integrity, benevolence, fairness, and responsibility, and believe that with reason, an open marketplace of ideas, good will and tolerance, progress can be made toward building a better world for ourselves and future generations. And I think it is a “religion” I can definitely subscribe to.