Star Trek Takes Place In A Post-Religious World
A well-known piece of trivia among Trekkies is that "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry once rejected a note from the studio to include a Christian chaplain as a character on board the USS Enterprise.
In David Alexander's 1995 book "Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry," the ur-Trekkie himself, raised Southern Baptist, described himself as a Humanist who would eventually consider religion "to be more spice than nourishment." He described himself as a "total pagan," although he seemingly wouldn't go so far as to describe himself as an atheist. In Yvonne Fern's 1994 book "Gene Roddenberry: The Last Conversation," he more or less declared himself a deist, saying, "It's not true that I don't believe in God. I believe in a kind of God. It's just not other people's God. I reject religion. I accept the notion of God."
Looking at "Star Trek," one has a great deal of trouble locating any recognizable Earth religion. While multiple alien species still abide by varying religious practices — the Bajorans on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" leap immediately to mind — none of the franchise's human characters ever make reference to their Christianity, their Hinduism, their Judaism, their Buddhism, or their being a Muslim. Indeed, any reference to Earth religions is scant at best. In an episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise," for instance, Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley), an alien keenly interested in the sociological practices of humans, makes a passing reference to having spent time with Tibetan monks and attending mass at St. Peter's Basilica. It seems religion still exists in the future, but not in any kind of active capacity.
Indeed, part of Roddenberry's utopia seems to be that religion as we know it has passed from human history.
The post-religious world
Thanks to the Prime Directive, "Star Trek" may be seen as an anti-colonialist show. The Prime Directive dictates that no Starfleet vessel is allowed to interfere in the natural evolution of any alien world. This not only prevents obvious societal shake-ups, like giving phasers to cavemen, but also assures that the Federation is expressly not imposing its will on anyone. The Prime Directive becomes morally tricky, of course, when the USS Enterprise encounters a world that is actively involved in slavery. While the Enterprise could use its superior technology to free the slaves and improve the quality of life for the planet, it would not be permitted. That planet has to, essentially, figure out its own crap first.
But the Prime Directive, by design, is (intellectually, anyway) preventing the culturally devastating actions committed by so many missionaries throughout Earth's history. For centuries, religious pilgrims have traveled far from their homes with the express goal of spreading the Gospels and converting people. This Christo-centric thinking is directly linked to the historical persecution of non-converts, as well as to slavery and the seizing of lands. "Pagans" — a word originally meant to describe any non-converts during the Roman conversion to Christianity — wouldn't be allowed to keep their property, and non-Pagans would be justified in plundering villages if they had the temerity to not be part of the "correct" church.
"Star Trek" aimed to undo that dark part of human history by eliminating colonialism as a matter of course, and — importantly — jettisoning religion as a motivating factor for galactic exploration. The Enterprise did not seek to conquer or to influence, but to learn. In the world of "Star Trek," its citizens aimed to better themselves through scientific knowledge and exposure to other cultures.
They are but children
When religion did appear in the original "Star Trek," it was typically seen as something childish and naïve, something that easily hoodwinked innocents are duped into doing. In "The Apple" (October 13, 1967), the Enterprise encounters a Paradise-like garden populated by crimson-skinned, hut-swelling aliens who have no notion of sexuality and who worship a giant stone snakehead named Vaal. The aliens are, of course, an Adam and Eve metaphor, and their growth will come when the Enterprise literally kills God.
In "Bread and Circuses" (March 15, 1968), the Enterprise encounters a species that looks like 20th-century Earth, but that still lives by an ancient Roman code of ethics, including (now-televised) blood sports and slavery. At the end of that episode, Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) translates some local scriptures and finds that a Christ-like figure is coming to shake up the Romans' hold on things, just like on Earth thousands of years before. It is implied that the rise of a Christ is but a mere phase in societal evolution, and the Roman planet is about to change. No one says that it's necessarily for the better. Just that it's inevitable.
Notably, whenever the Enterprise encountered an actual deity — Apollo in "Who Mourns for Adonais?" (September 22, 1967), Kukulkan in "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" (October 5, 1974) — they were wounded, abandoned aliens who left Earth long ago and who resented being rejected. In both cases, Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) explained to the pouty gods that humans outgrew them a long time ago, and have now found a lifestyle that eschews worship. In Kukulkan's case, he accepts his fate as a forgotten deity, happy that his human "children" are now on their own.
In "Star Trek," religion is for kids, meant to be outgrown.
Preventing religion
In a notable episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" called "Who Watches the Watchers?" (October 16, 1989), a disguised Federation study outpost is accidentally exposed to the local aliens, then only in an agrarian state of their development. It is explained that these aliens have already abandoned gods, have embraced logic and observation as preferable, and will likely develop quickly as a result. When one of them is injured by Federation technology, they are sedated and taken on board the Enterprise where they see Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) in an anesthetized haze. This causes him to start believing that Picard is a god, and it takes the utmost diplomacy for Picard to approach the tribe and explain that he is a mortal like them. He's willing to take an arrow to the chest and die to prove his point. Picard's life is less important than ensuring this species does not begin the bad habit of worship.
This is, of course, not to say that religion is completely absent from "Star Trek." In "Deep Space Nine," the Bajoran people have a complex polytheistic religion centered on the Prophets, deities whose descriptions just so happen to fall in line with a species of non-corporeal aliens that live in a stable wormhole above their planet. On that show, people are often driven by visions and Capt. Sisko (Avery Brooks) reluctantly becomes the Bajoran Emissary, a fate he will eventually embrace. Gods are essentially real on "Deep Space Nine."
However, while the Bajoran are religious people, much of their church is depicted as corrupt and hungry for power, eager to set up a theocracy during a period of planetary reconstruction. Faith is important, "Deep Space Nine" says, but churches, it seems, aren't.
Mortal Coil
When it came to spiritual matters, however, "Star Trek" left worshipping in the hands of aliens. Klingons spoke of their afterlife frequently, looking forward to being honored by dead ancestors. Vulcans, while logical, seemed to understand that worshiping is a part of their consciousness and engage in religious-like rituals of meditation. Ferengi, their society devoted to wealth, speak of buying their way into Heaven.
Although "Star Trek: Voyager" will often deliberately face toward atheism. In the episode "Mortal Coil" (December 17, 1997), the otherwise jolly Neelix (Ethan Phillips) is killed in an accident and remains dead for the better part of a day before Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) uses Borg technology to repair his body and bring him back to life. Having been dead, Neelix was upset to have encountered oblivion and not the expected Talaxian afterlife he believed in. He realizes that there is no afterlife after all and is thrown into an existential crisis. By the end, he comes to realize he has meaning to those still living, and his value is not measured by where he will go when he dies. It's difficult for Neelix, but he loses his faith and is all the better for it.
And, finally, who could forget "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" where Capt. Kirk had the planet-sized cojones to ask God what he might need with a starship? In that film's climax, the zealot character literally fights himself to the death, and Spock (Leonard Nimoy), a being of logic, literally kills God. Overall, "Star Trek" vaunts science over superstition and study over worship. Roddenberry may have been a deist, but Trek has no baseline philosophies connected to a god. It is a Humanist show.
And, yes, we can all enjoy it.