# Humanities & Anthropology > Philosophy >  Why do so many Atheists like Star Trek and Science Fiction?

## Doggerland

Something I noticed over the years is that many people who define themselves as atheist are big fans of Star Trek.

As I first watched Star Trek as I was a child, I thought it was very silly. My Father really liked it. For me this was just another kind of Muppet Show. The costumes looked unrealistic to me. Really scary aliens like the ones from “Alien” films existed, but the Star Trek species looked like costumed humans to me.

As I was little older, I had a friend who watched Star Trek. I was an ass and often joked about the alien people in the series. Most species looked just like humans with a strange kind of skin disease to me, people with cramping in their neck (Cardassians) or hybrids between humans and gremlins(Ferengi)

I have met many people who where anti-christian, interested in popular science magazines and also liked Star Trek.

One guy freaked out, as I said the following: 

“I don’t see how Religion and Star Trek differ. Star Trek has unrealistic physics like time travel, interstellar space travel, shooting lasers like bullets and beaming.
There are gods like Q or wormhole creatures. People get chosen for a bigger plan by those creatures.
I don’t see much difference between religious stories and Star Trek”

He answered:

“How dare you to compare something so wonderful like Star Trek, to this religious bullshit?
Start Trek is far more possible than Bible stories, Q is more realistic than this imaginary god!”

What I also noticed is that many Atheists believe in unrealistic things like cloning of dinosaurs, interstellar space travel, aliens visited earth, ancient astronauts/ancient aliens, parallel worlds, parapsychology or that epigenetic mechanisms are superior and can be used to change living peoples bodies.

Is Science Fiction the Mythology/Religion of the Atheists?

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## Dibran

I like science fiction and star trek(more star wars), and I am not an atheist. There's a difference between religiosity and spirituality. You can believe in God without being dogmatic or confined to institutionalized belief systems that are largely built around the understanding and opinions of peoples living before the advent of science and technology as we know it today. Science in it's simplest form mean "Knowledge" in Latin, and it is the cornerstone of every TRUE believer. Most religious people don't think further than the age old translations of their religious texts which are not free of contradictions and falsehoods either. Even minds like Nikola Tesla who we rely on for much our our technology today, was himself a belieber, just not a dogmatic one who allows a religious clergy and their constraints on the human experience dictate their lives.

Most people interested in science fiction are anti-religious in general. Not because they're atheist(not all of them are), but because of most religious authorities playing Judge, Jury and Executioner, and not doing a very good job of it either.

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## Palermo Trapani

> Something I noticed over the years is that many people who define themselves as atheist are big fans of Star Trek.
> 
> As I first watched Star Trek as I was a child, I thought it was very silly. My Father really liked it. For me this was just another kind of Muppet Show. The costumes looked unrealistic to me. Really scary aliens like the ones from “Alien” films existed, but the Star Trek species looked like costumed humans to me.
> 
> As I was little older, I had a friend who watched Star Trek. I was an ass and often joked about the alien people in the series. Most species looked just like humans with a strange kind of skin disease to me, people with cramping in their neck (Cardassians) or hybrids between humans and gremlins(Ferengi)
> 
> I have met many people who where anti-christian, interested in popular science magazines and also liked Star Trek.
> 
> One guy freaked out, as I said the following: 
> ...


Not an atheist and always loved Star Trek (The Original Crew of course).

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## bigsnake49

I am an atheist and I like science fiction in general but the two have nothing to do with each other.

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## norbert

I am an atheist and have been a Star Trek TNG fan since childhood. There is no relation whatsoever. To be honest, even Star Trek's flagship series, TNG, features too much of the supernatural and paranormal to be taken seriously as science fiction. It's little more than a space opera with some techno babble added to it. I often laugh at the claim that Star Trek was ground-breaking and enlightening. All it ever was is entertaining and I'm fine with that. Just don't try to convince me of its supposed intellectual depth. They introduce a god-like character like Q and have Picard deliver lines against superstition. That's Hollywood for you.

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## Tamakore

Those who watched too much Big Bang Theory may make the mistake of thinking that Sheldon Cooper represents all atheists.

When I first saw Star Trek in the 1960s it was entertaining but silly. Even as a teenager I mocked it but still watched it. To me, it was in the same vein as Lost In Space, but the characters were less interesting. None could compare with Dr Smith or the Robot. 

I agree with others that there is no connection between atheism and science fiction. Perhaps the fundamentalists who believe in a god avoid science fiction because it seems heretical and incompatible with creationism and a universe that's only a few thousand years old. Fundamentalism may be in decline in developed countries, but the majority of believers in developing countries still reject evolution and other scientific explanations of the world.

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## Tamakore

> Even minds like Nikola Tesla who we rely on for much our technology today, was himself a belieber, just not a dogmatic one


Wow. I knew Nikola Tesla was ahead of his time, but who knew he predicted the greatest musical talent of the 21st century?

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## Wanderer

Never saw any correlation with religious or non religious belief

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