• "the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto" - William James

• "The study of lived religion directs attention to institutions and persons, texts and rituals, practice and theology, things and ideas--all as media of making and unmaking worlds. This way of approaching religious practice as fundamentally and always in history and culture is concerned with what people do with religious idioms, how they use them, what they make of themselves and their worlds with them, and how in turn people are fundamentally shaped by the worlds they are making as they make these worlds" (Robert Orsi, The Madonna of 115th St. xix).

The first thing to notice about these two definitions is that neither mention any gods or supernatural entities or processes. While many insist that belief in some form of God might be a cornerstone of belief, many scholars disagree. This broad perspective allows for the consideration of organized religions as well as more New Age understandings of the world, and even individuals who show a religious-like devotion to anything from sports to the philosophies of a given scholar.

Orsi's conception of Lived Religion, on the other hand, broadens the understanding of religion away from religious hierarchies and organizations and puts the interest back in the hands of the practitioners. It looks at the way people actually live their lives rather than the doctrine and rules espoused in a bound document that may not always be read.

These two definitions together position religion as the understanding that there is a way the world should be and looks at the way people respond to that understanding and how it affects the operations of their daily life. It's a definition that is somewhat broad, but one that is more fitting for an increasingly diverse religious landscape. It's also works quite well for the world of Star Trek in which there are few clearly defined and theologically complex belief systems, but numerous individuals who hold passionately to various ideals and rules.

If you didn't answer number three (and didn't know that "Qapla" means success in Klingon) then you might want to read this section, otherwise, feel free to skip ahead

Star Trek was created was created by television producer and former WWII fighter pilot, Gene Roddenberry. The show aired for only three seasons on NBC (1966-1969), but it captivated enough to make it one of the most influential and expansive cultural products ever. The show was about a space ship of travelers studying the galaxy, making contact with new species and learning new things along the way. It was pitched as "Wagon Train" in space, a kind of galactic western. The show, taking place in the years 2265-2269, depicted a utopian futuristic world in which different species, genders and cultures all worked together peacefully. The crew of the Enterprise were all members of Starfleet, an space exploration organization that's a part of the United Federation of Planets. Their guiding rule is the Prime Directive, a rule of non-interference. While bent or (arguably) broken a number of times throughout the series' and films, the Prime Directive insists that "members of Starfleet are not to interfere in the internal affairs of another species, especially the natural development of pre-warp civilizations, either by direct intervention, or technological revelation." (Memory Alpha, Prime Directive).

There's more to the Star Trek universe and Starfleet than just the Prime Directive. It takes place during a time of relative peace. No one in the Federation is going hungry, there's little to no violence and money in the traditional sense is replaced by a more socialist economic system focused on the betterment of mankind rather than the embiggenment of one's pocket book. The show and the interesting tolerant and technologically advanced future it presented caught on among fans, and even after the show was cancelled, a fan community burgeoned. The original series was followed by five other series (Star Trek: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise). The franchise has also expanded to include ten movies, hundreds of books, at least one language, and any number of other products. And that's just the officially licensed stuff. The fans have expanded the world themselves with fan fiction, videos, films, music and discussions.

All these items, while focusing on different characters or aspects of the Trek verse, stem from the same idea, that of an idealistic future world full of tolerance, exploration, and community. A world created and envisioned by Mr. Gene Roddenberry.

His goal was to portray a very Utopian view of the future. And the Utopia he envisioned was based on his own understanding of humanity and of what humanity is capable.

Since a young age he had the understanding that religion is irrational and silly, saying it "was largely nonsense, largely magical, superstitious things" (Star Trek Creator, 37). He's a self-proclaimed humanist, whose statements about the nature of God and humanity support humanist views (The Last Conversation 72).

Regardless of his views on religion, one of the primary tenets of the Star Trek world was the belief in tolerance of those different. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations was a catchphrase used throughout the show that highlighted the many different species, cultures, genders, and ideas that permeated the show all with equal treatment. This IDIC philosophy was not all talk. A certain lack of diversity existed but can easily be chalked up to the more conservative attitude of the 1960s (baby steps are to be expected) and Star Trek featured the first interracial kiss on television between Captain Kirk and the African-American Uhura . It's Star Trek's firm belief in IDIC that has been the source of much of it's popularity, but it seems the same tolerance was not always afforded religious beliefs, and that may have to do with Roddenberry himself.

You're liberal and tolerant--about racial equality, abortion, homosexuality, women's rights, sex, all the popular issues--but when you meet up with, say, a Baptist, for example, you will unhesitatingly condemn him to oblivion. You choose your points of tolerance very carefully. It seems to me that when you say you've evolved beyond something, that's just another way of saying that whatever you are beyond, or think you are, is by definition inferior, that your views are superior. (The Last Conversations, 108)

I never meant to give that impression. If I did, then I will correct it. I condemn charlatans. I condemn false prophets. I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will--and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. (108)

While Roddenberry intended to be a little more tolerant in his own life, he still lived under the presumption that religion would one day fall away, as would more traditional personal relationships (something else that existed very rarely in Star Trek. Roddenberry pointed out that the Star Trek universe he imagined in his head was not quite the same as the universe that existed on television. That would have been impossible, as various production and industry concerns shaped the show beyond Roddenberry's initial vision.

Nevertheless, his intense involvement in both The Original Series and The Next Generation, including reading every script before approving it for filming, assured that his vision was followed as closely as possible despite such constraints. After he died it was the goal of the franchise to continue to honor his vision while continuing to keep it fresh for new audiences. Whether that's been the case is open to debate.

This tradition continued in The Next Generation. Once again, only one crew member was depicted as having religious beliefs. This time it was Lietenant Worf, a Klingon. Despite Worf's occasional encounter with Klingon beliefs, throughout most of TNG, other references to God or religion follow the same lines as TOS. As long as Roddenberry was involved, the depiction of religion on the shows (and the movies) largely matched his own beliefs. Religion was false, and often did more harm than good.

After his death, however, there seems to be a shift in Star Trek's portrayal of religions and people of faith. One of the major premises of DS9 revolves around the beliefs of the Bajoran people and their assertion that Commander Sisko, the leading Starfleet officer aboard the station, is their Emmisary. The discussion and development of that faith as well as the continued exploration of Worf's Klingon beliefs permeate much of the show and questions of faith and the nature of belief prevail .

Voyager, in many ways takes a step back from DS9. The show returns once again to space exploration premise, but unlike the crews of the various Enterprises, the crew of Voyager do not all come from Starfleet and don't all share the same love and devotion for exploring and making scientific discoveries. Also, in Voyager, more crew people than ever before in a Star Trek series have religious beliefs of some form or another. Both Klingon and Vulcan are represented, as are Talaxian, Ocampan, and Borg. Additionally, the juxtaposition of the goals and aspirations of the Captain and other Starfleet crewmembers with the concerns of non-Starfleet personnel highlights the many ways Starfleet doctrine and science serve as a religion to many. In many ways, the importance and prevalence of religion in people's lives won out over the belief that it will simply become unnecessary in the future. However, the simple inclusion of religious beliefs doesn't suggest the way in which those beliefs are portrayed.

The show's premise revolved around a ship trying to find its way home and exploring an unseen part of the galaxy while they're at it. The ship was stranded 70,000 light years when Voyager went to track down its first officer who had not been heard from in some time. He was serving as a spy among the Maquis, a resistance group fighting against ill-treatment by a species known as the Cardassians who recently acquired some Federation colonies, and who are considered terrorists by the Federation and Starfleet. Both Voyager and the Maquis ship get transported to the Delta Quadrant on the opposite side of the galaxy and both crews face heavy casualties, leaving them little option but to join forces and attempt to make the trek home as one crew on one ship.

There are two things that made Voyager different. For one, the captain was a woman, something that had never been seen in Star Trek but seemed a natural progression after the first two series were manned by white men, and the third manned by a black one.

The second difference, however, and the one more applicable to this study, is that Voyager's crew was not made up of just Starfleet officers. The other one-ship, one-crew shows all featured a complete cast of characters who worked their way through Starfleet, being taught Starfleet ideals and beliefs along the way, graduated, and then served on a ship alongside others with the same training and understanding of exploration and the (for the most part) same view of the world. Voyager was different. Yes, the captain, the chief tactical officer, and the green, optimistic ensign were all Starfleet officers, as was the Emergency Medical Hologram that soon took over as ship Doctor, but the story behind every other character is not so cut-and-dried. Three characters started in Starfleet and left at different states of involvement for various reasons, and wound up in the Maquis and would be viewed as terrorists by the Starfleet, two more are aliens who are introduced to Starfleet and the Federation in the first episode, and while they agree to live by the rules of the ship, they haven't been instilled with the same general philosophies as bona fide Starfleet officers. The last primary crewmember was a Federation citizen who was assimilated by Borg, the biggest enemy of the federation, and was separated from the collective and was restored back to her more human self by the Voyager crew.

This differentiated crew offers a more diverse view of Starfleet protocol and ways to interact with other species. It also opens up for more thorough exploration of various ideologies and belief systems. Not only are a number of Voyager;s senior staff not officially Starfleet officers, many are untraditional officers, and different species with different beliefs, which play an important role in their lives.

The combination of these non-Starfleet ideas as well as the polyglot of cultures and religions encountered throughout the ship's adventures in this uncharted part of space open up a number of situations in which faith and belief is confronted and interacted with. However, unlike Mr. Roddenberry's initial disregard for any type of faith in a higher power or unseen being, Voyager seems to have a much more nuanced view, acknowledging that religion sometimes has a place in people's lives and it shan't be treated too lightly.