Quote:
Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor
Of course Scientology is a good example of the danger of letting science fiction authors start their own church.  |
*Bad* SF writers.
Heinlein created a rather interesting religion early on. (Sixth Column.
)
He regularly cautioned against tele-evangelists and their political activities, too.
SF and religion tend to be a bad mix for the most part.
SF being at core a rationalist genre it is more common to see organized religion as an obstacle/opponent for the protagonist than as a neutral or even positive social force. For example, you see more cases like the corrupt, reactionary Church in David Weber's Safehold series than the Grayson Church in his own Honorverse series. And protagonists who are actively but quietly religious are pretty rare in the genre.
Fantasy, though, does tend to feature a more balanced, nuanced portrayal usually by staying away from recognizable (and controversial) issues.