Religion and Star Trek

[James Valenski Winter 5]

Hi there, im not really good at posing questions politely, or in a veiled manner so ill ask this straight up: Can my character believe in some form of obscure religion ?

Edited December 26, 2014 by Chris12225

[FltAdml. Wolf 2,952]

Can my character believe in some form of obscure religion ?

There's no reason that your character can't be religious. However, I would say there are two qualifications to consider:

1. It must be realistic in accordance to character and species.

2. It must be realistic in accordance to what we've seen on screen for Starfleet officers. We'd be hard-pressed to allow any extremist views that wouldn't adhere to Starfleet standards.

We're happy to consider any proposals

[James Valenski Winter 5]

The religion in question would be a rather obscure cult, who believe in a "Divine Emperor of Mankind".

Their tennants are:

• That the God-Emperor of Mankind once walked among men in their form and that He is and always has been the one, true God of humanity.
• That the God-Emperor of Mankind is the one true God of Mankind, regardless of the previous beliefs held by any man or woman.
• Every human being has a place within the God-Emperor's great plan.
• It is the duty of the faithful to unquestionably obey the authority of the Federation, and their superiors, who speak in the Emperor's place.
• To eradicate chaos throughout the universe, and in it's place create peace and order

Edited December 27, 2014 by Chris12225

[FltAdml. Wolf 2,952]

The religion in question would be a rather obscure cult, who believe in a "Divine Emperor of Mankind".

Their tennants are:

• That the God-Emperor of Mankind once walked among men in their form and that He is and always has been the one, true God of humanity.
• That the God-Emperor of Mankind is the one true God of Mankind, regardless of the previous beliefs held by any man or woman.
• Every human being has a place within the God-Emperor's great plan.
• It is the duty of the faithful to unquestionably obey the authority of the Federation, and their superiors, who speak in the Emperor's place.
• To eradicate chaos throughout the universe, and in it's place create peace and order

My main question is why a Starfleet officer would believe in this? If it's a cult, then I assume it's not something that is a deeply held belief of many in the character's species. How would someone who is seeking entry in Starfleet have become involved in a cult but not dissuaded from their membership in a cult by Starfleet's ideals? And why wouldn't this be something that would either disqualify the officer from Starfleet? (I'd imagine that membership in a cult would be a rather immediate and strong flag against membership in Starfleet.)

[James Valenski Winter 5]

Well the religion itself goes by many names. informal: The Imperial Cult, Formal: Lectitio Divinatus, and Official : The Temple of the Saviour Emperor of Humanity, and Legal : The Adeptus Ministorum

Edited December 27, 2014 by Chris12225

[FltAdml. Wolf 2,952]

I don't think this is a great fit for our game at this time. I highly suggest checking out Memory Alpha and researching some of the religious faiths of Federation species members -- I'm sure there's something there that will be of interest

[Idril Mar 169]

One thing I would add to the Admiral's comments, and this would go for any religion, would be that you should not expect to be able to discriminate IC against non-believers. This would against not only the tenants of our group but against the expectations for Starfleet officers.

[Quinn Reynolds 983]

The religion in question would be a rather obscure cult, who believe in a "Divine Emperor of Mankind".

Their tennants are:

• That the God-Emperor of Mankind once walked among men in their form and that He is and always has been the one, true God of humanity.
• That the God-Emperor of Mankind is the one true God of Mankind, regardless of the previous beliefs held by any man or woman.
• Every human being has a place within the God-Emperor's great plan.
• It is the duty of the faithful to unquestionably obey the authority of the Federation, and their superiors, who speak in the Emperor's place.
• To eradicate chaos throughout the universe, and in it's place create peace and order

We're not quite in the 41st Millennium yet.

On a more serious note, Games Workshop can be quite ardent in defending their IP and while they're usually very encouraging of hobbyist activity (including fan fiction), it's probably best to err on the side of caution and not pull their lore and terminology into a Trek setting.

[James Valenski Winter 5]

Ahh fair enough (thats a total of two people i've discovered here that get the reference)