History Main / OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions

[[folder:Fanfic]]
* ''FanFic/HarmonyTheory'': [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] Modern Equestria is both more scientificlly advanced ''and'' more religious than Rainbow is used to. She considers it strange to think of the alicorns as gods or to pray to them. Twinkle Shine lampshades how this is different from what her class might expect.
[[/folder]]

* A sadly-ignored plot point in ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'' is that the alien invaders "also think of God" (implying they are not only religious but Christian), while the humans expected otherwise.

* Inverted wholly by ''Literature/ACanticleForLeibowitz'', wherein pre-Vatican II Roman Catholicism is the only thing that keeps western civilization intact AfterTheEnd, and the resurgence of secularism is what leads to a second global conflict.
** It's also deconstructed because it's implied that post-Deluge humanity was no more religious than they were before, whether by mere ignorance or secularization.

* A very clever subversion occurs in Robert J. Sawyer's ''Literature/CalculatingGod''. When the first alien craft arrives on Earth, the explorer on board asks not to be taken to our leader but to be taken to our archeologists. Why? The alien is looking for confirmation of the existence of God in our fossil record. Much of the book is a philosophical conversation between a dying, atheist paleontologist and the spiritual, spider-like alien who has come seeking proof of God. [[FlatEarthAtheist Given the facts of the setting]], the alien's case is pretty good, and it's ''atheism'' that comes off as a silly superstition.
** Also touched on in a short story by the same author. Incontrovertible proof of God causes the Catholic church to collapse, as a God who can be proven to exist is incompatible with most theologies.

* Subverted in Robert Zubrin's ''Literature/TheHolyLand''. The aliens regard Christianity as primitive, bizarre, contradictory, and dub it "anti-rational", not being particularly impressed by the fanaticism and terrorism it is used to inspire. Meanwhile, they worship Minerva and/or Hera and/or Aphrodite, have fought wars over the different interpretations of their religion, debate theology (including strict monotheism versus a triune goddess), call each other heretics, and take the occasional strong moral stand based purely on their religious faith. Less of a TakeThat to organized religion than HumansAreBastards.

* In Suzanne Collins's ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' there's no mention of religion in any of the trilogy, and even the word count of religion based words is quite low.
** May be a subversion because this does not stop the futuristic country of Panem from being no more morally 'mature' or generally enlightened than it's predecessors. In fact, the trilogy is full of comparisons to Ancient Rome and modern consumer society.

* Averted in Creator/MCAHogarth's ''Literature/{{Paradox}}'' series, despite knowing that they were genetically engineered each of the [[PettingZooPeople Pelted]] [[HumanSubspecies races]] has at least one religion. For instance the Hinichi mostly follow variations of Christianity while the Glaseah believe that the goddess Aksivah't inspired the scientists who created them. The card game "Pantheon" has players choosing which gods they think matches a certain condition each round.

** In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', Kirk tells Apollo (or at least a being who claims to be Apollo) the following: "Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate." Exactly whether he's claiming everyone follows a generic monotheistic religion or that everyone has just given up polytheism is unclear; probably the former, knowing [[ExecutiveMeddling the probable standards of NBC and society at the time]]. Kirk also reveals a more spiritual side at the end of the episode when he tells Bones "They gave us so much...would it have hurt us to burn just a ''few'' laurel leaves?"
*** Robert Justman has confirmed that the line "We find the One quite adequate" was required by NBC's Broadcast Standards.

* Some could see ''Series/StargateSG1'' as one big TakeThat against organized religion. The eponymous team spends at least half of the plot convincing primitive groups that their [[NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus gods are fake and should forget about them]], even the ones with the characteristics of actual gods: they ''are'', after all, merely {{sufficiently advanced alien}}s posing as gods, either snaky parasites out to exploit mankind or well-meaning Little Gray Guys trying to help. With the Ori, things are more blurry: they actually qualify as gods according to one RealLife religion and would do so in most fantasy series, but writer intent evidently considers them false gods as well.
** Many other episodes also reference religion in subtle or [[{{Anvilicious}} not so subtle]] ways, like The Sentinel, where the Latonans refuse to evacuate in the face of an alien invasion, constantly referencing their "highest law".
** Things were handled a little differently in ''Red Sky''. A planet is doomed and the people refuse to leave as they think their death is the will of the gods (specifically the Asgard). While Jack is more than willing to destabilize their belief system, Daniel tells him that while the possible existence of God is not important, the belief ''is''. At the end of the episode, the resolution is deliberately left unclear. It may be that the Asgard fixed the problem, but Daniel wonders if it's possible that a higher power did intervene.
** "Icon" featured an incident similar to the aforementioned TNG: "Who Watches the Watchers": the arrival of SG-1 on the planet Tegalus causes a Goa'uld-worshiping extremist faction to gain in popularity, eventually starting a civil war that aggravates a [[SpaceColdWar cold war]]. Difference is, the SGC views it as a purely military/political problem that's keeping them from rescuing Daniel, who was trapped on Tegalus by the war.
** Despite the break with ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman religions, the show makes clear exceptions in the earlier seasons for religions that are currently mainstream. The episode "Demons" features a planet of Christian-ish people where the goa'uld in question is pretending to be Satan rather than God. The episode comes across as very church-positive, even having Teal'c mentioning that he does not believe any Goa'uld is capable of the "kindness expressed in your Bible."

** ''Series/StargateUniverse'' features a religious character whose faith was a plot point and treated positively. Many fans on the official forum cried TheyChangedItNowItSucks because they'd only ever watched the series as a TakeThat against religion.
*** Which runs straight into FanDumb, as it's not the first time in TheVerse a character's faith was treated positively. Look no further than ''Series/StargateSG1'' season three's "Demons," where a junior [[SpaceRomans Space Catholic]] priest on the medieval planet stands up to a Goa'uld-infested Unas with the line, "My God is with me, always."
** The whole point with the Ori gets a lot of flip-flopping; after a few episodes of dealing with ridiculously headstrong groups, the team basically settles on "Just because they're powerful enough to claim godhood, doesn't mean you should ''actually'' worship them!"

* During RussellTDavies' run on ''Series/DoctorWho'', there was little to no mention of magic or religion, and when it was it was usually proven to be science based or very vaguely described. In an interview, Davies claimed that he had banned God from the writer's room, wanting to depict a future where religion had just died out. "[R]eligion is banned on Platform One. Yes, I'm deeply atheist. If they haven't reached that point by the Year Five Billion, then I give up! When did the Doctor do that speech about believing in things that are invisible? It's Episode 5, isn't it? That's another bit of atheism chucked in. [[AuthorTract That's what I believe, so that's what you're going to get.]] Tough, really. To get rid of those so-called agendas, you've got to get rid of me."
** The original series isn't exactly anti-religion, but religion or religious belief are rarely mentioned in any stories explicitly set in humanity's future, and if it is most of the time it's used to control people and/or a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien[=/=]EldritchAbomination worshiped as a deity.

** Yet in the original series, the whole "Key To Time" story arc, as well as the subsequent story arc with Turlough and the Black Guardian, are pretty clearly a ''very'' thinly veiled story of the Doctor getting caught in the middle of a conflict between God and the Devil (there's a bit of obligatory doubletalk about them being embodiments of order and chaos, not that it affects anything). The new series hasn't mentioned the Guardians at all.

* Completely skewered in {{Albion}}. For starters, while the crew of the Toronto never mention God, a news report from Earth confirms that the Catholic Church at the very least still exists, and is being led by the pope (one called John Paul the twenty-somethingth). The Iskai and Celts living on the planet worship the Goddess Animebona who is in fact the planet itself, and is quite real and alive. Her antithesis, Animenkhna is technically the "god" of Terran humans, being the embodiment of science and all. The actual God is handwaved by the natives as the unknown. Christianity is implied to be an attempt at compromise, that ended up being too irrational for the Terrans and too rational for the Celts.

* Inverted in the ''{{Freespace}}'' game mod ''FanFic/BluePlanet''. A major part of the story is that mysticism and spirituality are creeping back into society, and there exists at least one SufficientlyAdvancedAlien race that is heavily spiritual (or at least, expresses themselves in a spiritual manner). The title of the campaign's first release, "Age of Aquarius", references this: it refers to an age in which, realizing that neither religion alone or science alone has all the answers, people turn to a fusion of the two to reach true understanding.
* Used but mostly averted in {{Startopia}}. An entire race, the Zedem monks, have converted to the same religion and only two of the games nine races don't pop into a temple occasionally. The only exceptions are the hedonistic sirens and the scientific Turakken.
* VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} / VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Religion seems to be alive and well in the post war united states, there are several cults and at at least one major religion encountered in the games.

* Inverted in GetMedieval. Our Theology is actually more advanced than the aliens. One of the Alien characters converts to Islam because his society has a caste system and each caste has their own god. As a free slave he finds it's wonderful that everyone is the same before Allah.
* Averted twice in ''WebComic/{{Intragalactic}}''. One strip shows that a baby's smile is considered undeniable proof of God's existence; and one character in the throws of indigestion offers up a prayer to her god, who makes a personal appearance.

* In the universe of ''DominionAndDuchy'', a group called the Cathedrum is explicitly compared to the Catholic Church and the Vatican in particular. It is also described as being the oldest group still in existence.

* State atheism is an attempt to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope, which seems to lead to a considerable amount of UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. Since Karl Marx viewed religion as a tool of the bourgeoisie, communist countries have done this as a matter of course. It tends to end up as replacing the worship of a god with the [[CompletelyMissingThePoint worship of the country's dictator or the worship of communist founders (including Marx himself)]]. However, state atheism is actually older than communism, having first been attempted in [[TheFrenchRevolution revolutionary France]], complete with MaximilienRobespierre going the usual route of [[AGodAmI setting himself up as the new god]]. Of course some people think it leads to a case of HeWhoFightsMonsters.

* State atheism is an attempt to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope, which seems to lead to a considerable amount of UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. Since Karl Marx viewed religion as a tool of the bourgeoisie, communist countries have done this as a matter of course. It tends to end up as replacing the worship of a god with the [[CompletelyMissingThePoint worship of the country's dictator or the worship of communist founders (including Marx himself)]]. However, state atheism is actually older than communism, having first been attempted in [[TheFrenchRevolution revolutionary France]], complete with MaximilienRobespierre going the usual route of [[AGodAmI setting himself up as the new god]].

*** In fairness however, the reason for this was that without religion the Dark Ages of scientific oppression didn't happen, which means humanity in that universe just jumped ahead hundreds of years of scientific development. It didn't specifically mention religion making people stupid.

* IainBanks
** In the [[Literature/TheCulture]] novels, the Culture looks at religion as a delusion which you should be sympathetic about. This viewpoint runs into trouble in ''Look to Windward'', where the "enlightened" races are irritated and nonplussed that whether or not the Chelgrian heaven existed before, it demonstrably exists NOW.
*** Even this concept is played with in ''Surface Detail''. Due to mind state copying technology and sophisticated virtual reality environments, it is now possible to make any number of afterlives as indistinguishable virtual reality simulations. Hell (or it's closest equivalent for each religion) is the most commonly created. It proves to be a contentious issue in galactic politics; with the Culture not taking an active role. Initially...

* ArthurCClarke has done this several times:

** ''The Light of Other Days'', co-written with StephenBaxter, had a device that could see into the past; among others, Moses didn't exist, having been a merger of several different historical personages. Jesus did, but was just a good person who inspired people, rather than a miracle-maker.
** ''ChildhoodsEnd'', similar to the above example, the visitors give humans a device to see into the past. Apparently, every religion save Buddhism becomes discredited. Also, the visitors look like stereotypical devils; it turns out [[spoiler:they are heralds of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt a change so monumental]] it echoes back through human history, causing the "devil" image in the first place.]]

** The closing stories in the ''[[RendezvousWithRama Rama]]'' books, on which Clarke either collaborated or wrote himself, subvert this. The setting has humanity already in religious decline by default, however the very end of the series presents not only possible evidence for the existence of a divine being such as God, but an explanation for his laissez faire attitude to dealing with his creation.
* In the advanced cultures of Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''{{Foundation}}'' trilogy most of the main characters are supposedly atheists, and the leaders of Terminus certainly are, but outside Terminus religion itself survives, even if it's used as a tool of control at times. Over time though, Hari Seldon assumed an almost religious significance to the people of Foundation, to the point where many of them had a decidedly ''irrational'' belief in the infallibility of his predictions.

** In ''TheCulture'' novels, the Culture looks at religion as a delusion which you should be sympathetic about. This viewpoint runs into trouble in ''Look To Windward'', where the "enlightened" races are irritated and nonplussed that whether or not the Chelgrian heaven existed before, it demonstrably exists NOW.

* ''ACaseOfConscience'' toys with this, which features a totally agnostic if not atheistic alien race that also live in a perfect world and society, faced against a bombed-out, nuclear-fried, and heavily Catholic Christian human race. The priest included in the first contact mission considered that society a danger to humanity precisely because it was a rationalistic atheistic utopia; unfortunately, he'd already befriended one of those people before he made the decision. [[spoiler:The alien world is blown up by the latter either using the wrong space telescope or due to an exorcism]].

* ''GiantsStar'' by James P. Hogan has a particularly fierce instance: [[spoiler:the protagonists deduce the existence of an alien AncientConspiracy to suppress human progress as a reasonably parsimonious explanation for the continued existence of religion in modern times]].
** The truth, as revealed in ''{{Entoverse}}'', turns out to be that human religion, along with pretty much all mysticism and spirituality, is a result of [[spoiler:{{Body Surf}}ing StarfishAliens from a StableTimeLoop-establishing planet-sized supercomputer humans built.]]
* A very clever subversion occurs in Robert J. Sawyer's ''CalculatingGod''. When the first alien craft arrives on Earth, the explorer on board asks not to be taken to our leader but to be taken to our archeologists. Why? The alien is looking for confirmation of the existence of God in our fossil record. Much of the book is a philosophical conversation between a dying, atheist paleontologist and the spiritual, spider-like alien who has come seeking proof of God. Given the facts of the setting, the alien's case is pretty good, and it's ''atheism'' that comes off as a silly superstition.

* Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's [[DragonridersOfPern Pern]] is a world without religion. The expressions "Jays" and "by all that's holy" are still in use, but only as swears.

* Played straight by the Edenists and averted by the Kulu Kingdom in Peter F. Hamilton's (sci-fi) ''NightsDawn'' Trilogy. They are the two biggest players and the two biggest rivals in the Confederation -- the former are all atheists and the latter staunchly Christian. However, the Edenists' philosophy and way of life lead to the closest thing to paradise as you can get, and they're also the only human civilization able to fully resist the possessed...

* Subverted in Robert Zubrin's ''TheHolyLand''. The aliens regard Christianity as primitive, bizarre, contradictory, and dub it "anti-rational", not being particularly impressed by the fanaticism and terrorism it is used to inspire. Meanwhile, they worship Minerva and/or Hera and/or Aphrodite, have fought wars over the different interpretations of their religion, debate theology (including strict monotheism versus a triune goddess), call each other heretics, and take the occasional strong moral stand based purely on their religious faith. Less of a TakeThat to organized religion than HumansAreBastards.
* Sort of ''both'' used and averted in the ''HumanxCommonwealth'' novels, where humans and thranx and several other species look to the United Church for guidance. It's a synthesis of the basic ethical tenets which all humanx religions share, shorn of world- or culture-specific trappings that would fall under this trope's "superstition" label. Essentially, Unitarianism's gone multispecies: they don't attempt to define or disavow a Higher Power; they just agree that if there ''is'' such a thing, this is how he/she/it/they would surely want folks to live, and if there isn't, it's still good to live that way.
* In the ''{{Uglies}}'' series, the people of the future sarcastically refer to gods as "invisible superheroes in the sky". There are some groups that try to bring religion back, but it isn't catching on. In all, the books don't pay very much attention to this, and it's mostly a detail to help show how different society has become since our time.

* JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheGoldenOecumene'' never says anything one way or the other about religion, but it's somewhat odd that in a setting where characters are defined heavily by their philosophical beliefs, the only person who engages in any form of worship or mysticism is a bit character whose philosophy is never explained.
* The ''[[DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who]]'' book ''[[HumansAreBastards Night of the Humans]]'' is essentially [[AuthorFilibuster one long rant about how awful and evil every single religion is]]. The Doctor responds to a crash-landed alien race on a massive pile of space-junk that is threatening a nearby planet. This interesting premise is quickly and completely overshadowed by the book's message. The chosen 'god' of the crashed humans turns out to be [[spoiler: [[MonsterClown a creepy, creepy, clown called Gobo]]]].
* In Suzanne Collins' ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' there's no mention of religion in any of the trilogy, and even the word count of religion based words is quite low.

* State atheism is an attempt to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope, which seems to lead to a considerable amount of UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. Since Karl Marx viewed religion as a tool of the bourgeoisie, communist countries have done this as a matter of course. It tends to end up as replacing the worship of a god with the [[CompletelyMissingThePoint worship of the country's dictator or the worship of communist founders (including Marx himself)]].

[[folder:Fanfic]]
* ''FanFic/HarmonyTheory'': [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] Modern Equestria is both more scientificlly advanced ''and'' more religious than Rainbow is used to. She considers it strange to think of the alicorns as gods or to pray to them. Twinkle Shine lampshades how this is different from what her class might expect.
[[/folder]]

* In ''FireEmblemAwakening'', this is what [[WellIntentionedExtremist Wal]][[EvilOverlord hart]] wants the world to be like: advocating the idea of a militaristic and atheistic new world order under his rule to bring an end to war and strife. During [[spoiler:their Support conversations]], the PlayerCharacter admits that, while Walhart might be onto something, his world would be no better than a tyranny populated by forcibly-indoctrinated servants who've all been bulled into submission. In response, Walhart [[spoiler:''agrees'' - reasoning that, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority because he lost to the Avatar]], [[MightMakesRight he must clearly be in the right]].]] TheHero Chrom also acknowledges Walhart's vision but rejects it on similar grounds - resolving to unite all peoples of all faiths (or lack thereof) by touching their hearts rather than forcing them to bend the knee.

* In ''FireEmblemAwakening'', this is what [[WellIntentionedExtremist Wal]][[EvilOverlord hart]] wants the world to be like: advocatin the idea of a militaristic and atheistic new world order under his rule to bring an end to war and strife. During [[spoiler:their Support conversations]], the PlayerCharacter admits that, while Walhart might be onto something, his world would be no better than a tyranny populated by forcibly-indoctrinated servants who've all been bulled into submission. In response, Walhart [[spoiler:''agrees'' - reasoning that, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority because he lost to the Avatar]], [[MightMakesRight he must clearly be in the right]].]] TheHero Chrom also acknowledges Walhart's vision but rejects it on similar grounds - resolving to unite all peoples of all faiths (or lack thereof) by touching their hearts rather than forcing them to bend the knee.

* State atheism is an attempt to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope, which seems to lead to a considerable amount of UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. Since Karl Marx viewed religion as a tool of the bourgeoisie, communist countries have done this as a matter of course. It tends to end up as replacing the worship of a god with the [[CompletelyMissingThePoint worship of the country's dictator]].

** In the original series, the whole "Key To Time" story arc, as well as the subsequent story arc with Turlough and the Black Guardian, are pretty clearly a ''very'' thinly veiled story of the Doctor getting caught in the middle of a conflict between God and the Devil. The new series hasn't mentioned the Guardians at all.

** Yet in the original series, the whole "Key To Time" story arc, as well as the subsequent story arc with Turlough and the Black Guardian, are pretty clearly a ''very'' thinly veiled story of the Doctor getting caught in the middle of a conflict between God and the Devil. The new series hasn't mentioned the Guardians at all.

** In the original series, the whole "Key To Time" story arc, as well as the subsequent story arc with Turlough and the Black Guardian, are pretty clearly a ''very'' thinly veiled story of the Doctor getting caught in the middle of a conflict between God and the Devil.

* A sadly-ignored plot point in ''Plan9FromOuterSpace'' is that the alien invaders "also think of God" (implying they are not only religious but Christian), while the humans expected otherwise.