This week, we're talking about a different kind of "canon" as Dr. James McGrath joins the show to talk about religion in Star Trek! Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future had no room for faith or superstition, but is a galaxy without God and spirituality desirable or even plausible? Trek's opinion on religion and belief has vacillated over the course of its five decades of storytelling, but faith in a higher power may be the one thing humanity will always possess, whatever planet we live on. During the show, we talk about Trek's attitude towards religion over the years, its exploration of theology among the stars, the Great Commission vs. the Prime Directive, the "divinity" of godlike aliens, the dearth of religious texts in Trek, the "prosperity gospel" of the Ferengi, making religious storytelling attractive to viewers, being tested by "God", and Kirk duking it out with the King of Kings!

Watch out for Future Methodist spoilers!

Follow Dr. McGrath on Twitter and check out his blog!
https://twitter.com/ReligionProf
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof

Get James's book, Theology and Science Fiction on Amazon!
https://amzn.to/2LlOf64

Listen to the new JET Network show, Virtual Theater!
http://twitter.com/virtualtheaterx

Take our internet radio survey and listen to JET Radio!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q3ZRJNR
http://streaming.live365.com/a35260

Join our crew on Patreon and get access to our live episodes, DS9/VOY recaps and more!
http://www.patreon.com/eistpod

Click through our Amazon link on enterprisingindividuals.com to support the show!
http://www.enterprisingindividuals.com
https://www.amazon.com/?tag=jet01-20&linkCode=ez

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for Trek news and updates!
http://www.twitter.com/eistpod
http://www.facebook.com/eistpod