Most of the Sci-Fi stories that I’ve read, seem to avoid religion. Some touch on it and others do make it a part of the story, but usually it is treated more like magic or some kind of mystical power.

I think we, as Sci-Fi authors, are missing a key element of potential stories. I think an alien world and its religion is a fertile ground for story telling. Our stories always have evil creatures doing something to other creatures. But I think we shy away from their motivation. Why is the attacker evil, why does the victim fight with such vehemence?

In our corner of the universe, religion is one of our prime motivators. So, why don’t we treat our alien worlds with the same story background.

In my Sci-Fi story Gemini, I built a logical religion that is the prime motivation for the victims and they also find their religion had to change as they were forced to change.