Science Fiction and "the gods"

One thing I've noticed with American science fiction is how the "science" part tends to get subverted by some kind of faux-spiritual crap.

I'm not asking for a dry lecture on physics or technobabble, mind you. I'm just looking for stories that address mysteries and provide actual answers or at least semi-scientific rationale for events.

I tend to find that I take umbrage with how science fiction has been lumped in with fantasy.

I'm fine with fantasy and horror. I quite love it. I just like to recognize that it's a distinct category from science fiction.

So, take "Star Wars", for example. That's fantasy. You have magic powers, swords (lightsabers), and superpowers. Spaceships literally "roar" through the vacuum of space and fire off "pew pew" laser beams and all that. There's a zen religion of "the Force" as well.

"Babylon-5" is more science fiction. Oh, it had fuzzy applications of actual science in it (including the aformentioned sound-effects in space and all that) but it made more than a passing attempt at using more "realistic" physics in its stuff. It kept a fairly clear divide between things that could be scientifically explained and things that were "mystical", with the mystical being more of a psychological issue. Indeed, one of the major religious figures turns out to be a time-traveller. Kind of neat, really.

No story is perfect, but it really galls me when I'm watching a show that's got a strong "science fiction" feel and suddenly the writers get lazy and start attributing things to some fluffy ineffable "higher power".

"Star Trek" was especially obnoxious in how they fell back on the incredibly irritating "god-like alien" cliche (Q was the absolute worst of those).

And "Battlestar Galactica" had their "gods" and "angels".

Bugs the crap out of me.

Science fiction, at its best, is a story of a human (or alien) journey of discovery. The characters usually learn the mysteries of how the universe works and what their own potential is.

Thus, when science fiction stories fall back on "deus ex machina", I feel cheated. Instead of the characters realizing any kind of potential, they just appear to be pieces on a game board that are moved around at the whim of some inexplicable force.

The crux of this, I guess, is how one views the world. It's probably over-generalizing, but I tend to see religious views as leaning more towards the "game pieces" view while secular views tend to be more self-determination.

It's not that simple, of course. There's a lot of grey there. Still, I find it lazy and a little immature to fall back on the "it's the will of the gods" cliche in any kind of story (or in real life). It cheapens the story and, when cited by people, makes the speaker sound childish and unwilling to own up to any personal responsibility.

What's my point? No real point, I guess. Obviously the BSG finale is what got me started on this, but it's more than just that. I guess the SciFi channel's decision to change their name and get even further from science fiction broadcasting (though, honestly... they barely show any science fiction these days) is just getting to me.

I wish I had decent stories of my own to counter this trend, but I lack that sort of writing talent and most certainly don't have the kinds of ideas that would satisfy what I want to see out there.

Bummer.