The One Word That Can Never Be Spoken In The Star Trek Universe (Sort Of)

“Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry was always wary of religion. He sometimes described himself as something of a deist but looked on organized faith with suspicion. In Yvonne Fern’s 1994 book “Gene Roddenberry: The Last Conversation,” Roddenberry was quoted as saying “It’s not true that I don’t believe in God. I believe in a kind of God. It’s just not other people’s God. I reject religion.” Most Trekkies will likely be able to tell you that Roddenberry also famously rejected a studio note back in 1966 demanding that he include a chaplain on the U.S.S. Enterprise. 

Throughout “Star Trek,” religion has usually rested in the hands of aliens. Species like Bajorans, Klingons, the Ferengi, and even Vulcans are seen engaging in spiritual rituals and sometimes discuss gods or the afterlife, but one will have to look hard to find explicit references to known Earth religions (Data once noted the celebration of Diwali, characters on “Lower Decks” wear hijabs). One will certainly never find, however, a human Starfleet officer wearing a crucifix.

According to the EW article, actor Jason Isaacs, who played Captain Garcia Lorca on “Discovery,” played a scene with a small amount of improv that needed to be corrected to match the godlessness of “Star Trek.” Evidently, Isaacs yelled the line “Lock on the Bird of Prey! Basic pattern Beta 9. Hard to port! Fire at something, for God’s sakes!”

That, it seems, was a big no-no. Isaacs was pulled aside by Kirsten Beyer — the episode’s writer and author of multiple “Star Trek: Voyager” novels — and she had to explain to him that a human in the 22nd century of “Star Trek” wouldn’t say that.