Resumo de Religion In Foundation

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Trope of Religion in Asimov?s Foundation

Through the thematically connected ?foundation?
series

Asimov reworks his ideas about empire, environment,

hegemonistic position of human civilizations. SF
works

as

metaphor, commenting on actual conditions in the
real

world

and offering solutions which deserve serious

consideration.

On a conceptual level, Foundation
perceives ?feudalism?

and

its concomitants, imperialism, military
expansionism,

political intrigues for power as regressive.
Religious

revivalism may be used to serve political ends for
a

short

period, but it is finally a self-defeating
exercise. As

Ankor Jael tells Hober Mallow, ?any dogma based on

faith

and emotionalism is a dangerous weapon to use on

others???

isn?t under our control anymore?. Nuclear power is
sold

to

the neighboring planets in the guise of ?mystical

religion?. The gods of nuclear power however cannot

ensure

continued political and economical stability, for
one

planet or for the entire Galactic Empire!

Religion, like capitalism, is used as a political

weapon

for colonial expansion, in Foundation as it was in

Africa

and Latin America in the 19th Century. Societies
that

are

less technologically advanced than Terminus, those

using

fossil fuels rather than atomic power, are regarded
as

barbaric, as fit recipients for religious mumbo-
jumbo

that

prepares them for merger with Foundation.

Religion is not present in any form on the dying

imperial

center of Trantor or the future the future
epicenter of

civilization, Terminus, which are presented in the

first

two sections of Foundation. In the third
section, ?The

Mayors?, religion is established not for terminus
but

for

the export to the neighboring planets to facilitate

trade

in atomic power and consolidate the growing power
of

the

Foundation. The fifth part, ? The Merchant
Princes?,

represents religion as a spent force, trade alone
is

strong

enough to carry forward colonial expansion. The
shift

to

trade, unsupported by religion, is brought about by

Hober

Mallow, a Master Trader. Economic forces are a more

powerful tool for hegemony & homogenization than

religion.

The religious system fostered by Salvor Hardin has

obvious

elements of Christianity. The Prophet Hari Seldon
is

akin

to Christ, a martyr figure, ?a paradisial afterlife
is

assured to the faithful?, and ?eternal elimination
of

the

sacrilegious?. Priests, high priests and
missionaries

ensure obedience and inveigle against heresy. They

assure

the believers that they are in the hands of
the ?Great

Spirit?, in an obvious echo of Messiah. Though the

priest

and prince normally work in collusion, ensuring a

general

belief in the divine right of kingship, in cases of

conflict between the two pillars of authority,

obedience to

the priest ensures salvation to the soul.

Asimov presents religion in Foundation as a tool

deliberately devised for the specific purpose of
trade

and

colonial expansion. The purpose once served the
tool is

discarded, and it becomes a spent force. Those who

accept

the religion fostered by the Foundation are seen as

intellectually inferior savages. The residents of

Terminus

and the diplomats it sends in the guise of high
priests

do

not share the religious beliefs they sell to the

credulous,

ignorant neighboring planets. The reader, with the

author

is in a privileged position with Terminus as the
focal

point. The reader is not expected to spare any
sympathy

for

the ignorant savages who succumb to superstition,
who

have

no choice but to accept the ?Guiding light? of the

superior

power of the Foundation.

SF has used religion in a variety of ways. In
contrast

to

the use of religion by Asimov in Foundation, Frank

Herbert

in Dune portrays religion as a positive force use
to

unite

the indigenous people in a successful insurrection

against

a hated imperial power. ?Religion in SF? can thus
be

seen

in a multiple ways, as a positive and constructive

force as

well as a tool employed cynically to further
political

ends.

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