Science fiction the reality of now

In class on Friday we talked about how science fiction at times can be used to explain what going on in the present or it can be used as a way to look towards a brighter future. For example in Star Trek it seems like all of mankind gets along. The time period of which the original Star Trek was going on was the Cold War. It interesting to see that there was a Russian officer serving with captain who was from Iowa. During this time Russia and the United States were not getting along in fact both countries were trying to outdo the other. In the show Battlestar Galactic the issue of what going on in culture now can be seen between the two different religions of cylons and the humans. There are a lot of parallels between the fighting of cylons and humans and what is going on between some extremist who are Muslims and between the United States. By having it appear in a TV show it makes it less real making it easier for people to try to deal with their problems. One thing that I find interesting is that religion is all about offering hope in the future. In some science fiction the future of everyone living together and getting along is in a way similar to the goal of religion.