Science and Religion will never agree with each other, but that hasn’t stopped science fiction from using both areas for getting across a similar point. This universal idea has been going on for centuries and will continue for centuries after the present day. Science fiction authors Frank Herbert and Walter M. Miller knew the value of science and religion, but they also knew that the two areas would never agree despite how far we might come, and this is evident in both Dune and A Canticle for Leibowitz.

            In these science fiction novels the argument between science and religion isn’t which one is right, but rather which one is more appropriate when push comes to shove. For example, in the early chapters of Dune the characters are largely dependent on technology. This is most evident in their fighting style, which has become altered to compensate and work with a protective shield: “’In shield fighting, one moves fast on defense, slow on attack,’ Paul said. ‘Attack has the sole purpose of tricking the opponent into a misstep, setting him up for the attack sinister. The shield turns the fast blow, admits the slow kindjal!’” (Herbert 34). They use shield belts, lasguns, ornithopters, and space travel to complete their means. Very little religion is emphasized in the beginning save for the Bene Gesserit who, when introduced, take stage over the science and technology. In this regard Frank Herbert is saying that science and religion are two separate entities that coexist in human nature. On the one hand, Paul is trained in the ways of the Mentat to calculate information and statistics better than any computer can, but at the same time he is trained in the ways of the Bene Gesserit, who rely on feeling and visions to dictate the future. Science and religion exist in Paul and it is how he uses both together that allows him to become such a strong figure later in the book.

            Walter Miller also points out that science and religion are better used under different circumstances. For example, after the species of man destroys himself, those left alive who know science are slaughtered, while those of the church continue on. Even those who held the knowledge fled to the church in hopes of avoiding the mobs:

To escape the fury of the simpleton packs, such learned people as still survived fled to any sanctuary that offered itself. When Holy Church received them, she vested them in monks’ robes and tried to hide them in such monasteries and convents as had survived and could be reoccupied, for the religious were less despised by the mob except when they openly defied it and accepted martyrdom. (Miller 64)

            In a sense, religion fills in the gaps that science leaves when we don’t understand something. This is why, in the beginning, the church is a central point of the world and highly respected, but as knowledge and science progresses the church becomes increasingly insignificant. The more answers we have, the less of a need there is for supernatural solutions. In this regard we need religion to keep us going until science can fill in the gaps for itself.

            Later in Dune when Jessica and Paul become Fremen, it is apparent that while they are a very religious group of people, they too rely on technology. They do not think that any gods or messiahs will protect them from the scorching desert; for that they have stillsuits, technology, to do the job. These suits have been perfected to the point that the almost religiously valuable water can be largely contained: “In the open desert, you wear this filter across your face, this tube in the nostrils with these plugs to insure a tight fit. Breathe in through the mouth filter, and out through the nose tube. With a Fremen suit in good working order, you won’t lose more than a thimbleful of moisture a day – even if you’re caught in the Great Erg” (Herbert 110). They also rely on the use of thumpers to attract worms for travel. Even though they are deeply religious in their beliefs, they understand the necessity of technology and do not attempt to fight it.

            In A Canticle for Leibowitz we see science and technology become holy in the form of the memorabilia. The church itself holds up the scientist Leibowitz as a saint and values knowledge above all else. This can be seen in their view of the documents they protect in the basement of the Abbey:

The Memorabilia was full of ancient words, ancient formulae, ancient reflections of meaning, detached from minds that had died long ago, when a different sort of society had passed into oblivion. There was little of it that could still be understood. Certain papers seemed as meaningless as a Breviary would seem to a shaman of the nomad tribes. Others retained a certain ornamental beauty or an orderliness that hinted of meaning, as a rosary might suggest a necklace to a nomad. (Miller 146)

            Even while religious in nature, the monks of the Abbey understand the importance of science and technology, though in this book it is quite clear that they fear it, more so in the later chapters. It is dangerous, and yet our desire for knowledge will always drive us back to the search through science.

            Even though science is respected and often a necessity, religion also proves itself to be essential in the progression of man. For example, if the monks at the Abbey had not religiously protected the knowledge of the past, the society would have taken twice as long in its evolution. This may be more of a curse than a blessing, but it was their devotion that preserved what was most important. At the same time these monks live in a post apocalyptic world filled with mutants and ‘simpletons.’ It is no surprise that during such trying times, one looks to a greater good, such as god or a saint. Science in this instance cannot help them through the hardships; only religion can give them hope, and in this it proves its worth.

            In Dune Paul often uses both his Mentat and Bene Gesserit abilities together, but certain occasions call for more of one than the other. For example, his broad knowledge of statistics helps him create battle tactics and effectively train and educate the Fremen, but when he can’t be sure of the future, he turns to his Bene Gesserit abilities to see what is to come. All of these abilities contribute to the messiah status at the end of the book:

He was a warrior and mystic, ogre and saint, the fox and the innocent, chivalrous, ruthless, less than a god, more than a man. There is no measuring Maud’Dib’s motives by ordinary standards. In the moment of his triumph, he saw the death prepared for him, yet he accepted the treachery. Can you say he did this out of a sense of justice? Whose justice, then? Remember, we speak now of the Muad’Dib who ordered battle drums made from his enemies’ skins, the Muad’Dib who denied the conventions of this ducal past with a wave of his hand, saying merely: ‘I am the Kwisatz Haderach. That is reason enough.” (Herbert 466)

            Both must be used in harmony to be truly effective and bring Paul to the status of Messiah; he does so by knowing how and when to use his different abilities.

            What Frank Herbert and Walter Miller are suggesting in both of their novels is that regardless of how technology driven our world becomes, or how scientifically knowledgeable, there will always be a place and even desire for religion. In Dune the religion of the Fremen became the basis for Paul’s victory against the Harkonnens and the empire. He stepped up to assume the role of their prophesied messiah and in the process truly became that messiah. But this religion wasn’t only good for military victory; the Fremen themselves wouldn’t have survived so long without the hope that one day Arrakis would be transformed into a paradise. Liet-Kynes’ dream for a future paradise is expressed in this passage: “We change it… slowly but with certainty… to make it fit for human life. Our generation will not see it, nor our children nor our children’s children nor the grandchildren of their children… but it will come” (Herbert 291). It is their hope and faith in the religion that keeps them going, gives them something to work for in hopes of an overall happiness. Religion is necessary to them and necessary to the outcome of this book.

            The same can be said of A Canticle for Leibowitz. It is the church that preserves the knowledge, the church that survives the Flame Deluge, the church that held through the simplification. It is the same concept that religion gives them hope and something to work for. In the absence of science, what else do these wandering tribes of humans have? If there was no religion, it would be all too easy to fall into despair and lose the society entirely. Science destroyed the world, and religion built it back up again.

            This, however, is not saying that science is evil and religion is good. Religion has been the cause of some horrible atrocities in our own past, and only after the progression of science and understanding do we realize how wrong such actions like the crusades were. In a way, science and religion balance each other out. One fills in the gaps the other leaves, but neither truly agrees with the other. This is why in Dune and A Canticle for Leibowitz it is apparent that one must hold sway over the other for a certain time; never can they work together.

            While good actions can occur from both of these areas, they each have atrocities, isolated to these respective books. In Dune, for example, technology has reached a sort of dead lock. At some point in the world’s past, machines were created that could think like a man:

            “Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”

            “Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man’s mind.” Paul quoted.

            “Right out of the Butlerian Jihad and the Orange Catholic Bible,” she said. “But what the O. C. Bible should’ve said is: Thou shalt not make a machine to counterfeit a human mind.” (Herbert 11-12)

            The humans were then required to battle these machines to retain their place in the universe. It is clear that science and technology can be dangerous, and Frank Herbert didn’t even need to show us this epic battle to get the point across.

            Walter Miller chose a more direct and far bleaker representation of technology, in that the more advanced we get and the more we know, the more likely we are to destroy ourselves on a grand scale. Humanity is doomed to repeat its mistakes with the creation and recreation of nuclear weapons. The growing frustration of constant human mistakes can be voiced in this passage:

The world’s been in a habitual state of crisis for fifty years. Fifty? What am I saying? It’s been in a habitual state of crisis since the beginning – but for half a century now, almost unbearable. And why, for the love of God? What is the fundamental irritant, the essence of the tension? Political philosophies? Economics? Population pressure? Disparity of culture and creed? Ask a dozen experts, get a dozen answers. Brother? If we’re born mad, where’s the hope of Heaven? Through Faith alone? Or isn’t there any? God forgive me, I don’t mean that. (Miller 261)

            The humans are at fault here, not technology and science, but nevertheless it is a dangerous weapon and in the wrong hands, can be catastrophic.

            Religion may fill in some areas of science and help pick up a fallen society, but that doesn’t mean it’s all good either. In Dune, the Bene Gesserit have used deception since day one. Not only do they selectively breed humans in hopes of creating the Kwisatz Haderach, or perfect human, but their Missionaria Protectiva has been lying to societies for years just to give future generations something to fall back on in a time of crisis. The very definition of the Missionaria Protectiva as provided by Herbert himself suggests corruption: “The arm of the Bene Gesserit order charged with sowing infectious superstitions on primitive worlds, thus opening those regions to exploitation by the Bene Gesserit” (Herbert 524). Whether or not they create the perfect human or fit the build for one of their prophesies, they still lied and manipulated their way to where they are, and from a religious stand point, this is blatantly immoral.

            In A Canticle for Leibowitz, religion is portrayed as a sort of underdog with technology threatening to overrun and destroy it. This is most prominent near the end when the police are forced to detain the Abbot after he punches the doctor: “If only they had not forced him to stop where she could witness ‘God’s priest’ summarily overruled by ‘Caesar’s traffic cop.’ Never to him had Christ’s Kingship seemed more distant” (Miller 322). A once powerful figure in the world is now seen as nothing but a common criminal. But in a way the church helped to bring about its own demise. If brother Francis had never discovered the fallout shelter in the desert, the progression of knowledge would have taken much longer. In that same line had they not preserved the memorabilia so religiously, it might have deteriorated and given man a chance to start from scratch. It is entirely possible that we would have blown ourselves up anyway, but how much can be contributed to the findings of the world that blew itself up first?

            Overall, I think that science and religion are used to represent knowledge and faith, but at the same time good and evil. Neither area is portrayed as the good or evil side, but instead each contains within themselves the capacity for good and evil. This represents the danger of such extremes, be it too much of one, or not enough of another.

            I do believe that the basic themes and storylines of these books could be done across many different genres, but by choosing science fiction, there is a greater chance of those same themes to hit closer to home. With science fiction we often get a window into a technological and scientific world that could be our own and see the effects of what is occurring in the present day. Similarly religion could be swapped for different sets of beliefs and get the same point across, but again, it makes more of an impact if a familiar idea of religion is used. Every bit of both science fiction and religion was used for the purpose of driving the point home and making an impact on the reader, and in the end, I couldn’t think of a better way for it to be done.

Works Cited

Herbert, Frank, Dune. New York: Ace Books, 1987.

Miller, Walter M. Jr., A Canticle for Leibowitz. New York: Bantam Books, 1997.