Religion and spirituality in science fiction narratives : a case of multiple modernities?

Joss Weedon's 2002 cult series "Firefly" (and the big screen spin-off "Serenity") is a science fiction western that lasted only one season. Set 500 years into the future the series does not deal with aliens per se and does not represent a single ascendant trajectory from the enlightenment project. Here the cultures of the West (largely the US) and China have been the evolutionary winners as a result of, what is called, the 'Sino-American Alliance'. Interestingly however, these dominant socio-cultural forms coexist with a multiplicity of religious and spiritual beliefs. The narratives of this series deal with diverse groups (including religious ones) and could be interpreted as more post/late modern than modern since its peopled Universe is made up of an array of communities, from the very advanced to the decidedly pre-modern with one group or race - the Reavers - being post-apocalyptic and having reverted to base instincts of violent, cannibalistic hunters.