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*In ''Literature/Neuromancer'' a group of semi-Rastafarians live in a colony in Earth orbit; they are descended from the workers who built the orbiting pleasure stations
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* Averted for the most part in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', as most Imperial cults end up different due to centuries of isolation rather than being different at the start ([[KillItWithFire those are usually eliminated quite quickly]]). When these isolated planets rejoin the Imperium the more pragmatic Inquisitors and Ecclesiarchs just check that there's no real heresy and let them get on with life instead of purging them from orbit because the stained-glass window shows the God Emperor's eyes in the wrong color. In fact they're willing to let quite a lot go, do you want to worship the Emperor in the belief that he was a simple farmer before being the Emperor, go ahead. Do you believe that the stars are the Emperors eyes and that he is always watching you, that's fine to. Both of those are canon examples, the big point is that it is clearly the Emperor you worship and not chaos or something else.

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* Averted for the most part in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', as most Imperial cults end up different due to centuries of isolation rather than being different at the start ([[KillItWithFire those are usually eliminated quite quickly]]). When these isolated planets rejoin the Imperium the more pragmatic Inquisitors and Ecclesiarchs just check that there's no real heresy and let them get on with life instead of purging them from orbit because the stained-glass window shows the God Emperor's eyes in the wrong color. In fact they're willing to let quite a lot go, do you want to worship the Emperor in the belief that he was a simple farmer before being the Emperor, go ahead. Do you believe that the stars are the Emperors Emperor's eyes and that he is always watching you, that's fine to.too. Both of those are canon examples, the big point is that it is clearly the Emperor you worship and not chaos or something else.

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* Sanctum from ''Series/The100''. It wasn't ''intended'' to be this, but when the original colonists (called "Primes") realized they'd need [[BodyBackupDrive host bodies]] to house their [[BrainUploading Mind Drives]], they ensured all future generations were raised in a cult that worshipped the Primes, [[RaisedAsAHost and would willingly surrender their bodies for the Primes' use]].



* Sanctum from ''Series/The100''. It wasn't ''intended'' to be this, but when the original colonists (called "Primes") realized they'd need [[BodyBackupDrive host bodies]] to house their [[BrainUploading Mind Drives]], they ensured all future generations were raised in a cult that worshipped the Primes, [[RaisedAsAHost and would willingly surrender their bodies for the Primes' use]].
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* Sanctum from ''Series/The100''. It wasn't ''intended'' to be this, but when the original colonists (called "Primes") realized they'd need [[BodyBackupDrive host bodies]] to house their [[BrainUploading Mind Drives]], they ensured all future generations were raised in a cult that worshipped the Primes, [[RaisedAsAHost and would willingly surrender their bodies for the Primes' use]].
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*** It crops up several times in the side stories. One is a relatively new colony formed from religious dissidents off Haven, in the novella ''The Service of the Sword'' in the anthology of the same name. Another crops up as part of the Tallbot Sector in much the same position as Grayson, though in this case it's a local bug killing their crops and they were able to relocate to another habitable planet in the other half of their binary star system very early on. Unlike Grayson, the current population is solidly atheist and rather bitter about their ancestors' fanaticism. The Haven-controlled world of Prague was settled by white supremacists who were out to create an Aryan paradise, but only ended up with a dirt-poor backwater planet known best for the natural good looks of its prostitutes. Thandi Palane's homeworld was settled by black supremacists who, due to an unintentional side effect of genetic engineering, ended up with descendants who were practically albino. [[CaptainObvious Weber also likes having ironic things happen to this type of colony.]]

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*** It crops up several times in the side stories. One is a relatively new colony formed from religious dissidents off Haven, in the novella ''The Service of the Sword'' in the anthology of the same name. Another crops up as part of the Tallbot Sector in much the same position as Grayson, though in this case it's a local bug killing their crops and they were able to relocate to another habitable planet in the other half of their binary star system very early on. Unlike Grayson, the current population is solidly atheist and rather bitter about their ancestors' fanaticism. The Haven-controlled world of Prague was settled by white supremacists who were out to create an Aryan paradise, but only ended up with a dirt-poor backwater planet known best for the natural good looks of its prostitutes. Thandi Palane's homeworld was settled by black supremacists who, due to an unintentional side effect of genetic engineering, ended up with descendants who were practically albino. [[CaptainObvious Weber also likes having ironic things happen to this type of colony.]]
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* Any world with the "theocracy" government type in ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' might be one of these, and several of them are in canon. It's a fairly typical explanation for why a colony might have been established on an inhospitable world.
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** The Luddite colony from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E15Paradise}} Paradise]]" is a dark and unwilling variation: [[spoiler: rather than recruit like-minded potential colonists, the leader instead intentionally stranded her fellow shipmates/passengers and used a secret anti-technology energy field to ''force'' them to live according to her luddite philosophy. When this is eventually revealed, most of the surviving colonists decide to remain and figure out for themselves whether to maintain their way of life, but she herself is arrested for the crimes she committed stranding them there and for the ''murder'' of those colonists who died since because of her enforcing the anti-technology (including medicine) lifestyle.]]

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** The Luddite colony from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E15Paradise}} Paradise]]" is a dark and unwilling variation: [[spoiler: rather than recruit like-minded potential colonists, the leader instead intentionally stranded her fellow shipmates/passengers and used a secret anti-technology energy field to ''force'' them to live according to her luddite philosophy. When this is eventually revealed, most of the surviving colonists decide to remain and figure out for themselves whether to maintain their way of life, but she herself is arrested for the crimes she committed stranding them there and for the ''murder'' of those colonists who died since because of her enforcing the anti-technology (including medicine) lifestyle.]]
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** The social experiment from "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E13TheMasterpieceSociety The Masterpiece Society]]".
** The colony from "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E18UpTheLongLadder}} Up The Long Ladder]]" was said to have been founded by runaway "Neo-transcendentalists", though that was not elaborated upon and and it didn't really seem to have a [[PlanetOfHats hat]].

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** The social experiment from "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E13TheMasterpieceSociety The Masterpiece Society]]".
Society]]", which follows a secular philosophy to a degree where it is basically a religion.
** The colony from "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E18UpTheLongLadder}} Up The Long Ladder]]" was said to have been founded by runaway "Neo-transcendentalists", though that was not elaborated upon and and it didn't really seem which seems to have amount to their being SpaceAmish with a [[PlanetOfHats hat]].heavy dose of {{Oireland}} flavor.
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* In ''Film/PitchBlack'', Richard B. Riddick encounters Imam, a character determined to find the colony New Mecca, where multiple religious groups are alleged to co-exist without religious conflict.

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* In ''Film/PitchBlack'', Richard B. Riddick encounters Imam, a character determined to find the colony New Mecca, where multiple religious groups are alleged to co-exist without religious conflict. When Riddick journeys to the planet in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', this turns out to be true, although it is soon invaded by a separate group of OmnicidalManiac crusaders.
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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheWickerMan2006 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wicker_man_2006_burning_of_the_wicker_man_ending.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: A regular day in the life of Creator/NicolasCage]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheWickerMan2006 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wicker_man_2006_burning_of_the_wicker_man_ending.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: A regular day in the life of Creator/NicolasCage]]
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* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' has a mission where Shepard has to infiltrate a colony controlled by the cultists and abduct their leader. Said "colony" is two buildings with a combined population less than 20.

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* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' has a mission where Shepard has to infiltrate a colony controlled by the cultists and abduct their leader. Said "colony" is two buildings with a combined population less than 20. Three years later in-game, another of these is found in a cluster near Earth thought to be abandoned. A group of Asari explorers accidentally stumbled across a human colony established and forgotten about before Earth had its own FTL, and after some initial terror at the Asari's [[HumanAliens appearance,]] the colony was slowly integrated into the greater galactic whole. [[SHaggyDogStory Then the Reapers flattened it.]]

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* The ''Franchise/StarshipTroopers'' prequel comic by Creator/DarkHorseComics takes place in the Port Joe Smith colony mentioned in the Film section.

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* The ''Franchise/StarshipTroopers'' prequel comic by Creator/DarkHorseComics takes place in the Port Joe Smith colony mentioned in the Film section.founded by "Mormon Extremists."


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* ''Film/{{Prospect}}'': the protagonists are prospecting on an inhospitable alien moon where small societies of people have decided to live there full-time. We don't get many specifics on their culture, but their very odd behavior and customs suggest some weird beliefs.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'': Andrew Ryan, a CorruptCorporateExecutive with money (and forests) to burn and serious beef with anything resembling communism, built an underwater city where he could build a cult of personality that didn't require inventing some kind of ridiculous, communist-inspiring god. And then they accidentally found evidence of a god, and it was a slug. And most of the city realized (A)they missed the sun and the surface of the earth, (B)they had evidence that it was partially shaped instead of naturally evolved, and (C) they could take it all by the balls if they used the bioaugmentations of the slug to become superhuman conquerors and be worshiped as gods. Ryan forced them all to stay inside and play with their toys. Insanity ensued.
** ''VideoGame/{{BioshockInfinite}}'': And Columbia is even worse - they built a flying city so they could become All-American Nazis.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'': ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'':
**
Andrew Ryan, a CorruptCorporateExecutive with money (and forests) to burn and serious beef with anything resembling communism, built an underwater city where he could build a cult of personality that didn't require inventing some kind of ridiculous, communist-inspiring god. And then they accidentally found evidence of a god, and it was a slug. And most of the city realized (A)they missed the sun and the surface of the earth, (B)they had evidence that it was partially shaped instead of naturally evolved, and (C) they could take it all by the balls if they used the bioaugmentations of the slug to become superhuman conquerors and be worshiped as gods. Ryan forced them all to stay inside and play with their toys. Insanity ensued.
** ''VideoGame/{{BioshockInfinite}}'': And Columbia is ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' has it even worse - with Columbia. In that case, they built a flying city so they could become All-American Nazis.
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*** Grayson was founded by the Church of Humanity Unchained, a sort of SpaceAmish cult that wanted to escape from the corrosive effects of technology. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, the planet they landed on had such high concentrations of heavy metals that they needed a very high level of technology to simply survive. They later went through a civil war and schism and sent out their own colony of religious dissenters to exile, who formed their own CultColony on the nearby (and much more friendly to human habitation) planet of Masada.

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*** Grayson was founded by the Church of Humanity Unchained, a sort of SpaceAmish cult that wanted to escape from the corrosive effects of technology. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, the planet they landed on had such high concentrations of heavy metals that they needed a very high level of technology to simply survive. They later went through a civil war and schism and sent out their own colony of religious dissenters to exile, who formed their own CultColony Cult Colony on the nearby (and much more friendly to human habitation) planet of Masada.

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* Pick any SciFi-based Creator/OrsonScottCard series.
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'':
** Grayson was founded by the Church of Humanity Unchained, a sort of SpaceAmish cult that wanted to escape from the corrosive effects of technology. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, the planet they landed on had such high concentrations of heavy metals that they needed a very high level of technology to simply survive. They later went through a civil war and schism and sent out their own colony of religious dissenters to exile, who formed their own CultColony on the nearby (and much more friendly to human habitation) planet of Masada.
** Weber is quite fond of this trope. It crops up several times in the side stories. One is a relatively new colony formed from religious dissidents off Haven, in the novella ''The Service of the Sword'' in the anthology of the same name. Another crops up as part of the Tallbot Sector in much the same position as Grayson, though in this case its a local bug killing their crops and they were able to relocate to another habitable planet in the other half of their binary star system very early on. Unlike Grayson the current population is solidly atheist and rather bitter about their ancestors' fanaticism. The Haven-controlled world of Prague was settled by white-supremacists who were out to create an Aryan paradise, but only ended up with a dirt-poor backwater planet known best for the natural good looks of its prostitutes. Thandi Palane's homeworld was settled by black-supremacists who, due to an unintnetional side effect of genetic engineering, ended up with descendants who were practically albino. [[CaptainObvious Weber also likes having ironic things happen to this type of colony.]]
* Another Creator/DavidWeber example is Pardal from ''[[Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes Heirs of Empire]]''; this is the variety that didn't start out fanatical, but became so after the interstellar civilization that founded it broke down. Specifically [[spoiler: a super-bioweapon got spread by their [[TeleportersAndTransporters matter-transmitters]] throughout the Empire; Pardal quarantined itself, but heard the death of the rest of the empire on its "radio". Since technology had wiped out their civilization, they destroyed it all and went back to a preindustrial lifestyle, founding a church and theocracy to enforce that.]] The Literature/{{Safehold}} series is similar, but the anti-technology religion was artificially created to prevent the planet from being visible (due to radio emissions) to the [[AbsoluteXenophobe genocidal]] alien Gbaba. And also because it's creators were a bunch of megalomaniacs that wanted to be worshiped. And may have ended up BelievingTheirOwnLies in the end.
* Several Creator/RobertAHeinlein stories mention such colonies, such as that one planet mentioned in ''Literature/{{Friday}}'' where the Pope-in-Exile is allowed to openly celebrate mass.
* At the end of Octavia Butler's ''[[Literature/ParableOfTheSower Parable of the Talents]]'', the second book in the "Parable" series, the followers of the new religion known as Earthseed (created by the main character, Lauren) go up in space to fulfill their "destiny", which is to establish a colony and "take root among the stars". One wonders how this would have progressed [[AuthorExistenceFailure if she had gotten to write the scheduled third book]].
* Creator/LEModesittJr's science fiction duology ''The Parafaith War'' and ''The Ethos Effect'' uses this along with divisions along racial lines, to the point where some characters begin confusing race with ideology. The predominantly Caucasian "Revenants of the Prophet" evolved out of a merging of Mormons and a white Muslim offshoot sect. The protagonist of ''The Parafaith War'' has to deal with strong suspicion about his motives and loyalties because he [[PhenotypeStereotype looks a lot like a generic Rev]] in a society whose population was mostly derived from south/east Asia.
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/EthanOfAthos'', the planet Athos was settled by a misogynistic religious order as an all-male colony. They used frozen eggs and artificial wombs to keep the population up. [[RealityEnsues The inherent practical problems]] of maintaining a stable population on a planet where importing so much as a ''photograph'' of a woman involves considerable paperwork is the focus of the plot, and the Athosians are treated quite sympathetically by the standards of this trope.
* Creator/JohnVarley's Literature/GaeaTrilogy has another unisex colony, only with neopagan lesbian separatists and frozen sperm.
* ''Founding Fathers'', a short story by Creator/StephenDedman, mentions several planets of this type, and is set on one settled by a bunch of people who were prepared to go to the trouble in order to live and raise their families on a planet with no black people.
* In the Prince Roger series, one of the major characters is from a colony that was originally this. It was originally strict Roman Catholic, but then the witch hunts started and in the present day the main religion of the planet is Satanism of the SatanIsGood variety.
* In Creator/GordonRDickson's ''Literature/ChildeCycle'', the dawn of space colonization causes humanity to separate along philosphical lines (Faithholders, Warriors, Rationalists, Mystics, etc.)
* The interstellar arks in Creator/CharlesSheffield's [=McAndrew=] stories include the "Amish Ark" of people seeking a low-tech life and the "Cyber Ark" of people dedicated to the development of AI [[spoiler: yes, they found out the hard way that AIIsACrapshoot]].
* Arthur C Clarke's ''Songs of Distant Earth'' mentions different religions, namely Mormons, Neo-Christians and Muslims, sending seedships in the generations before the End. It's implied that they may very well have succeeded.
* In Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/{{Genome}}'', the entire population of the Ebon colony consists of the devout followers of the Church of the Angered Christ, which mandates that all aliens must be exterminated to make way for the "true children of God." To this end, they start breeding experts in torturing and killing aliens and building devastating weapons and ships (including StarKilling bombs). By the time TheEmpire decides to shut this nuthouse down in order to appease it's alien neighbors, the military strength of Ebon rivals the combined might of TheEmpire. However, no Ebonite will willingly kill a human, and their entire fleet is destroyed with only a few shots fired in response (mostly by nervous captains who immediately commit suicide). When humanity is threatened with an all-out war with their alien neighbors, the Emperor seriously considers letting the Ebonites loose in order to save TheEmpire. Thankfully, it never gets to that.
* Sharon Shinn's ''Literature/{{Samaria}}''' series features a planet founded by Christians. There are genetically engineered humans with wings called angels, whose voices call out to a spaceship in the sky that runs the planet.
* In Creator/CJCherryh's ''Rider'' series, a group of fundamentalist Christians colonized what turned out to be a DeathWorld due to the telepathic carnivores which use {{Jedi Mind Trick}}s to hunt humans. The colony can only survive due to some humans having a [[BondCreature symbiotic relationship]] with the alien night horses, even though most of the colony regards the night horses as demonic and their human riders as a barely tolerated necessary evil.
* The novel ''The Nineteenth Wife'' features the First Latter Day Saints, a fictional fundamentalist Mormon cult located in the (likewise fictional) town of Mesadale, Utah. The Firsts and Mesadale are closely modeled on the very real Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also called the United Effort Plan or UEP) and Colorado City (formerly Short Creek), Utah.
* The worshippers of the Holy Cows living aboard the generation ship in ''[[Literature/BillTheGalacticHero Bill the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars]]''. They venerate dairy products over all other food groups.

to:

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Pick any SciFi-based Creator/OrsonScottCard series.
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'':
** Grayson was founded by the Church of Humanity Unchained, a sort of SpaceAmish cult that wanted to escape from the corrosive effects of technology. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, the planet they landed on had such high concentrations of heavy metals that they needed a very high level of technology to simply survive. They later went through a civil war and schism and sent out their own colony of religious dissenters to exile, who formed their own CultColony on the nearby (and much more friendly to human habitation) planet of Masada.
** Weber is quite fond of this trope. It crops up several times in the side stories. One is a relatively new colony formed from religious dissidents off Haven, in the novella ''The Service of the Sword'' in the anthology of the same name. Another crops up as part of the Tallbot Sector in much the same position as Grayson, though in this case its a local bug killing their crops and they were able to relocate to another habitable planet in the other half of their binary star system very early on. Unlike Grayson the current population is solidly atheist and rather bitter about their ancestors' fanaticism. The Haven-controlled world of Prague was settled by white-supremacists who were out to create an Aryan paradise, but only ended up with a dirt-poor backwater planet known best for the natural good looks of its prostitutes. Thandi Palane's homeworld was settled by black-supremacists who, due to an unintnetional side effect of genetic engineering, ended up with descendants who were practically albino. [[CaptainObvious Weber also likes having ironic things happen to this type of colony.]]
* Another Creator/DavidWeber example is Pardal from ''[[Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes Heirs of Empire]]''; this is the variety that didn't start out fanatical, but became so after the interstellar civilization that founded it broke down. Specifically [[spoiler: a super-bioweapon got spread by their [[TeleportersAndTransporters matter-transmitters]] throughout the Empire; Pardal quarantined itself, but heard the death of the rest of the empire on its "radio". Since technology had wiped out their civilization, they destroyed it all and went back to a preindustrial lifestyle, founding a church and theocracy to enforce that.]] The Literature/{{Safehold}} series is similar, but the anti-technology religion was artificially created to prevent the planet from being visible (due to radio emissions) to the [[AbsoluteXenophobe genocidal]] alien Gbaba. And also because it's creators were a bunch of megalomaniacs that wanted to be worshiped. And may have ended up BelievingTheirOwnLies in the end.
* Several Creator/RobertAHeinlein stories mention such colonies, such as that one planet mentioned in ''Literature/{{Friday}}'' where the Pope-in-Exile is allowed to openly celebrate mass.
* At the end of Octavia Butler's ''[[Literature/ParableOfTheSower Parable of the Talents]]'', the second book in the "Parable" series, the followers of the new religion known as Earthseed (created by the main character, Lauren) go up in space to fulfill their "destiny", which is to establish a colony and "take root among the stars". One wonders how this would have progressed [[AuthorExistenceFailure if she had gotten to write the scheduled third book]].
* Creator/LEModesittJr's science fiction duology ''The Parafaith War'' and ''The Ethos Effect'' uses this along with divisions along racial lines, to the point where some characters begin confusing race with ideology. The predominantly Caucasian "Revenants of the Prophet" evolved out of a merging of Mormons and a white Muslim offshoot sect. The protagonist of ''The Parafaith War'' has to deal with strong suspicion about his motives and loyalties because he [[PhenotypeStereotype looks a lot like a generic Rev]] in a society whose population was mostly derived from south/east Asia.
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/EthanOfAthos'', the planet Athos was settled by a misogynistic religious order as an all-male colony. They used frozen eggs and artificial wombs to keep the population up. [[RealityEnsues The inherent practical problems]] of maintaining a stable population on a planet where importing so much as a ''photograph'' of a woman involves considerable paperwork is the focus of the plot, and the Athosians are treated quite sympathetically by the standards of this trope.
* Creator/JohnVarley's Literature/GaeaTrilogy has another unisex colony, only with neopagan lesbian separatists and frozen sperm.
* ''Founding Fathers'', a short story by Creator/StephenDedman, mentions several planets of this type, and is set on one settled by a bunch of people who were prepared to go to the trouble in order to live and raise their families on a planet with no black people.
* In the Prince Roger series, one of the major characters is from a colony that was originally this. It was originally strict Roman Catholic, but then the witch hunts started and in the present day the main religion of the planet is Satanism of the SatanIsGood variety.
* In Creator/GordonRDickson's ''Literature/ChildeCycle'', the dawn of space colonization causes humanity to separate along philosphical lines (Faithholders, Warriors, Rationalists, Mystics, etc.)
* The interstellar arks in Creator/CharlesSheffield's [=McAndrew=] stories include the "Amish Ark" of people seeking a low-tech life and the "Cyber Ark" of people dedicated to the development of AI [[spoiler: yes, they found out the hard way that AIIsACrapshoot]].
* Arthur C Clarke's ''Songs of Distant Earth'' mentions different religions, namely Mormons, Neo-Christians and Muslims, sending seedships in the generations before the End. It's implied that they may very well have succeeded.
* In Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/{{Genome}}'', the entire population of the Ebon colony consists of the devout followers of the Church of the Angered Christ, which mandates that all aliens must be exterminated to make way for the "true children of God." To this end, they start breeding experts in torturing and killing aliens and building devastating weapons and ships (including StarKilling bombs). By the time TheEmpire decides to shut this nuthouse down in order to appease it's alien neighbors, the military strength of Ebon rivals the combined might of TheEmpire. However, no Ebonite will willingly kill a human, and their entire fleet is destroyed with only a few shots fired in response (mostly by nervous captains who immediately commit suicide). When humanity is threatened with an all-out war with their alien neighbors, the Emperor seriously considers letting the Ebonites loose in order to save TheEmpire. Thankfully, it never gets to that.
* Sharon Shinn's ''Literature/{{Samaria}}''' series features a planet founded by Christians. There are genetically engineered humans with wings called angels, whose voices call out to a spaceship in the sky that runs the planet.
* In Creator/CJCherryh's ''Rider'' series, a group of fundamentalist Christians colonized what turned out to be a DeathWorld due to the telepathic carnivores which use {{Jedi Mind Trick}}s to hunt humans. The colony can only survive due to some humans having a [[BondCreature symbiotic relationship]] with the alien night horses, even though most of the colony regards the night horses as demonic and their human riders as a barely tolerated necessary evil.
* The novel ''The Nineteenth Wife'' features the First Latter Day Saints, a fictional fundamentalist Mormon cult located in the (likewise fictional) town of Mesadale, Utah. The Firsts and Mesadale are closely modeled on the very real Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also called the United Effort Plan or UEP) and Colorado City (formerly Short Creek), Utah.
* The worshippers of the Holy Cows living aboard the generation ship in ''[[Literature/BillTheGalacticHero Bill the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars]]''. They venerate dairy products over all other food groups.
[[folder:Literature]]



* ''Literature/FactionParadox'' has the Remote, a group of colonists indoctrinated by corrupt Time Lords in an effort to convert them into effective shocktroopers. However, there were rather interesting effects when instead of being indoctrinated into a religion of any kind, said gentlemen used TV programs to control the colonists...

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* ''Literature/FactionParadox'' has ''Literature/AlexisCarew'': The New London Fringe contains several, as the Remote, a group of colonists indoctrinated by corrupt Time Lords in an effort central government's general approach to convert annoying political and religious groups is to encourage them into effective shocktroopers. However, there were rather interesting effects when instead to go someplace else. The third book, ''HMS Nightingale'', deals with two such planets in particular:
** Man's Fall is composed
of being indoctrinated into a religion of neo-Luddites who eschew any kind, said gentlemen used TV programs to control technology more advanced than gunpowder firearms (they're also pacifists who only keep guns for hunting and dealing with livestock predators), only maintaining a bare minimum spaceport[[note]]a single shuttle landing pad out in the colonists...middle of nowhere[[/note]] because, like all New London planets, they're required by Crown law to resupply Royal Navy warships (for payment) or else the Navy will withdraw its protection. They justify this with a religious belief that darkspace is in fact heaven and therefore forbidden to mortals.
** Al Jadiq is ruled by what amounts to Wahhabi Muslims. They have been known to kidnap and behead spacers for chatting up their women, and their leaders initially refuse to even acknowledge Alexis. She eventually retaliates by threatening at gunpoint to declare them to be in rebellion against the Crown unless they release two of her crew they've imprisoned. Also, the conflict of the book is set off by the Al Jadiqis insisting on trying to trade with the Man's Fallers against their wishes.
* The worshippers of the Holy Cows living aboard the generation ship in ''[[Literature/BillTheGalacticHero Bill the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars]]''. They venerate dairy products over all other food groups.
* ''The Burning Bridge'', by Poul Anderson, is set an a spacecraft going to establish such a colony to escape political persecution on Earth. Then a message arrives via SubspaceAnsible asking them to return home as the political situation has changed. The question then becomes, do you believe the message and return home, or go on to establish the colony, which will require years of labor on an inhospitable world?
%%* Pick any SciFi-based Creator/OrsonScottCard series. EXAMPLES, please!
* In Creator/GordonRDickson's ''Literature/ChildeCycle'', the dawn of space colonization causes humanity to separate along philosophical lines (Faithholders, Warriors, Rationalists, Mystics, etc.)



* In the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' ExpandedUniverse novel ''Speed of Darkness'', Ardo Melnikov was raised on Bountiful, a benevolent version of this trope. [[MindScrew Or was he?]] The trope appeared in other works, such as A Ghost Story, where a wrecked colony was raided for data [[spoiler: the colony wasn't dead]] and is briefly mentioned in Uprising, where the main character was raised on a planet that had a number of radical religions that fled the central government to get there, although he himself wasn't a member.



* Mostly averted in the ''Literature/StarCarrier'' series due to the fact that most nations were forced to sign the White Covenant severely limiting religious expression in order to join the Confederation. Most Muslim states refused, though. The series starts with the Confederation fleet arriving to help evacuate a Muslim colony that has been attacked by the Turusch. Well, technically, the mission is to evacuate the SpaceMarine contingent on the planet, but Admiral Koenig decides to save as many colonists as possible, focusing mainly on [[MenAreTheExpendableGender women and children]]. The conflict comes from the Muslim men being horrified that their women would be among infidels without their husbands. Koenig has to threaten the colony with DeathFromAbove for the colonists to finally allow their women to board the transports.
* Played for laughs in the Creator/RobertSheckley short story "The Native Problem"; a man travels to a distant tropical planet via a FTL ship and stakes a solitary claim, only to have a [[LightspeedLeapfrog sublight colony ship]] full of xenophobic (and rather incompetent) religious fundamentalists show up. He eventually marries into the new colony as the "last" member of his tribe of "extinct" natives.



* ''The Burning Bridge'', by Poul Anderson, is set an a spacecraft going to establish such a colony to escape political persecution on Earth. Then a message arrives via SubspaceAnsible asking them to return home as the political situation has changed. The question then becomes, do you believe the message and return home, or go on to establish the colony, which will require years of labor on an inhospitable world?
* ''Literature/AlexisCarew'': The New London Fringe contains several, as the central government's general approach to annoying political and religious groups is to encourage them to go someplace else. The third book ''HMS Nightingale'' deals with two such planets in particular:
** Man's Fall is composed of neo-Luddites who eschew any technology more advanced than gunpowder firearms (they're also pacifists who only keep guns for hunting and dealing with livestock predators), only maintaining a bare minimum spaceport[[note]]a single shuttle landing pad out in the middle of nowhere[[/note]] because, like all New London planets, they're required by Crown law to resupply Royal Navy warships (for payment) or else the Navy will withdraw its protection. They justify this with a religious belief that darkspace is in fact heaven and therefore forbidden to mortals.
** Al Jadiq is ruled by what amounts to Wahhabi Muslims. They have been known to kidnap and behead spacers for chatting up their women, and their leaders initially refuse to even acknowledge Alexis. She eventually retaliates by threatening at gunpoint to declare them to be in rebellion against the Crown unless they release two of her crew they've imprisoned. Also, the conflict of the book is set off by the Al Jadiqis insisting on trying to trade with the Man's Fallers against their wishes.

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* ''Literature/FactionParadox'' has the Remote, a group of colonists indoctrinated by corrupt Time Lords in an effort to convert them into effective shocktroopers. However, there were rather interesting effects when instead of being indoctrinated into a religion of any kind, said gentlemen used TV programs to control the colonists...
* ''Founding Fathers'', a short story by Creator/StephenDedman, mentions several planets of this type, and is set on one settled by a bunch of people who were prepared to go to the trouble in order to live and raise their families on a planet with no black people.
* Creator/JohnVarley's ''Literature/GaeaTrilogy'' has another unisex colony, only with neopagan lesbian separatists and frozen sperm.
* In Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/{{Genome}}'', the entire population of the Ebon colony consists of the devout followers of the Church of the Angered Christ, which mandates that all aliens must be exterminated to make way for the "true children of God." To this end, they start breeding experts in torturing and killing aliens and building devastating weapons and ships (including StarKilling bombs). By the time TheEmpire decides to shut this nuthouse down in order to appease it's alien neighbors, the military strength of Ebon rivals the combined might of TheEmpire. However, no Ebonite will willingly kill a human, and their entire fleet is destroyed with only a few shots fired in response (mostly by nervous captains who immediately commit suicide). When humanity is threatened with an all-out war with their alien neighbors, the Emperor seriously considers letting the Ebonites loose in order to save TheEmpire. Thankfully, it never gets to that.
* Several Creator/RobertAHeinlein stories mention such colonies, such as that one planet mentioned in ''Literature/{{Friday}}'' where the Pope-in-Exile is allowed to openly celebrate mass.
* This is the origin for the Archduchy of Crius in ''Literature/LucifersStar'' which was founded by Prophet Stephen Allenway. Allenway had some strange views about religion (specifically that Jesus was actually a redeemed Lucifer among other quasi-Gnostic beliefs) which made him unwelcome on the PREVIOUS Cult Colony his followers lived on. Eventually, the Crius cultists took in a bunch of refugees with laws that made them nobility above them and turned their home planet into a FeudalFuture state.
* The interstellar arks in Creator/CharlesSheffield's ''[=McAndrew=]'' stories include the "Amish Ark" of people seeking a low-tech life and the "Cyber Ark" of people dedicated to the development of AI [[spoiler:yes, they found out the hard way that AIIsACrapshoot]].
* Played for laughs in the Creator/RobertSheckley short story "The Native Problem"; a man travels to a distant tropical planet via a FTL ship and stakes a solitary claim, only to have a [[LightspeedLeapfrog sublight colony ship]] full of xenophobic (and rather incompetent) religious fundamentalists show up. He eventually marries into the new colony as the "last" member of his tribe of "extinct" natives.
* The novel
''The Burning Bridge'', Nineteenth Wife'' features the First Latter Day Saints, a fictional fundamentalist Mormon cult located in the (likewise fictional) town of Mesadale, Utah. The Firsts and Mesadale are closely modeled on the very real Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also called the United Effort Plan or UEP) and Colorado City (formerly Short Creek), Utah.
* At the end of Octavia Butler's ''[[Literature/ParableOfTheSower Parable of the Talents]]'', the second book in the "Parable" series, the followers of the new religion known as Earthseed (created
by Poul Anderson, the main character, Lauren) go up in space to fulfill their "destiny", which is set an a spacecraft going to establish such a colony to escape political persecution on Earth. Then a message arrives via SubspaceAnsible asking them to return home as and "take root among the political situation has changed. The question then becomes, do you believe stars". One wonders how this would have progressed [[AuthorExistenceFailure if she had gotten to write the message and return home, or go on to establish the colony, which will require years of labor on an inhospitable world?
* ''Literature/AlexisCarew'': The New London Fringe contains several, as the central government's general approach to annoying political and religious groups is to encourage them to go someplace else. The
scheduled third book ''HMS Nightingale'' deals book]].
* Creator/LEModesittJr's science fiction duology ''The Parafaith War'' and ''The Ethos Effect'' uses this along
with two such planets in particular:
** Man's Fall is composed of neo-Luddites who eschew any technology more advanced than gunpowder firearms (they're also pacifists who only keep guns for hunting and dealing
divisions along racial lines, to the point where some characters begin confusing race with livestock predators), only maintaining a bare minimum spaceport[[note]]a single shuttle landing pad out in the middle of nowhere[[/note]] because, like all New London planets, they're required by Crown law to resupply Royal Navy warships (for payment) or else the Navy will withdraw its protection. They justify this with a religious belief that darkspace is in fact heaven and therefore forbidden to mortals.
** Al Jadiq is ruled by what amounts to Wahhabi Muslims. They have been known to kidnap and behead spacers for chatting up their women, and their leaders initially refuse to even acknowledge Alexis. She eventually retaliates by threatening at gunpoint to declare them to be in rebellion against the Crown unless they release two of her crew they've imprisoned. Also, the conflict
ideology. The predominantly Caucasian "Revenants of the book is set off by the Al Jadiqis insisting on trying Prophet" evolved out of a merging of Mormons and a white Muslim offshoot sect. The protagonist of ''The Parafaith War'' has to trade deal with the Man's Fallers against their wishes.strong suspicion about his motives and loyalties because he [[PhenotypeStereotype looks a lot like a generic Rev]] in a society whose population was mostly derived from south/east Asia.



* This is the origin for the Archduchy of Crius in ''Literature/LucifersStar'' which was founded by Prophet Stephen Allenway. Allenway had some strange views about religion (specifically that Jesus was actually a redeemed Lucifer among other quasi-Gnostic beliefs) which made him unwelcome on the PREVIOUS CultColony his followers lived on. Eventually, the Crius cultists took in a bunch of refugees with laws that made them nobility above them and turned their home planet into a FeudalFuture state.

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* This is In Creator/CJCherryh's ''Rider'' series, a group of fundamentalist Christians colonized what turned out to be a DeathWorld due to the origin telepathic carnivores which use {{Jedi Mind Trick}}s to hunt humans. The colony can only survive due to some humans having a [[BondCreature symbiotic relationship]] with the alien night horses, even though most of the colony regards the night horses as demonic and their human riders as a barely tolerated necessary evil.
* Sharon Shinn's ''Literature/{{Samaria}}''' series features a planet founded by Christians. There are genetically engineered humans with wings called angels, whose voices call out to a spaceship in the sky that runs the planet.
* Creator/ArthurCClarke's ''Literature/SongsOfDistantEarth'' mentions different religions, namely Mormons, Neo-Christians and Muslims, sending seedships in the generations before the End. It's implied that they may very well have succeeded.
* Mostly averted in the ''Literature/StarCarrier'' series due to the fact that most nations were forced to sign the White Covenant severely limiting religious expression in order to join the Confederation. Most Muslim states refused, though. The series starts with the Confederation fleet arriving to help evacuate a Muslim colony that has been attacked by the Turusch. Well, technically, the mission is to evacuate the SpaceMarine contingent on the planet, but Admiral Koenig decides to save as many colonists as possible, focusing mainly on [[MenAreTheExpendableGender women and children]]. The conflict comes from the Muslim men being horrified that their women would be among infidels without their husbands. Koenig has to threaten the colony with DeathFromAbove
for the Archduchy colonists to finally allow their women to board the transports.
* In the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' ExpandedUniverse novel ''Speed
of Crius Darkness'', Ardo Melnikov was raised on Bountiful, a benevolent version of this trope. [[MindScrew Or was he?]] The trope appeared in ''Literature/LucifersStar'' which other works, such as A Ghost Story, where a wrecked colony was raided for data [[spoiler: the colony wasn't dead]] and is briefly mentioned in Uprising, where the main character was raised on a planet that had a number of radical religions that fled the central government to get there, although he himself wasn't a member.
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': In ''Literature/EthanOfAthos'', the planet Athos was settled by a misogynistic religious order as an all-male colony. They used frozen eggs and artificial wombs to keep the population up. [[RealityEnsues The inherent practical problems]] of maintaining a stable population on a planet where importing so much as a ''photograph'' of a woman involves considerable paperwork is the focus of the plot, and the Athosians are treated quite sympathetically by the standards of this trope.
* Creator/DavidWeber is quite fond of this trope:
** ''Literature/HonorHarrington'':
*** Grayson
was founded by Prophet Stephen Allenway. Allenway had some strange views about religion (specifically the Church of Humanity Unchained, a sort of SpaceAmish cult that Jesus was actually a redeemed Lucifer among other quasi-Gnostic beliefs) which made him unwelcome on wanted to escape from the PREVIOUS corrosive effects of technology. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, the planet they landed on had such high concentrations of heavy metals that they needed a very high level of technology to simply survive. They later went through a civil war and schism and sent out their own colony of religious dissenters to exile, who formed their own CultColony his followers lived on the nearby (and much more friendly to human habitation) planet of Masada.
*** It crops up several times in the side stories. One is a relatively new colony formed from religious dissidents off Haven, in the novella ''The Service of the Sword'' in the anthology of the same name. Another crops up as part of the Tallbot Sector in much the same position as Grayson, though in this case it's a local bug killing their crops and they were able to relocate to another habitable planet in the other half of their binary star system very early
on. Eventually, Unlike Grayson, the Crius cultists took in current population is solidly atheist and rather bitter about their ancestors' fanaticism. The Haven-controlled world of Prague was settled by white supremacists who were out to create an Aryan paradise, but only ended up with a dirt-poor backwater planet known best for the natural good looks of its prostitutes. Thandi Palane's homeworld was settled by black supremacists who, due to an unintentional side effect of genetic engineering, ended up with descendants who were practically albino. [[CaptainObvious Weber also likes having ironic things happen to this type of colony.]]
** ''Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes'': Pardal from ''Heirs of Empire''; this is the variety that didn't start out fanatical, but became so after the interstellar civilization that founded it broke down. Specifically, [[spoiler:a super-bioweapon got spread by their [[TeleportersAndTransporters matter-transmitters]] throughout the Empire; Pardal quarantined itself, but heard the death of the rest of the empire on its "radio". Since technology had wiped out their civilization, they destroyed it all and went back to a preindustrial lifestyle, founding a church and theocracy to enforce that.]]
** The ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series is similar to Pardal, but the anti-technology religion was artificially created to prevent the planet from being visible (due to radio emissions) to the [[AbsoluteXenophobe genocidal]] alien Gbaba. And also because its creators were
a bunch of refugees with laws megalomaniacs that made them nobility above them wanted to be worshipped. And may have ended up BelievingTheirOwnLies in the end.
** In the ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' series, one of the major characters is from a colony that was originally this. It was originally strict Roman Catholic, but then the witch hunts started
and turned their home in the present day the main religion of the planet into a FeudalFuture state.is Satanism of the SatanIsGood variety.



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* A preacher in ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "A New Life" led a group of followers to the woods to form a colony. [[spoiler: It turns out that the preacher is an alien who wanted to enslave the followers' descendants.]]



* A preacher in ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "A New Life" led a group of followers to the woods to form a colony. [[spoiler: It turns out that the preacher is an alien who wanted to enslave the followers' descendants.]]



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In ''Literature/{{Refugees}}

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In %%In ''Literature/{{Refugees}}



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* The ''Literature/ParaImperium'' intentionally creates these through its' memetic quarantine policies. Ideological groups deemed a threat to interstellar civilization are rounded up and exiled en masse to frontier planets with no advanced technology.

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* The ''Literature/ParaImperium'' intentionally creates these through its' its memetic quarantine policies. Ideological groups deemed a threat to interstellar civilization are rounded up and exiled en masse to frontier planets with no advanced technology.



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[[caption-width-right:350: A regular day in the life of Nicholas Cage]]

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[[caption-width-right:350: A regular day in the life of Nicholas Cage]]
Creator/NicolasCage]]



* The prison colony of [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha Cygnus Alpha]] in the first season of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was ruled by a corrupt cult leader who enforced his control by controlling access to a "medicine" that protected against a divinely-sent plague. The disease was actually a mild poison the cult was dosing itself and new arrivals with, but only the leader/s knew this. The episode served to show that you don't need advanced sci-fi technology to maintain a dictatorship.

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* The prison colony of [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha Cygnus Alpha]] Alpha]]" in the first season of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was ruled by a corrupt cult leader who enforced his control by controlling access to a "medicine" that protected against a divinely-sent plague. The disease was actually a mild poison the cult was dosing itself and new arrivals with, but only the leader/s knew this. The episode served to show that you don't need advanced sci-fi technology to maintain a dictatorship.



** The Luddite colony from DeepSpaceNine episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E15Paradise}} Paradise]]" is a dark and unwilling variation: [[spoiler: rather than recruit like-minded potential colonists, the leader instead intentionally stranded her fellow shipmates/passengers and used a secret anti-technology energy field to ''force'' them to live according to her luddite philosophy. When this is eventually revealed, most of the surviving colonists decide to remain and figure out for themselves whether to maintain their way of life, but she herself is arrested for the crimes she committed stranding them there and for the ''murder'' of those colonists who died since because of her enforcing the anti-technology (including medicine) lifestyle.]]

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** The Luddite colony from DeepSpaceNine ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E15Paradise}} Paradise]]" is a dark and unwilling variation: [[spoiler: rather than recruit like-minded potential colonists, the leader instead intentionally stranded her fellow shipmates/passengers and used a secret anti-technology energy field to ''force'' them to live according to her luddite philosophy. When this is eventually revealed, most of the surviving colonists decide to remain and figure out for themselves whether to maintain their way of life, but she herself is arrested for the crimes she committed stranding them there and for the ''murder'' of those colonists who died since because of her enforcing the anti-technology (including medicine) lifestyle.]]
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* On a darker note, charismatic preacher Jim Jones founded his own colony, Film/{{Jonestown}}, with around a thousand followers, in Guyana. [[DrinkingTheKoolAid It ended badly.]]

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* On a darker note, charismatic preacher Jim Jones UsefulNotes/JimJones founded his own colony, Film/{{Jonestown}}, with around a thousand followers, in Guyana. [[DrinkingTheKoolAid It ended badly.]]
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Far Cry 5 is not an example of this trope; Hope County was already settled before the Peggies moved in


* ''Videogame/FarCry5'' takes place in a county of Montana that has been taken over by a doomsday cult.
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* The prison colony of [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha Cygnus Alpha]] in the first season of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was ruled by a corrupt cult leader who enforced his control by controlling access to a "medicine" that protected against a divinely-sent plague. The disease was actually a mild poison the cult was dosing itself and new arrivals with, but only the leader/s knew this.

to:

* The prison colony of [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha Cygnus Alpha]] in the first season of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was ruled by a corrupt cult leader who enforced his control by controlling access to a "medicine" that protected against a divinely-sent plague. The disease was actually a mild poison the cult was dosing itself and new arrivals with, but only the leader/s knew this. The episode served to show that you don't need advanced sci-fi technology to maintain a dictatorship.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
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* [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} The Mormons]] fled persecution in Illinois and Missouri by packing up and heading to Utah, then part of Mexico and inhabited only by Natives. In 1890, the Mormon leadership agreed to ban polygamy, opening a path for statehood and an end to official persecution. A few refused to accept this and began founding their own towns in other nearby states, territories, and countries where they could practice their polygamous lifestyle in relative peace. Some of these towns are still going strong today, with polygamy still going on, even if there is a high-profile raid every several years or so.

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* [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} The Mormons]] UsefulNotes/{{Mormon|ism}}s fled persecution in Illinois and Missouri by packing up and heading to Utah, then part of Mexico and inhabited only by Natives. In 1890, the Mormon leadership agreed to ban polygamy, opening a path for statehood and an end to official persecution. A few refused to accept this and began founding their own towns in other nearby states, territories, and countries where they could practice their polygamous lifestyle in relative peace. Some of these towns are still going strong today, with polygamy still going on, even if there is a high-profile raid every several years or so.
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* On a darker note, charismatic preacher Jim Jones founded his own colony, Jonestown, with around a thousand followers, in Guyana. [[DrinkingTheKoolAid It ended badly.]]

to:

* On a darker note, charismatic preacher Jim Jones founded his own colony, Jonestown, Film/{{Jonestown}}, with around a thousand followers, in Guyana. [[DrinkingTheKoolAid It ended badly.]]
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None


* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the tradition of UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay, largely belonged to a separatist Puritan faction aiming to cut all ties with the Church of England (as opposed to other Puritans who wanted to reform the Church from within). They left Britain for the Netherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.

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* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the tradition of UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay, largely belonged to a separatist Puritan faction aiming to cut all ties with the Church of England (as opposed to other Puritans who wanted to reform the Church from within). They left Britain UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} for the Netherlands, UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society GoingNative and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay holiday, largely belonged to a separatist Puritan faction aiming to cut all ties with the Church of England (as opposed to other Puritans who wanted to reform the Church from within). They left Britain for the Netherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.

to:

* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay holiday, tradition of UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay, largely belonged to a separatist Puritan faction aiming to cut all ties with the Church of England (as opposed to other Puritans who wanted to reform the Church from within). They left Britain for the Netherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay holiday, largely belonged to a separatist Puritan faction aiming to cut all ties with the Church of England (as opposed to other Puritans that wanted to reform the Church from within). They left Britain for the Netherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.

to:

* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay holiday, largely belonged to a separatist Puritan faction aiming to cut all ties with the Church of England (as opposed to other Puritans that who wanted to reform the Church from within). They left Britain for the Netherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay holiday, were largely members of a separatist faction of the Church of England. They left Britain for the Netherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.
* In 1630, members of another breakaway sect known as the Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony forty miles north of Plymouth, establishing the city of UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}. They promptly made it illegal to be anything but a Puritan, and soon were expelling large numbers of their own members for not being sufficiently Puritan, which is how the nearby colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut got started. (That Boston today is associated with liberalism and Irish Catholics is a supreme irony that probably has the founding Puritans rolling in their graves.)

to:

* The Pilgrims, best remembered for inspiring the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay holiday, were largely members of belonged to a separatist Puritan faction of aiming to cut all ties with the Church of England.England (as opposed to other Puritans that wanted to reform the Church from within). They left Britain for the Netherlands, which had [[FreestateAmsterdam much the same reputation]] then as now, but at least didn't have the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the state. In 1620, some of the separatists, afraid that their children were assimilating into Dutch society and losing their English identity, booked the freighter ''Mayflower'' to found Plymouth in what is today Massachusetts. They were originally planning to settle in the existing colony of Jamestown, Virginia, but were blown off course. Some of the settlers took that opportunity to create a brand new settlement instead of trying to go back to Virginia, partly so that no one would hold power over them, as documented in the Mayflower Compact.
* In 1630, members of another breakaway Puritan sect known as the Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony forty miles north of Plymouth, establishing the city of UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}. They promptly made it illegal to be anything but a Puritan, and soon were expelling large numbers of their own members for not being sufficiently Puritan, which is how the nearby colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut got started. (That Boston today is associated with liberalism and Irish Catholics is a supreme irony that probably has the founding Puritans rolling in their graves.)

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* In ''VideoGame/SurvivingMars'', one of the available sponsors you can select for your Martian colony is called the Church of the New Ark. Their birthrate is doubled and all colonists get the Religious trait (higher base morale, low sanity never leads to suicide), but they start out with only one rocket, they don't generate research on their own, and hydroponic farms produce 50% less food.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'', the [[PathOfInspiration Morninglight]] have built one of these in South Africa called New Jerusalem.



* In 1630, members of another breakaway sect known as the Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony forty miles north of Plymouth, establishing the city of UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}. They promptly made it illegal to be anything but a Puritan, and soon were expelling large numbers of their own members for not being sufficiently Puritan, which is how the nearby colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut got started (that Boston today would be associated with liberalism and Irish Catholics is a supreme irony that probably has the founding Puritans rolling in their graves.)

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* In 1630, members of another breakaway sect known as the Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony forty miles north of Plymouth, establishing the city of UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}. They promptly made it illegal to be anything but a Puritan, and soon were expelling large numbers of their own members for not being sufficiently Puritan, which is how the nearby colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut got started (that started. (That Boston today would be is associated with liberalism and Irish Catholics is a supreme irony that probably has the founding Puritans rolling in their graves.)



* [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} The Mormons]] fled persecution in Illinois and Missouri by packing up and heading to Utah, then part of Mexico and inhabited only by Natives. In 1890, the Mormon leadership agreed to ban polygamy, opening a path for statehood and an end to official persecution. A few refused to accept this and began founding their own towns in other nearby states, territories and countries where they could practice their polygamous lifestyle in relative peace. Some such towns are still going strong today, with polygamy still going on.

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* [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} The Mormons]] fled persecution in Illinois and Missouri by packing up and heading to Utah, then part of Mexico and inhabited only by Natives. In 1890, the Mormon leadership agreed to ban polygamy, opening a path for statehood and an end to official persecution. A few refused to accept this and began founding their own towns in other nearby states, territories territories, and countries where they could practice their polygamous lifestyle in relative peace. Some such of these towns are still going strong today, with polygamy still going on.on, even if there is a high-profile raid every several years or so.



* The modern nation of UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} was established in order for the Jews to have an own state again. The area they picked out was also their ancient ancestral homeland, subverting this trope to a degree. Also partially averted in that they welcome people who don't follow their beliefs to the extent that there have been periodic worries that the majority will someday be non-Jewish, though there are ''some'' restrictions on that for "the legal code was written by Holocaust survivor {{Shell Shocked Veteran}}s" reasons.

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* The modern nation of UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} was established in order for the Jews to have an own state again. The area they picked out was also their ancient ancestral homeland, subverting this trope to a degree. Also partially averted in that they welcome people who don't follow their beliefs to the extent that there have been periodic worries that the majority will someday be non-Jewish, though there are ''some'' restrictions on that for "the legal code was written by {{shell shocked|Veteran}} Holocaust survivor {{Shell Shocked Veteran}}s" survivors" reasons.



* People like the Branch Davidians (of the infamous Waco siege) count as this. If it weren't for the fact that they have their own homes and the only place that they've walled up is their place of worship the Westboro Baptist Church might also count as this.

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* People like the Branch Davidians (of the infamous Waco siege) count as this. If it weren't for the fact that they have their own homes and the only place that they've walled up is their place of worship worship, the Westboro Baptist Church might also count as this.
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* The prison colony of Cygnus Alpha in the first season of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was ruled by a corrupt cult leader who enforced his control by controlling access to a "medicine" that protected against a divinely-sent plague. The disease was actually a mild poison the cult was dosing itself and new arrivals with, but only the leader/s knew this.

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* The prison colony of [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha Cygnus Alpha Alpha]] in the first season of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' was ruled by a corrupt cult leader who enforced his control by controlling access to a "medicine" that protected against a divinely-sent plague. The disease was actually a mild poison the cult was dosing itself and new arrivals with, but only the leader/s knew this.



** The colony in "The Way to Eden", if it had lasted long enough to properly be called a colony.
** The Luddite colony from DeepSpaceNine episode "Paradise" is a dark and unwilling variation: [[spoiler: rather than recruit like-minded potential colonists, the leader instead intentionally stranded her fellow shipmates/passengers and used a secret anti-technology energy field to ''force'' them to live according to her luddite philosophy. When this is eventually revealed, most of the surviving colonists decide to remain and figure out for themselves whether to maintain their way of life, but she herself is arrested for the crimes she committed stranding them there and for the ''murder'' of those colonists who died since because of her enforcing the anti-technology (including medicine) lifestyle.]]
** The social experiment from "The Masterpiece Society".
** The colony from "Up the Long Ladder" was said to have been founded by runaway "Neo-transcendentalists", though that was not elaborated upon and and it didn't really seem to have a [[PlanetOfHats hat]].
** Dukat sets one up for Pah-Wraith followers on Empok Nor in "Covenant."

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** The colony in "The "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden}} The Way to Eden", Eden]]", if it had lasted long enough to properly be called a colony.
** The Luddite colony from DeepSpaceNine episode "Paradise" "[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E15Paradise}} Paradise]]" is a dark and unwilling variation: [[spoiler: rather than recruit like-minded potential colonists, the leader instead intentionally stranded her fellow shipmates/passengers and used a secret anti-technology energy field to ''force'' them to live according to her luddite philosophy. When this is eventually revealed, most of the surviving colonists decide to remain and figure out for themselves whether to maintain their way of life, but she herself is arrested for the crimes she committed stranding them there and for the ''murder'' of those colonists who died since because of her enforcing the anti-technology (including medicine) lifestyle.]]
** The social experiment from "The "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E13TheMasterpieceSociety The Masterpiece Society".
Society]]".
** The colony from "Up the "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E18UpTheLongLadder}} Up The Long Ladder" Ladder]]" was said to have been founded by runaway "Neo-transcendentalists", though that was not elaborated upon and and it didn't really seem to have a [[PlanetOfHats hat]].
** Dukat sets one up for Pah-Wraith followers on Empok Nor in "Covenant.""[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E09Covenant}} Covenant]]".
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Frequently overlaps with SpaceAmish, when the rejection of technology is religiously based. Naturally qualifies as a PlanetOfHats. In sci-fi, Mormons are a probably the favorite pick for this- although they are usually off-screen.

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Frequently overlaps with SpaceAmish, when the rejection of technology is religiously based. Naturally qualifies as a PlanetOfHats. In sci-fi, Mormons are a probably the favorite pick for this- although they are usually off-screen.
off-screen. If the cult develops unsavoury traditions that it hides from visitors, the result will be a TownWithADarkSecret.
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* In an ''[[Franchise/{{Alien}} Aliens]]'' Special, also by Dark Horse, a company is cutting costs by having a variety of cults help terraform a planet in return for being able to practice their religions in peace. Mentioned are a cult that worships an Creator/HPLovecraft expy, [[ElvisPresley Presleyans]], and the Latter-Day Satanists.

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* In an ''[[Franchise/{{Alien}} Aliens]]'' Special, also by Dark Horse, a company is cutting costs by having a variety of cults help terraform a planet in return for being able to practice their religions in peace. Mentioned are a cult that worships an Creator/HPLovecraft expy, [[ElvisPresley [[Music/ElvisPresley Presleyans]], and the Latter-Day Satanists.
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[[caption-width-right:350: A regular day in the life of Nicholas Cage]]

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