Foundationism

Foundationism (not to be confused with the school of philosophy called foundationalism), is a fictional religion invented by J. Michael Straczynski for his Hugo award winning science fiction television show, Babylon 5. One of the show's characters, Dr. Stephen Franklin, is a Foundationist. A recurring character from Crusade (Series) was also in training to become a Foundationist priest, but something happened to him that shattered his faith.

Foundationism appeared on Earth around the year 2157 in response to contact with other intelligent species in the universe. Dr. Franklin explains that "the idea behind the Foundation is to get back to the roots of all the earth religions, past the doctrines to the core of each belief system to find out what they have in common; and they have a lot more in common than you think. It's just when politics and money and nationalism get in the way that things get a little messed up."

He also explains that Foundationists believe that "The more you try to define God, the further away you get from really explaining him."

Foundationists adopted the "walkabout" from Aboriginal Australians. It is a means of finding oneself after a personal crisis. Steven Franklin went walkabout in 2260, after coming to terms with his addiction to stims.

In Real World terms, Foundationism can be comparable to Unitarian-Universalism or Omnism, both espousing a philosophy focused on the validity of all religions.