[Mr. Thorne]

Friend, you need to pick up The Mote In God's Eye. FYI, the Empire of Man is Christian, and there's a Catholic Priest along for the ride with the first expedition to an alien homeworld. And the priest is neither a stereotype nor a joke.

I think that was Pournelle's hand. Niven seems more of an agnostic sort.

Heck, any of Jerry Pournelle's CoDominion books are quite good in this regard.

[steve-b]

I think that was Pournelle's hand.

Yes; the future history in which the story is set (which drives assumptions about the background culture) is Pournelle's.