I owe a debt of gratitude to Gene and the entire crew. I was doubting my religion, and felt like I was losing my moral compass in the process. I was asking myself what type of person I wanted to be. The values that TNG showed me helped me in the 10 years since — being open to other cultures and their beliefs (Half a Life), to hold truth above others, and nothing can break that (Chain of Command), and to live my life more open, honestly, and fully (Inner Light)
I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will--and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain. -Gene Roddenberry
Jesus had even harsher words, calling the hypocrites like tombs full of rot and worms inside, and the people like a camel in heat chasing after everything stubbornly & selfishly but not giving one single damn about one another. Everyone claiming that the words mean whatever they want, instead of bowing to the will of the universe.
Anyway, Gene Rodenberry was a great man of true integrity, and we won't see his like in Hollywood again anytime soon I expect - everyone else seems all about how to cash in without putting in the effort to make GREAT shows like his all were:-(. As just one modern example, look at Stranger Things that showed such potential, but cashed in immediately after the first season:-(.
Btw Gene Roddenberry had another sci-fi show put on by his wife after he died, using his notes for it, and while she was in charge of it (before the last few seasons when iirc her health got poor) it was pretty good too: https://gamerant.com/star-trek-fans-gene-roddenberry-sci-fi-series-earth-final-conflict/. It is still highly worth checking out imho.
We saw the uniforms go mostly black in DS9, so I think it is meant to show how the Federation isn't totally recovered from the Dominion war...I wish they had pushed than angle harder re: the struggle to help the Romulans, the Synths, etc. At least by Lower Decks they're back to the more colorful uniforms!
Doesn't look like it, but it also looks like they don't award shows prior to their founding ('72). So TNG has the benefit of winning multiple awards since airing whereas TOS only has a few movie and re-release awards. Plus most of TOS already have lifelong wards individually.