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Bowing at the Altar of Captain KirkBy Jason Mogavero
“For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.” –Jesus Christ, the book of Luke
“Don’t grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” –Mr. Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
I used to be a recovering Catholic; now I'm a recovering Trekkie.
Catholicism was something I was born into, like nobility or crack addiction. Every Sunday morning when I was younger, my family and I used to go to church, where I’d quietly nosh on the Cheerios my mom always brought in Ziploc bags and patiently wait for the service to end. But then, every Sunday night, we would go from church to my grandparents’ house for dinner, and at 7 o'clock I'd always run downstairs and turn on the T.V. There I would sit enraptured for the next hour, mesmerized by the adventures of the gallant crew of the starship Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I grew up hooked. Just as any priest worth his salt can perfectly dictate key Scriptural passages from memory, I could (and still can) recite bits of dialogue and technical minutiae from the Star Trek universe. For example, did you know that a Galaxy-class starship carries a crew complement of 1,012 people and has a maximum speed of warp factor 9.2?
Paraphrasing Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the correct answer is: who gives a shit? Star Trek was not about its technobabble, most of which existed out of plot contrivance anyway. My obsessive behavior towards Trek and all its lore and details was what could generally be referred to as ‘weird,’ but it certainly wasn’t unique. There are Trekkies all over the place, enough that what was a cancelled NBC series has become one of the biggest entertainment juggernauts in modern times. A search for “Star Trek” on amazon.com turns up no less than 15,551 books, to say nothing of dishware, clothing, and a range of other merchandise that would give Elvis’ apparatus a run for its money. At the Las Vegas Hilton, there’s an attraction called Star Trek: The Experience where Klingons serve Romulan ale and visitors can take pictures sitting on the Enterprise’s bridge. One Trekkie just paid $500,000 at an auction for the model of the Enterprise that ILM used for The Next Generation (which gave me a bit of relative comfort about how much money I’ve spent on Trek merchandise over the years, but not that much). There’s even a Trek Wikipedia site called Memory Alpha. Trekkies full-heartedly believe in exploring the final frontier, in boldly going where no man has gone before, and are completely devoted to Trek and watch it ritualistically. There’s a moral code to be found in Trek, too, in the form of the Prime Directive and IDIC, which I’ll discuss later. Trekkies even have their own holy land of sorts: the Star Trek convention, to which Trekkies make pilgrimages as though it were Jerusalem or Mecca.
Hmm- a large, powerful community of loving devotees to a supernatural work. It almost sounds like…a religion.
Now, bear with me here. Religion can be defined a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. Granted what I’ve already established, don’t Trekkies fulfill this definition? There are even savior figures in Trek. Jesus Christ sacrificed himself to save humanity; Spock and Data, probably the two most popular characters in Trek, both died to save their friends. Besides, the elevation of a science-fiction entertainment to the status of holy text with faithful followers isn’t far-fetched; on the 2001 U.K. census, 390,127 respondents listed their religion as “Jedi.” If some equally mystical group to those lightsaber-wielding Knights were to be found in the Trek universe, then the old rivalry between Star Trek and Star Wars fans might’ve taken on the aspects of a jihad.
Most people see Star Trek as a television and movie franchise, but for Trekkies, it’s something much more. It’s something to believe in. Now, the expression of the Trekkie religion can seem pretty goofy. Remember the Whitewater trial? Barbara Adams, one of the alternate jurors, wore a red Starfleet uniform to several court sessions. When CNN asked her why, she replied: "I always wear my uniform to formal occasions." Now, it wasn’t really a uniform; it was a costume worn by actors pretending they’re flying through space hundreds of years in the future. But Adams’ answer as to why she liked Star Trek enough to wear one of its uniforms to a serious legal hearing is much more significant: she said that Trek is an alternative to “mindless television” that promotes inclusion, tolerance, peace and faith in humankind.
Yes! Adams pointed out what Trek is all about; it’s not about warp speed or phasers or “aliens” that all speak English and look like humans wearing dodgy television-budget makeup; it’s about the humanist values that brought mankind into the 23rd century. Trek espouses two central philosophies: Starfleet’s General Order 1, better known as the Prime Directive, and the Vulcan concept of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, or IDIC. The Prime Directive states that under no circumstances can a Starfleet officer interfere with the development of any culture. This regulation acknowledges that human judgment is all too fallible and limited when compared to the natural development of the cosmos, and so Starfleet officers are required to allow cultures to develop on their own free of contamination, sacrificing their own lives if necessary. IDIC is a similarly broad-thinking idea, a celebration of the unknowable kaleidoscope of variables in the universe. Respect for other peoples and awe at the universe- what wonderfully human ideals. Because these ideas are central to Star Trek, even the most extreme Trekkies are harmless and much less annoying than certain other religious freaks. I guarantee you that a Trekkie would never make serious claims about a Teletubby’s homosexuality or scream at Matt Lauer about the dangers of psychiatry.
Star Trek’s forward-thinking attitude is inspiring, and it’s touched everyone from people like Barbara Adams to my own father. With the intention of being an astronaut, my dad joined the Air Force; he later launched experimental sounding rockets in White Sands, and now, he works at an aerospace engineering firm where he helps put advanced equipment into space and teaches engineering courses. And back in 1967, when he was 21, he always tuned in to NBC and intently watched Star Trek. It was the same set I’d wind up watching The Next Generation on- my dad beat me to it by 25 years.
In fact, one might be surprised to find out who some famous Trekkies are. Stephen Hawking, probably the smartest man in the world, loves Trek so much that he once played himself in an episode of The Next Generation. Whoopi Goldberg also had a recurring role on that show, but her relationship with Trek is more illustrative of how progressive and inspiring it is. When Goldberg watched the original show in the late sixties, she saw the character of Uhura, a bridge officer on the Enterprise and a black woman, she realized that there were possibilities for African-American actresses other than the secondary roles to which they were usually relegated and so sought a career as an actress herself. The actress who played Uhura, Nichelle Nichols, was considering leaving the show after the first season, but by chance she ran into a Trek fan who asked her to stay on because she was a vital role model for young American black women; after that meeting, Nichols decided to stay on. The fan was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
At this point, it’s fair to point out that the difference between most major religions and love for Star Trek is that religion usually deals with the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies. The idea of a creator has taken on many expressions throughout human history; these days the most prevalent ones are those of Jesus, Yahweh, and Allah.
Star Trek has explicitly dealt with the idea of God only once, in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Its plot had Spock’s half-brother Sybok embarking on a search for God and taking the Enterprise to the center of the galaxy, an allusion to the Source or Heaven. When the Enterprise arrives there, the crew indeed finds a seemingly all-powerful being, but it’s far from benevolent. The being is a trapped alien power who wants to free itself by stealing the Enterprise, and it nearly kills Kirk and Spock in attempting to do so; Sybok dies fighting the creature.
There’s an important line at the movie’s end. After Sybok’s death, Kirk, Spock and McCoy stand on the Enterprise’s observation deck, looking out onto the stars. “We were speculating. Is God really out there?” McCoy muses. Kirk’s simple reply beautifully encapsulates Star Trek’s view of spirituality: “Maybe he’s not out there, Bones. Maybe he’s right here-” he points to his chest- “in the human heart.” It’s a line that William Shatner, who also directed the film, had to fight to include in the final released because Paramount studio executives feared it would be controversial.
But why? If God created the universe, then wouldn’t God be omnipresent in all things? Can’t the best that mankind has to offer be found within our hearts, within ourselves? Like any other species, it’s our instinctual task to survive and to propagate, and so at our most basic, we’d prefer a sense of certainty, safety, and security. But we are not so basic; we are explorers, adventurers into the unknown. It’s this message, I think, that is essential to Star Trek; people can overcome their failings and petty squabbles, can realize their true potential, can gather together for a higher purpose and seek out that purpose. Our best destiny, as Captain Picard once put it, is “work[ing] to better ourselves and the rest of humanity;” the human adventure is just beginning.
In those hours in my grandparents’ house each week, I found something new and different, a way to visit strange new worlds, and when I believed, I wasn't alone. Trekkies are true believers- believers in humanity. They’re no different from everyone else, least of all spiritual people; Trekkies aren’t simply satisfied with what is, they stand in wonder of what is and of what could be. And in that sense, Ringo Starr’s words from Help! seem all too appropriate: “It’s a different religion from ours- I think.”
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Bowing at the Altar of Captain Kirk