Q: Why do non-fans think we think it's real?
A: If they have read some of the rants on this, and other, Trek forums... I can see how they could make that assumption. I have never seen fans of other fictional universes get so emotional and argumentative as Trek fanboys do over mundane minutiae.
Like any class of people, it is easy to stereotype the entire group by the actions of a radical few. It is not logical, but I have found it to be true.
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“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” -FDR
God gives us what we can handle, even if we don't believe it ourselves.