Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x02 - "New Eden"

[Styleset]

As a committed Catholic Christian who has loved Star Trek for as long as I can remember, I often worry that when Trek deals with religious themes it’s just so easy to paint religiously committed people as foolish, backwards, or politically manipulative, or all three. Even the language of “science vs faith” reveals a basic assumption that they are mutually opposed to one another, destined to be odds. The facts don’t line up with that. Many of western society’s most influential early scientists were monks and/or priests. The notion that most religiously committed people are more anti-reason then non religiously committed people doesn’t add up. Trek’s best long term look at religion was in DS9. I hope DSC is as thoughtful, or perhaps more so, at finding what is deeply interesting and fundamentally compelling about our search for ultimate meaning.

 

[Tuskin38]

As a committed Catholic Christian who has loved Star Trek for as long as I can remember, I often worry that when Trek deals with religious themes it’s just so easy to paint religiously committed people as foolish, backwards, or politically manipulative, or all three. Even the language of “science vs faith” reveals a basic assumption that they are mutually opposed to one another, destined to be odds. The facts don’t line up with that. Many of western society’s most influential early scientists were monks and/or priests. The notion that most religiously committed people are more anti-reason then non religiously committed people doesn’t add up. Trek’s best long term look at religion was in DS9. I hope DSC is as thoughtful, or perhaps more so, at finding what is deeply interesting and fundamentally compelling about our search for ultimate meaning.

Heck, even the Vatican has its own science division and observatory.

 

[Amaris]

As a committed Catholic Christian who has loved Star Trek for as long as I can remember, I often worry that when Trek deals with religious themes it’s just so easy to paint religiously committed people as foolish, backwards, or politically manipulative, or all three. Even the language of “science vs faith” reveals a basic assumption that they are mutually opposed to one another, destined to be odds. The facts don’t line up with that. Many of western society’s most influential early scientists were monks and/or priests. The notion that most religiously committed people are more anti-reason then non religiously committed people doesn’t add up. Trek’s best long term look at religion was in DS9. I hope DSC is as thoughtful, or perhaps more so, at finding what is deeply interesting and fundamentally compelling about our search for ultimate meaning.

When I was a devout Christian, science was my favorite subject. Sure, I knew about the Bible, and God, and the Gospel, but if you really wanted to hold my attention, you talked about science. For me, at the time, science was how we understood the amazing universe that God had formed. I'm not a Christian anymore, but I still keep those memories, and I use them to keep me balanced when discussing science with people of faith, so that I'm always aware of where I once stood, in order to prevent myself from becoming too critical of others and making assumptions that fly in the face of that fairness.

 

[Styleset]

Hmm. I never got the impression that Pike was the captain they were going to pick up at Vulcan.

My understanding is that Discovery was on its way to pick a new captain when, unexpectedly, it got commandeered by Pike due to an emergency situation.

I would add that it seems plausible that when the Enterprise was given to Pike by Starfleet, they reasoned the choice in two ways:

1. They had yet to meet their new captain so accepting a temporary new one should hypothetically be a bit easier.

2. The Discovery was an especially appropriate option because of its status as a cutting-edge science ship.

 

[Styleset]

One of the aspects of Roddenberry’s vision that always seemed profoundly biased and short sighted to me: the positive future of humanity will be post-religious. Highly unlikely.

I have no doubt that even in Roddenberry’s future Christianity and many other religious traditions are actually thriving, even among the elite, best and brightest minds of Starfleet.

In a galaxy of infinite numbers of sentient species I’m also sure that those traditions adapt to account for such diversity. But they’ll still be around.

 

[Tuskin38]

Pike is certainly more accepting of Religion than Picard was in 'Who Watches the Watchers'.

That episode was very anti-religion.

 

[XCV330]

He should have tell them the truth and let them make an informed choice of what they wanted. I am sure many would have liked to return to Earth. Their whole civilisation was based an alien meddling in the first place.

It's not his job to interpret laws he didn't make. There's a reason military officers are expected to take their oaths seriously. Otherwise you have good old 19th century gunboat diplomacy with captains doing whatever they damn well feel like once they get past admiralty.

 

[DigificWriter]

Hmm. I never got the impression that Pike was the captain they were going to pick up at Vulcan.

My understanding is that Discovery was on its way to pick a new captain when, unexpectedly, it got commandeered by Pike due to an emergency situation.

Beyond what Pike tells the Discovery's crew in "Brother", there's the fact that Season 1's entire overall narrative was "reverse-engineered" around the moment where the Discovery and Enterprise meet, so it was pretty clear that the writers' intention was for Pike to have taken command of the Discovery all along even if the Enterprise hadn't been incapacitated.

 

[DaveyNY]

I Believe in Science and have Faith in God.

I have no problem that perhaps some Supreme Being snapped His/Her fingers and created the first Big Bang which set the entire Universe in motion.

Since we'll never know for sure in my lifetime, I'm good with that.

 

[Longinus]

Pike is certainly more accepting of Religion than Picard was in 'Who Watches the Watchers'.

That episode was very anti-religion.

Yes. 'Who Watches the Watchers' is one of my favourite episodes in the whole franchise. <3 Picard!

 

[Longinus]

It's not his job to interpret laws he didn't make.

Of bloody course it is! Have you ever watched Star Trek before?

 

[Styleset]

Beyond what Pike tells the Discovery's crew in "Brother", there's the fact that Season 1's entire overall narrative was "reverse-engineered" around the moment where the Discovery and Enterprise meet, so it was pretty clear that the writers' intention was for Pike to have taken command of the Discovery all along even if the Enterprise hadn't been incapacitated.

Not sure I think there’s enough evidence to assume that the writers knew all along as they were writing season one that Pike would take command for season two. It is clear they knew all along that there would be a different captain after Mirror Lorca.

 

[Longinus]

One of the aspects of Roddenberry’s vision that always seemed profoundly biased and short sighted to me: the positive future of humanity will be post-religious. Highly unlikely.

It is perfectly likely. In the western countries religion is rapidly diminishing. Education and good standards of living do that. Of course it will never be completely gone, but it quite plausible that in a Star Trek style highly advanced society it would be a fringe phenomenon.

 

[DaveyNY]

Beyond what Pike tells the Discovery's crew in "Brother", there's the fact that Season 1's entire overall narrative was "reverse-engineered" around the moment where the Discovery and Enterprise meet, so it was pretty clear that the writers' intention was for Pike to have taken command of the Discovery all along even if the Enterprise hadn't been incapacitated.

That may be how the creators of the show came about their reasoning 'after-the-fact' for including Pike, but that's not how it is played out in the episode.
They didn't write that reasoning into the show.

They wrote it as Pike commandeering the Discovery ONLY AFTER the Enterprise was incapacitated.
Which clearly happened after the Discovery was already on its way to Vulcan.
Which can only mean he wasn't the Captain that was supposed to be at Vulcan.

Again, there's no reason for StarFleet to send Discovery all the way to Vulcan to get Pike, when it's more judicious to just have the ships meet in a convenient place in space.
It was an Emergency that brought the two ships together, not preplanning.

 

[Tuskin38]

Beyond what Pike tells the Discovery's crew in "Brother", there's the fact that Season 1's entire overall narrative was "reverse-engineered" around the moment where the Discovery and Enterprise meet, so it was pretty clear that the writers' intention was for Pike to have taken command of the Discovery all along even if the Enterprise hadn't been incapacitated.

No

 

[Noname Given]

he was removed from his home planet from planetary outsiders. which is commonly refered to as 'alien abduction'

But he wasn't abducted - She offered him a choice and he could have said no. Abduction implies it was in some part done against his will. HE MADE the call that Georgiou answered and she gave him a choice on the planet and he freely walked into the shuttle of his own accord.

 

[Tuskin38]

Yeah, abduction implies it was against his will, it wasn't.

 

[Longinus]

I Believe in Science and have Faith in God.

I have no problem that perhaps some Supreme Being snapped His/Her fingers and created the first Big Bang which set the entire Universe in motion.

Since we'll never know for sure in my lifetime, I'm goods with that.

That's just 'god of the gaps.' People used to believe gods and spirits were responsible of all sorts of unexplained phenomena, but as the scientific understanding increased, the 'gods' were no longer needed to explain them. Scientists are working on understanding how the universe happened, and in one day we indeed might have that information. And if that information does not imply a god, what then?

 

[XCV330]

Of bloody course it is! Have you ever watched Star Trek before?

I think I caught an episode or two.

 

[fireproof78]

That's just 'god of the gaps.' People used to believe gods and spirits were responsible of all sorts of unexplained phenomena, but as the scientific understanding increased, the 'gods' were no longer needed to explain them. Scientists are working on understanding how the universe happened, and in one day we indeed might have that information. And if that information does not imply a god, what then?

Thus far, the information presented seems to indicate some sort of intelligence.

There is room in my life for both scientific understanding, and spiritual belief. And the bridge between the two is philosophy and a rich opportunity for further learning.