What's your "controversial" Star Trek opinion?

Why not? Either you are this utopia that respects everyone's cultures, or you're not. Worf had every right under Klingon law to do what he did. He did it to a Klingon, as a citizen of the Empire on Klingon territory.

Should Betazoids be forced to amputate whatever part of their brain that is responsible for their telepathic ability because their mind reading ability makes humans uneasy?

Part of the message of Star Trek, for me, is respecting other people's rights and cultures. Not to make knee jerk reactions because what they do is different.

YMMV.

 

In both cases - Worf killing Duras, Kirk and Spock fighting to the death - it's not murder. It's a DUEL. A legal, state-sanctioned, culturally protected duel.

If Spock had killed Kirk (or vice versa) during the kunat kalifee, there would be nothing that the Federation could do about it. So why is it not the same with Worf?

 

I think a crew that gifts you a ritual pain stick beating for your birthday, keep a lethal tea set and an armoury of super sized swords in your room isn't too hung up on violent passtimes.

Not when they seem to have the capacity to have any form of combat ready to practise across the ship for visitors.

Have to rewatch to see if anyone owned a skull or taxidermy in their quarters, but they owned some weird things over the years.

 

We always announce the Prime Directive as if it were for the natives' benefit, but it's really for our benefit. The Prime Directive saves the Federation ungodly, unsustainable amounts of foreign aid that we'd otherwise have to provide to primitive planets all over the quadrant.

 

Who is this "we" since we're currently not part of any Federation yet.

Or it could just be that the Prime Directive stops the Federation from playing god with less-advanced civilizations and intruding upon their societies before they may be ready for it. That's its biggest strength and biggest flaw because it's truly a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" policy that could help some worlds and hurt others.

 

Trill "symbiotes" are nothing more than mindrapey parasites.

The "joining" is the symbiote assimilating the host's mind like what the Borg do, which is why the hosts die after the symbiote is removed.

And the regression of the host's personality when the symbiote is removed is just play acting by the symbiote's mind which still has full control over the host's body while it dies.

 

As good as TNG is, it really flanderised some of the things that appeared in TOS. The prime directive went from a sensible guide to some sort of social darwinist dogma.

 

I didn't like Jellico... and I'm starting to think that's the controversial opinion.

 

Not necessarily. You don't have to like Jellico to think that some of the D-Crew were acting like dix.

 

The Federation can still give as much aid as is needed. They just have to be ASKED first.

Since all joining is strictly voluntary, I'm afraid your analogy falls down.

 

Voluntary? The hosts are practically climbing over each other for the privilege of being infected. It's ingenious.

 

To a certain degree, yes. However, clearly those circumstances are different. On Spock's part, it is not just a matter of lawful rights, but of irrepressible Vulcan biology he can't control. They literally call it madness. He never intended to murder anyone. He intends to only defend himself from a challenge to the death if necessary, which he has no physical way to refuse, without what looked like some kind of agonizing death he was facing.

Spock isn't just observing cultural rights (Like Worf) He is quite uncontrollably compelled to act in this manner, & even begs under duress for them to reconsider allowing the ignorant Kirk to participate (Why he didn't explain it to Kirk is unknown. I just assume he is in some kind of mad fit that prevented him doing so) But realize that even Spock himself expects to be punished for killing Kirk, despite being out of control of himself. There is no mention of Worf being unable to stop his physiological reactions when he killed Duras

With that in mind, my opinion is that Spock's punishment, in the event of Kirk's death, could be reduced or rescinded because the real transgression here is on Kirk, who already disobeyed orders by taking him to Vulcan to begin with (With good reason of course) Kirk should not have agreed to this, & only did so ignorantly, but his ignorance is no excuse, & had he somehow been forced to kill Spock, then absolutely he should be court-martialed & drummed out of the fleet for it.

A duel to the death IS murder. I assume they have laws about it, & that's why Starfleet officers don't have them. Hell, that's why WE don't have them. I'm not saying because Vulcan is in the UFP they must stop kunat kalifee. I'm saying that as Starfleet officers, they cannot participate (Unless physiologically compelled to do so, like Spock was & I assume other Vulcans are, & even then, MAJOR precautions ought to be taken with that shit lol)

But more importantly, I'm also not saying that to be UFP members, Klingons must stop their practices either, but when Worf joined Starfleet, he agreed to THEIR code of conduct, which he not only violated by murdering someone during a mission that involved them, but did so using resources & access only available to him BECAUSE he is a Starfleet officer, as well as interfered in the internal politics of that world by killing a candidate for the high council. Cultural considerations be damned. If in Worf's culture they ate the 1st born child of any shipmate, & he chowed down on Molly O'Brien, do we let that slide? No. He follows Starfleet rules, or doesn't join.

Nah. You're assuming how they might respond. They demanded he be returned alive. You really think if Picard tells them that he refused treatment because of Klingon ribosomes, blah blah blah, they are going to buy that? These are Romulans, Dude lol. Explaining the death of a dead Romulan is never going to go as well as sending them a live one with your blessing.

That guy's personal wishes are moot, because THIS Romulan is a suspected criminal in violation of UFP borders, creating an interplanetary incident, whose superiors are demanding his retrieval under threat of retaliation, & Picard is granting them his return to avoid a conflict. That guy goes back alive. Idealistic respect for patient's wishes & his racist personal demands be damned. This is millions of lives maybe on the line here. In fact, if it's me? I'm a little pissed to be put in the imposition, & if I can rub it in, that in order to give them back their precious "Accident victim" we had to "Pollute his body with Klingon filth" I'm going to revel in telling them just that, after they get him back lol

Well maybe not, but it would be a great big laugh we'd all have at the HQ debriefing

 

It is the Singularity

 

Far too much of Berman-era Star Trek plays out the way I imagine white conservatives living in a gated community view the world.

Picard's meetings might as well be about Mrs. Johnson's hedge growing an inch over her neighbour's property. The Maquis might as well be travellers squatting on a field just outside the village. The Klingons are non-white family in the next village over whom everyone is suspicious and fearful of.

The human is always right, and the ugly alien is always wrong. They're repeatedly told by the Prime Directive not to interfere with the business of others, no matter how horrific the business of those others' is.

It's not "intellectual", it's comfort food teaching them to mind their own business.

 

In-universe if I was a Federation citizen I'd be wary of the Klingons. How long before they get bored again and decide to attack?

 

Not if the duel is legally sanctioned.

 

On their worlds. It isn't legally sanctioned IN Starfleet is my point. Killing people, much like today, is generally frowned upon lol

I'm not talking about punishing these people in their worlds' realm. They belong to an additional body, by which their actions are to be judged

Edit: For example, in the Sudan, someone can legally marry a 10 year old girl, but I'd think a Sudanese person in the U.S. military might face criminal charges if they married a 10 year old Sudanese girl, in the Sudan, while they served there for the U.S. military, or at the very least get kicked out of the U.S. military

 

You're right, I focused on a point too hard, ignored the bigger picture. My bad.

 

Worf is not just a Federation citizen. He is a Starfleet officer, & I'm holding him accountable as that, not as a Federation citizen. The Federation & Starfleet are 2 different things

Hippocratic Oath #1: Do no harm. Loss of kidney? Harm. Loss of Ribosomes? Harmless, according to Crusher. It's only aid he's being asked to give, & if aiding a Romulan is unpalatable for cultural reasons, then aiding the safety of the federation he serves, as a Starfleet officer should suffice, & if it doesn't? Too bad... & I'm not even sure that one is cultural anyhow. It's all about personally being wronged by Romulans. Suck it up, Buttercup. lol