Christianity and Star Trek

[Garth Rockett]

I do agree to an extent, RyanKCR. Actually, TMP does have (or did, in the old extended version) one of my favorite lines in all of Trek, when Decker says "We all create God in our own image," although I suspect that line probably holds a different meaning for me than it did for the film producers.

But isn't that the beauty of art?

 

[Smiley]

Like other fiction, Trek is just another source of ideas. Like Garth said, it has elements that are opposed to the Christian worldview, but it has many more that are in accord with it.

If someone is obsessed enough with Trek that they believe in all the tenets of the Federation or believe that Roddenberry was a modern prophet, then it has become detrimental to their Christian faith life.

 

[Chuckling]

Do you think there are fans who take Trek as a Lifestyle choice? Do you think there are fans who try to treat Trek as if it was a religious substitute? Or are there even fans who see Trek as a religion?


Chuckling

 

[DarthTom]

Chuckling said:
Do you think there are fans who take Trek as a Lifestyle choice? Do you think there are fans who try to treat Trek as if it was a religious substitute? Or are there even fans who see Trek as a religion?

That would represent 1/2 of the fan base.

 

[Chuckling]

LOL!

Alright then, what is it about Star Trek that makes them want to do that?

Chuckling

 

[DarthTom]

Chuckling said:
LOL!

Alright then, what is it about Star Trek that makes them want to do that?

In all seriousness I don't know. Hardcore Trekkies make sporting fans look disinterested in their favorite team. And because many of them skew towards being intelligent and many in the sciences professionally their obsession in the show makes them appear odd as well.

Quite frankly I get very concerned when I hear of a Trek fan that can speak "Klingon" as if it's some real foreign language.

 

[seekertwo]

Depends....are we talking about the man-made religious traditions and practices created over the last 2000 years or the actual teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples?

There's a big difference....

 

[Chuckling]

That's a fair distinction.

It's the second option: Christ and his disciples.

Chuckling

 

[Balthier the Great]

I guess it depends.

Anything that own you I'd say is going too far. I think that would be the darkside -- if you can't leave the house because a TV show is on, you've gone too far. Or if you spend the family's bill money on models, then you've gone to far. You're serving it, rather than the other way.

I think if you go too far you're essentially worshipping fiction.

For cosplay -- well, I would do it with my buddies just for fun. If you're going out alone in public, that's a problem.

 

[Ro_Laren]

There have been plenty of books about Star Trek and religion (including Christianity). As a matter of fact, in the anthology Star Trek and Sacred Ground: Explorations of Star Trek, Religion, and American Culture there was an essay called Biblical Interpretation in the Star Trek Universe: Going Where Some Have Gone Before written by a Dr. Jeffrey Lamp. Dr. Lamp is a New Testament teacher at a Christian university (he taught a number of the courses that I took for my Theology minor). I never read Dr. Lamp's essay, but when I mentioned it to him he laughed and said it talked about The Sisko. I am sure it talked about other points as well.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

Garth Rockett said:
Actually, TMP does have (or did, in the old extended version) one of my favorite lines in all of Trek, when Decker says "We all create God in our own image," although I suspect that line probably holds a different meaning for me than it did for the film producers.

As much as I adored ST:TMP, it must be said that Decker's utterance wasn't exactly an original idea care of the film's scripters who were very likely inspired by the writings of noted philosophical and literary figures ranging from Xenophanes of Colophon to William Butler Yeats. Arthur C. Clarke even weighed in on subject in his 1965 non-fiction collection, Voices from the Sky - Previews of the Coming Space Age:

"The rash assertion that 'God created man in His own Image' is ticking like a time bomb at the foundations of many faiths."

That line, coincidentally, formed the conceptual basis of Ben Bova's 1981 LitSF novel, Voyagers.

TGT

 

[K-Star]

I'm a Christian. Been baptized and everything. And I'm definitely a Trekker (my friend told me that term applies to me more than "Trekkie" does). I'm even going as a TNG-era Engineering Lt. Commander for Halloween. (Got most of the costume, now I just need the pips and combadge to arrive in the mail.)

 

[Colonel Green]

Chuckling said:
Do you think there are fans who take Trek as a Lifestyle choice? Do you think there are fans who try to treat Trek as if it was a religious substitute? Or are there even fans who see Trek as a religion?

Sadly yes. link

 

[3D Master]

seekertwo said:
Depends....are we talking about the man-made religious traditions and practices created over the last 2000 years or the actual teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples?

There's a big difference...

Uh, seeing as Jesus Christ and his disciples never existed, not really. Well, okay, there's a difference, the one did not exist, the rest did.

 

[Chuckling]

Lots of people here will have seen "Trekkies" and "Trekkies 2".

2 questions:

1. Is there a difference between people who change character when they don the uniform or costume and those who adopt Trek as a Lifestyle choice?

2. Is taking your hobby seriously different to obsession?

Thanks everyone. I'm almost done with the questions.

Chuckling

 

[Danoz]

One thing I've learned from these forums is the following (especially from TNZ)

Trekkies come from a myriad of backgrounds, belief systems and political views. And, despite my previous belief that Trek users were generally intelligent-- I can see from some TNZ posts that this is not always the case. Trekkies tend to have vastly different ideas about the morality of sex, alcohol, cheating and many other issues. Also, not all Trekkies love Voyager, or DS9, or TNG, or TOS-- and not all love the same characters, nor do we agree with eachother when ethical issues arise (hell, that's what is so interesting about this forum!).

I think you have an interesting article here, and I would approach it from the model that Trek covers so many bases and is so multifaceted as a show that it would be impossible to generalize about its biggest fans given the diverse nature of their reasons for enjoying it. It's one thing to talk about your average "Laguna Beach" fan, quite another to generalize about a trekkie (whose media personification is the convention-going nerd)... from what I can tell, even that population is just another minority among a vast array of different people.

Bottom Line. Christians are just as likely to love Star Trek as anybody else, because I haven't been able to break down trekkies into ANY identifiable group.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

3D Master said:

seekertwo said:
Depends....are we talking about the man-made religious traditions and practices created over the last 2000 years or the actual teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples?

There's a big difference...

Uh, seeing as Jesus Christ and his disciples never existed, not really. Well, okay, there's a difference, the one did not exist, the rest did.

Let's not debate this here. If you want to debate the existance of Jesus Christ, take it somewhere else.

 

[3D Master]

Alidar Jarok said:

3D Master said:

seekertwo said:
Depends....are we talking about the man-made religious traditions and practices created over the last 2000 years or the actual teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples?

There's a big difference...

Uh, seeing as Jesus Christ and his disciples never existed, not really. Well, okay, there's a difference, the one did not exist, the rest did.

Let's not debate this here. If you want to debate the existance of Jesus Christ, take it somewhere else.

I'm not. The point is that there's no difference. ALL of it is man made; from the earliest to the latest.

 

[Kegek]

^
*shrug*

The existence of Jesus of Nazareth is debateable, but atheist historians don't take it as a given that he didn't exist. There are whole schools of thought built around the idea of Jesus as a secular philosopher, for example.

'The existence of Jesus Christ' is another matter. Calling him the Christ is the same as calling him the Messiah, and so this is primarily a matter of faith.

 

[Amaris]

I am a devout Christian, and I'm also a hardcore Trek fan. Star Trek has always seemed to me, to be a positive view of the future. Mankind will learn to live together in peace and prosperity, becoming for the most part, a unified people. Our strength and unity took us to the stars, brought us to new civilizations, we forged a bond with many of them, so that now there is this vast Federation of planets that works together to achieve peace and prosperity for each other.

I want to see an end to war, to bloodshed, I want to see killing, stealing and destroying brought to an end. I want people to be free in their own hearts and minds, that they can enjoy life to the fullest, and let others enjoy their lives to the fullest. I love the technology in Trek, not because it's just gadgetry, it's the machinery of our courage, our imagination, the manifestation of what we as a species can build and create. These massive starships powered by harnessing the core elements of the universe to push us forward. There is an idyllic poetry in that.

My Savior is the Commander of the Stars, and I want to explore them. Star Trek appeals to me because it offers my imagination a free ride to visit them, and to meet with these humans that I hope we can become. I am sure it's different for everyone, but that is one of the reasons Star Trek is so important to me, and why I can identify it in my own faith.


J.