I have long desired to write about my faith and its intersections with Trek, the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry. Having grown up with TOS on channel 2 in Denver, Colorado here in America, it aired at 10PM every weeknight and I watched it "religiously, if you'll pardon the expression." Yes, that's a DS9 quote.
I also grew up in a Christian home and my faith was and remains very important to me. In fact, there is nothing more important to me. You can imagine I find a lot in common with Colonel Kira and her belief in the Prophets. To me, it was very unnerving to see the Star Trek writers using faith and even an entire constructed religion in the show. I wasn't totally sold on it until I was able to view the entire series as a completed work.
That's kind of how life works, in a way. You can't accurately judge a work in progress. You have to let life play itself out, and only when you can take the whole thing, turn it inside out and make sense of it by looking back to front, finish to start, can you appraise it for what it was really worth.
For this reason, I will not be discussing or even engaging Star Trek Discovery, tentative or scheduled shows or films. It's just not fair to them or to me to try to gauge it until it's all done.
Some groundwork is in order. First, what do I mean by Trek as in Cross-Trek?
Trek is the entirety of the Star Trek realm. Obviously this includes the Star Trek shows, movies and all the properties owned by Paramount. But it also includes the fandom, such as the conventions, the discussion groups, the watching parties, the fan clubs and even the hideous merch that passes itself off as Star Trak or some other knockoff permutation. It's everything we have come to know and love that makes this collection of stories so compelling.
Second, what do I mean by Cross? I mean very simply the Cross of Jesus Christ, the center of the Christian faith. I do not mean the Catholic or Protestant Christian faith specifically, but the one catholic faith centered around Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Judaic law of Moses as the Messiah, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The Bible will be used as often as needed to draw out specific concepts related to the faith. It is not meant to be used as a club or hammer, but a lamp to the feet and a light to the path we trek.
Last, I don't have a lock on the truth, nor do I claim to arbitrate God's will for mankind. I have my own opinions and hopefully I can keep those under control. In the very least, I hope to offer some light for others and help show how faith is relevant to Trek and how Trek can help reveal keys to faith.
Trek's very beginnings were steeped in religion it seems. The Vulcan benediction with the hand gesture now affiliated with Trekkies the world over is, as Leonard Nimoy revealed, a Jewish symbol of blessing. He would close notes often with LLAP, short for "Live long and prosper." In the same vein, I say to you, dear reader, "Peace and long life."
