Movies | May 20, 2009 | 39 comments

Star Trek's humanism

source: http://www.examiner.com/x-10853-Seattle-Humanist-Examiner~y2009m5d20-Star-Treks-humanism

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unimatrix0
With all the buzz about the new Star Trek movie it seems worthwhile to investigate this surprisingly compelling and profound franchise. In 1966 Star Trek debuted on NBC and changed the face of popular culture. The brain child of Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek offered a bold new vision of a world where no one had gone before; a radical, progressive vision of the future, a future embracing all cultures and all people.

Star Trek began as the Vietnam War was just beginning to heat up, a time when the Cold War was at its zenith. Americans were afraid: afraid of Russians, afraid of communism, afraid of the racial, social and cultural upheaval confronting our nation. Amidst all this turmoil came a television show that depicted a vision of our future that was optimistic: A future in which the conflict between capitalism and communism had been overcome, a future where earthbound forms of racial, ethnic and religious strife had disappeared, a socialist Utopia where merit determined one's station in life.

By the 23rd century, the human race is done waging war upon itself. Instead, humanity is bound together in an interstellar federation, a united federation of planets engaged in missions of exploration and humanitarian relief. Science and technology are embraced as natural and good, reason and scientific method are valued; revelation, superstition, and the religious are missing all together, or viewed as suspect, and revealed as fraudulent.

Indeed, a large part of what made Star Trek great was the distinct lack of religion. Roddenberry regarded himself as an "agnostic atheist," and banned most religious references from the show. As such, the program was a subtle but powerful beacon for freethinkers and agnostics, for those who rejected the petty religious superstitions enslaving so many otherwise good people. The vision of the future articulated in Star Trek was a refreshing change from the apocalyptic future embraced by main stream Christianity. In Star Trek there was a glorious, alternative weltenschaung, a humanist world view, an affirmation of self determination and the dignity and worth of all intelligent forms of life. More than a negation of the supernatural, Star Trek represented a process by which truth and morality could be sought and won through human investigation.

This vision inspired a generation. The adventure continues, and the dream lives on.
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39 comments // Star Trek's humanism

  • remanns
    • 0
      remanns  

    • I always thought the show had rather classic Greek for modern geeks aspects; Kirk as the "old hero of personal excellence"model, Picard as a Platonic Philosopher King, Janeway was a bit of a Semi-Divine "heros mother" figure(who always knows everything, and always knows better) etc. Oh, they had "gods",.....and obstacles to travel caused by "gods" , certainly god like powers in play,.....but not "God" or "Him".

    • 2 years ago
  • thorstein
  • J_Jammer
  • Sumkrazyguy55
  • ejasun
  • thorstein
  • User00
    • 0
      User00  

    • "The vision of the future articulated in Star Trek was a refreshing change from the apocalyptic future embraced by main stream Christianity."

      ... and Judaism too! What is it with making Christian the "bad guys" as if no one else has any prophesy they believe in and fight to defend!?

      Oh, and look up the story "Long list of Jewish Child Molestor Rabbis gets no media coverage Current."

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • consider this . H. G. Wells imagined tales of electric lit cities and nuclear submarines nearly 100 years ahead of their time . Man also dreamed of flying and walking on the moon . Movies are communal dreams . They are possibilities . If enough people are bold enough choose them . They are also potential warnings of nightmares . 1984 comes to mind . If we can ever break the grip of multinational corporations (including the military industry ) and dogmas - ( they work in concert ) , Our children s' future could be , a good story ...

    • 2 years ago
  • seeker561
    • 0
      seeker561  

    • Another board asked the question, "name something that always makes you smile?"

      My answer? ....... the theme music from Star Trek!

    • 2 years ago
  • Argon18
    • 0
      Argon18  

    • It is a misleading to characterize Star Trek as having a "distinct lack of religion" since the essence of the Prime Directive is one of tolerance and allowing each culture have its own viewpoints without others forcing their standards on them.

      It is more accurate to describe it as having a "distinct lack of dogma" since it did use religious topics in many episodes in all the series especially in DS9 with the Bajoran "Prophets" or "Wormhole Aliens" depending on the viewpoint. A lot of the episodes in DS9 dealt with the line Sisko had to walk between his duties as a Federation Station Commander and his role as the Emissary of the Prophets.

    • 2 years ago
  • vistapoint
    • 0
      vistapoint  

    • it is kinda interesting how we are always searching for utopia...that concept, and our yearning for it, has definitely been around a long long time

    • 2 years ago
  • JamesAJanisse
    • 0
      JamesAJanisse  

    • This makes me so sad that I never got into Star Trek... maybe I'll clear some time to watch some episodes and develop myself into part-Trekkie.

    • 2 years ago
  • Sumkrazyguy55
  • Commentor
    • 0
      Commentor  

    • Si-Fi allowed Gene Roddenberry to investigate and shine a light on social issues that couldn't be talked about any other way.

      PS Majel Barrett Roddenberry (RIP) reprised her roll as the voice of the computer the new move as well .... she has credits in every version of Star Trek

    • 2 years ago
  • gen468
    • 0
      gen468  

    • We humans can not resolve issues of war, poverty, genocide, hate, starvation.
      We spend trillions on war, and crooked politicians.
      We have stepped on the moon , and float around a few miles over the earth.
      We are killing the earth and will soon not have enough food, water or natural resources to sustain life on this planet.

      Lets make fantasy movies about how great mankind can become and escape the reality and futility of our existence.

      If there is no God and Christ does not return to save mankind, just how do you think the human race will survive the next few hundred years.
      Food, Water, air, disease, energy, living space and peace.?

      Lets make a movie…….lets fantasize , that will feed everyone.

    • 2 years ago
  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  
    • gen468:

      glad you feel the inane need to judge everyone and ruin a perfectly happy and innocent conversation board.

      you're a real champ

      (ps, the answer to your question is, people can start doing the right thing and stop relying on some jewish zombie to save them from mistakes they know they are making)

    • 2 years ago
  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  
    • gen468:

      and in point of fact, many of the most agnostic nations in europe have made signficant progress on all of these issues while fudnamentalist america has backslid into war, corruption and chaos (as well as christianity).

      i wonder what that says...

      it says your stupid religion is causing all these problems (i was afraid you might not get it)

    • 2 years ago
  • fun_size
    • 0
      fun_size  
    • gen468:

      "If there is no God and Christ does not return to save mankind, just how do you think the human race will survive the next few hundred years.
      Food, Water, air, disease, energy, living space and peace.?"

      When religious people say things like this it truly shows how they view the world. Why worry about conservation? Jesus is coming to fix everything soon. Its that kind of thinking that got us here in the first place.They dont want to try to fix the world they want someone to just make it all go away.

      You sir are not good for the sake of being good but instead good because you feel that someone is judging you by your actions. If heaven is filled with people like you then id rather spend eternity somewhere else.

    • 2 years ago
  • ocanada
    • 0
      ocanada  
    • gen468:

      It is unchristian to spite someone for being human. If we christians followed the example of christ and turned the other cheek, showed compassion, and didn't seek out judgement and made our lives speak of richousness and not our words then we might live in a world closer to the one Rodenberry envisions.

      Gen, you sound like a pharisee. Throwing down judgement of a vision of peace and celebration of our common humanity.

      Remember to not cast the first stone. Remember that Christ was crucified for our sins, remember that what we do to the least of these we do to him, remember that to be christian is to not cast judgement. To be christian is to embrace a vision of the ideal of peace. A being who is all powerful submitted himself to the ultimate restraint. instead of summoning vengance he offered salvation. If we are to call ourselves followers of Christ we should behave like him.

      Please forgive my interjection of religion. But I find so much hope in the ideals of the christian God and the story of the Christ. That truth behind all of the dogma has been a glaring symbol of what good can be achieved in this world. I think that many here object not to the philosophy embodied in religous thougt but in the application of religous texts as secular law and of the stymied interpretations of thier words to justify the actions of thier followers.

      As president Obama has said, we can all look believe and non believer to the golden rule. To do unto others as we would have them do unto us. From that wellspring of common humanity we can accomplish so much.

      One of my favorite Star Trek episodes is one dealing with religion. It's called bread and circuses. The socity is simmilar to the mid twentieth century should it have been a place where the roman empire still existed. In the end of the episode kirk remarks, "Christ and Ceaser they had them both." The followers of christ are the heroes in that they are peaceful while the ceasarian followers are brutish and are the ones working to enslave the population. It also comes about one of McCoys most memorable quotes. The entire episode is quite funny and its humor reminds me of the humor in the new film. "Once, just once, I'd like to be able to land someplace and say, 'Behold! I am the archangel Gabriel!'"
      "I fail to see the humor in that situation, Doctor."
      "Naturally, you could hardly claim to be an angel with those pointed ears, Mr. Spock; but say you landed someplace with a pitchfork?"

      - McCoy and Spock

      http://www.cbs.com/classics/star_trek/video/video.php?cid=649539296&pid=wKG1...

    • 2 years ago
  • Mr_Green_Khalid
  • jh64487
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • I loved that show, too. Another one is Lost in Space, that doctor on that show Doctor Smith, he was a hand full; to say the least.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
  • Scarabus
    • 0
      Scarabus  
    • jubal:

      "Danger, Will Robinson!" (As in Swiss Family Robinson?) The robot who said that all the time was just called "Robot," right?

      A movie that's got its cheesiness factor but is still provocative is the 1956 sci-fi film Fordden Planet, which in ways parallels Shakespeare's Tempest. The robot there is named "Robby."

    • 2 years ago
  • jahbini
    • 0
      jahbini  

    • Love the series. (and the take offs: Galaxy Quest is a fave!)

      But, let's not forget the precursor "forbidden Planet" (before Leslie Neilson got a sense of humor) - there is the faster than light speed drive, the individual decelleration fields that are spitting images of the transporters, Robbie the Robot for the ultra faithful and too logical doppelganger to Spock and Data, the Doctor (who acts as both McCoy and Spock at times) -- And that both Forbidden Planet and Star Trek are on basically peaceful missions.

      Are there other similarities that I've missed?

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
  • unimatrix0
  • cybexg
  • ocanada
    • 0
      ocanada  
    • jahbini:

      Leslie Neilson and James Doohan the actor who portrayed Scottie were close frenemies and acting rivals in a vaudeville troupe. Its detailed in Doohan's book, Beam me up.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • NickerBocker09
    • 0
      NickerBocker09  

    • I've always like Star Trek and its message. Hopefully our planet can reach this futuristic society without a world war but sometimes to reach such great heights we must go through tough challenges.

    • 2 years ago
  • Scarabus
    • 0
      Scarabus  

    • Whoa! The images in the post range from merely cold to downright menacing. They look to me more like emblems of Dick Cheney's evil than like humanistic love and compassion.

    • 2 years ago
  • pjacobs51
    • 0
      pjacobs51  
    • Scarabus:

      Now your just judging a book by it's cover Scarabus, look beyond the skin.

      The promoters just use the evil look to buck up the ticket sales, but the "good" message is still there.

    • 2 years ago
  • Scarabus
    • 0
      Scarabus  
    • Scarabus:

      PJ, you're right, amico. But one observation and one mitigation. The former? Visual imagery matters. So why put a negative cover on a positive message? (Serious question, not just rhetorical.) The latter? I'm distracted by the hurt of persons close to me. Cut me some slack for the moment, and I promise to return to balance before too long.

    • 2 years ago
  • unimatrix0
  • jubal
  • pjacobs51
    • 0
      pjacobs51  

    • We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.
      ~ Gene Roddenberry

      Awesome post unimatrix0

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
  • J_Jammer
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