I have been a Star Trek fan since Captain Kirk sat on the bridge of the first USS Enterprise—the first Starship Enterprise, that is—on September 8, 1966 (our time). I wasn’t even a teenager then and didn’t realize until years later how ahead of its time it was, nor that the strongest episodes were really parables. Remember the two aliens who had faces half black and half white, and who hated one another because one had the black half on the right side and the other’s black half was on the left? Our biases make just as much sense, that episode taught us.
The show worked for me because of the characters and their relationships with each other. If it had been all about gizmos and explosions, I would have lost interest quickly. I knew who they were, their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, and their pet phrases. When Star Trek: The Next Generation came along, the producers really hit the jackpot and this time people were ready for it. It’s a shame that the television movers and shakers still looked down their noses. Patrick Stewart deserved a couple of Emmys.
Brent Spiner deserved even more.
Get a couple of Trekkies together and they will talk for hours about favorite characters and episodes. To them these people are almost real. And they will spot the discrepancies between episodes or movies in an instant. When Scottie showed up on TNG, having survived in a continuous transporter buffer pattern for 75 years, and thought Jim Kirk was still alive, my antenna twitched. You see, in Star Trek: Generations, the movie that put Capt Kirk and Capt Picard together for the first and only time, Scottie saw Jim Kirk die. He would not have expected to be saved by him. The producers should have caught that.
I’m sure you are already getting the point. When we are really interested in something, we will spend hours on it. We will take it in and remember it. We will catch on to every detail, no matter how trivial and useless. Why, who is to say it’s useless? Have you noticed that no fictional character will sneeze or cough unless he’s doomed to a virus that affects the plot? And everyone knows that the previously unknown character in the red shirt will soon be zapped by the alien.
Doesn’t it strike you as odd that people who claim to be children of God know so little about His word? That people who call themselves disciples of Christ have a problem remembering the main events of his life? Forget about the details. (Quick! Name Jesus’ brothers. How about his cousins? Name all eleven of the Simons/Simeons in the Bible. Which apostles were known by at least three names?)
As people of God we should be interested in Him. We ought to want nothing more than to know His will and do it. We should be able to talk about it for hours and look for every opportunity to learn even more. I know people who can list Erica Kane’s husbands in order, or recite the starting lineups for all their favorite pro teams, including stats and colleges. Some of these people are Christians whose Bible knowledge wouldn’t fill a thimble.
Trekkies are called that for a reason. They know that James T Kirk was (will be?) born on March 22, 2228, in Riverside, Iowa. They know that Spock’s full name is S’chn T’gai Spock. They can even speak a few words of Klingon, a language that doesn’t even exist! NUQ DAQ YUJ DA’POL = “Where’s the chocolate?” a phrase everyone should know, whether Klingon or Terran!
Christians are called that for a reason as well. Do you fit the description?
But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you, Psa 9:7-10.
Dene Ward
The show worked for me because of the characters and their relationships with each other. If it had been all about gizmos and explosions, I would have lost interest quickly. I knew who they were, their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, and their pet phrases. When Star Trek: The Next Generation came along, the producers really hit the jackpot and this time people were ready for it. It’s a shame that the television movers and shakers still looked down their noses. Patrick Stewart deserved a couple of Emmys.
Brent Spiner deserved even more.
Get a couple of Trekkies together and they will talk for hours about favorite characters and episodes. To them these people are almost real. And they will spot the discrepancies between episodes or movies in an instant. When Scottie showed up on TNG, having survived in a continuous transporter buffer pattern for 75 years, and thought Jim Kirk was still alive, my antenna twitched. You see, in Star Trek: Generations, the movie that put Capt Kirk and Capt Picard together for the first and only time, Scottie saw Jim Kirk die. He would not have expected to be saved by him. The producers should have caught that.
I’m sure you are already getting the point. When we are really interested in something, we will spend hours on it. We will take it in and remember it. We will catch on to every detail, no matter how trivial and useless. Why, who is to say it’s useless? Have you noticed that no fictional character will sneeze or cough unless he’s doomed to a virus that affects the plot? And everyone knows that the previously unknown character in the red shirt will soon be zapped by the alien.
Doesn’t it strike you as odd that people who claim to be children of God know so little about His word? That people who call themselves disciples of Christ have a problem remembering the main events of his life? Forget about the details. (Quick! Name Jesus’ brothers. How about his cousins? Name all eleven of the Simons/Simeons in the Bible. Which apostles were known by at least three names?)
As people of God we should be interested in Him. We ought to want nothing more than to know His will and do it. We should be able to talk about it for hours and look for every opportunity to learn even more. I know people who can list Erica Kane’s husbands in order, or recite the starting lineups for all their favorite pro teams, including stats and colleges. Some of these people are Christians whose Bible knowledge wouldn’t fill a thimble.
Trekkies are called that for a reason. They know that James T Kirk was (will be?) born on March 22, 2228, in Riverside, Iowa. They know that Spock’s full name is S’chn T’gai Spock. They can even speak a few words of Klingon, a language that doesn’t even exist! NUQ DAQ YUJ DA’POL = “Where’s the chocolate?” a phrase everyone should know, whether Klingon or Terran!
Christians are called that for a reason as well. Do you fit the description?
But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you, Psa 9:7-10.
Dene Ward
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