Star Trek (2009): An Allegory for our times?

Some Sundays even when one is healthy they cannot pull it together to get to church with the family. It can even be harder after a night of neuro-events, that left your own son checking on you to make sure “Daddy was still alive”. This was the night that I had come through, and was not well rested when I awoke. But needed to fill up the spirit over my cheerios and cuppa, which led me to accept a challenge from a friend. Re-look at JJ Abrams 2009 Star Trek reboot.

See, the challenge is, I am not a huge fan of Star Trek XI-XIII. I understand a series rebooting, new generation, new ideas. Yet I was one of the Trekkies’ pulling for a Worf led Enterprise movie; or a Riker/Troi USS Titan or a DS9 or Voyager…or even and Enterprise series movie…if there was to be something new what about looking at Enterprise C or B? Or another ship completely in the Star Trek Universe. Why re-cast iconic characters (and yes I realize this happens with James Bond, Conan, Batman, The Doctor, etc.). But this was the original cast being, well, re-cast. It is also a bit of Trekkie cognitive dissonance because I may not be completely infatuated with the new movies Boldly Going, but have enjoyed the re-cast in the IDW comic series. Soooo….

So addled brained, lethargic and somewhat hypothermic I settled in to be filled.

I am part of an endangered species.

-Spock (2009)

The death of Romulus leading a time travel narrative, a nod to Remus’ demise in Star Trek: Nemesis. Nero seeking vengeance for loss of his family, and destroying Vulcan. The act of travelling back creating an alternate reality where not everything is the same (and Vulcan is destroyed by an act of Zealot-Terrorism). New imaginings of each character.

Yet core precepts remain the same.

You are now, and will always be my friend… I am emotionally compromised, I lost my people, you need to get others to see.

-Spock (TOS in 2009).

Scotty talking about beaming Admiral Archers dog into somewhere when trying transwarp teleporting. Elder (Other-reality) Spock doing a tongue-in-cheek nod to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, by giving Scotty a formula he would invent to move along a problem-solving plot point.

Kirk’s beating of the Kobayashi Maru (the no-win situation) a test designed by this reality’s Spock who chose Starfleet realizing he would never fit within Vulcan world fully. Playing out a more human side to the child of both world’s that followed Spock throughout the original.

Bones sharing his venture outwards to space, due to a loss of his family.

The ultimate no-win scenario to beat the drive of vengeance as Vulcan is in ruins, only 10,000 survivors and Nero has set his sights of Earth. The travel back in time to destroy the Federation (A Star Trek: First Contact nod), and red matter if it was the 1980’s you could hear the word “Genesis” ringing…life from lifelessness, lifelessness from life.

But it raises an allegorical point. Vulcan was the epicentre of where the Federation was birthed. A zealot not tied to any group officially lost something and took revenge by blowing up Vulcan (are you seeing terrorist parallels in our world?)…and how easy it would be to move to escalation instead of focusing on the need for a measured response while continuing to build relations. Even by bringing out a darker tone, as the story is being birthed in the world of uncertainty (more precarious than I would say the Cold War world, and post-Cold War world that birthed the original shows and spin-offs)…but still trying to bring hope to the front.

How is hope brought forward?

Through guidance of the elders to the core values of each character. That even if it appears everything may be different, choices can still be made to create a community of belonging.

The question the movie raises is whether Kirk and company this time will let the inclusion principles of the Federation win out, or succumb to the darkness being spread by Nero?

Are you Spock or Nero? Or Spock? Each decision creates a point in time of change.

What is your choice?

 

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Parliament of World Religions Newsletter

Thought I would share this, quite a few good thoughts and conversation starters.

From the Editor… As I understand it, Judaism does not give great weight to panaceas. There is no silver bullet, no single action or belief that enables you to achieve a good life. But what my religion does teach is that creating good systems—of action, belief, and communal life—enables communities to thrive. I think there are lessons from this approach that can be applied to the inter-religious movement—and this newsletter. The first is that there is no single constituency. There are youth leaders and experienced clergy, politicians and business people, writers and educators, theists and humanists who are all essential to this movement. Their voices must be heard and amplified. For they—we—are all part of the movement and the network that has helped it grow. The second is that communities rely on clear communication between their members. The inter-religious movement, in its continued growth, must allow for open communication, even when it leads to a plurality of views and even when those views do not align. A shared vision for a social movement can coalesce only when disagreements can be openly expressed and challenging topics directly engaged. As the new editor of the Parliament of the World’s Religions’ newsletter and its Religious Leadership Fellow, I look forward to hearing and amplifying your views. As a young leader and future rabbi, I will look to those of other traditions, professions, and ages for contributions and insights. As a person invested in online publications and organizations—notably in my involvement founding the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue and State of Formation—I will seek out those who are invested in more traditional mediums of expression. As a person who tends towards boisterousness, I will work to quiet my own voice in order to ensure that the newsletter remains about us and the movement we continue to build. The Parliament of the World’s Religions newsletter will now appear twice each month in order to keep you up to date on breaking stories and enriched by incisive articles from our colleagues and reflections on the personal journeys that people within our large and growing network of movement-builders have taken in order to become a part of it.   Our stories are different. But they intersect in this movement and will have a voice in this newsletter. Our newsletter. Joshua Stanton, Religious Leadership Fellow Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions Celebrating a Death by Rev. Paul Raushenbush It is a strange and conflicting emotion to celebrate a death. My professed beliefs include the redemption of evil and the potential good in all humanity. Yet I felt a sense of exhilaration when I read the headline ‘DEAD’ about Osama Bin Laden. Read more… My Take: Burial at sea shows compassion of Islamic law By Imam Khalid Latif I was sitting in a KFC in Brooklyn on Sunday night (halal for those who are worried) with two of my students when my phone started to buzz like crazy as friends, colleagues and family let me know that Osama bin Laden was dead. Read more….   Lessons from My Journey by Helen Spector CPWR Trustee When Rev. Dr. David Ramage recruited me in 1990 to serve on the Board of Trustees leading up to the 1993 Parliament, I was not engaged in or much aware of the inter-religious movement. My commitment to the Council’s work caught fire when I joined a group of Trustees to travel to Cape Town in 1998, to meet with our organizing counterparts and talk with leaders from all the faith communities who would support the Parliament in 1999 in Cape Town. From that visit and my work since, I have come to see clearly the power of the interfaith experience and the positive impact of Council’s community organizing approach. Read more… Greening Your Religious Community  May 11, 2011 10:00am U.S. Central Time  Rev. Dr. Clare Butterfield Director, Faith in Place This webinar will provide training in basic approaches to organizing your religious community to be more sustainable in its own practices and to promote sustainability in the homes of members and in the public square. Latest from State of Formation Voices of Emerging Leaders Can Ancient Texts Inform Social Practice? by Honna Eichler   Can We Talk? by James Croft   What Do Americans Really Believe? by Ben DeVan   Diversifying the Traditions of a Religious Campus by Neil Krishan Aggarwal   Upcoming Opportunities: Scriptural Reasoning Training Session June 25-28 Interfiath Youth Core hosts Leadership Institutes June 28–July 1; July 25-28 The 2nd Global Conference on World’s Religions after September 11 September 7   Support the Growing Movement Help us in our work to bring people of faith together for a better world.  Did you like this newsletter?

This email was sent to tyragan@ymail.com, which is subscribed to receive the Parliament Newsletter.  Click here to change your preferences VISIT US ON: Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions 70 East Lake Street, Suite 205 Chicago, Illinois 60601 USA Tel: + 1 312.629.2990 Fax: + 1 312.629.2991 info@parliamentofreligions.org The views expressed in the Parliament Newsletter may not necessarily reflect the official position of CPWR, its Officers or Board of Trustees.