Barbara Adams, one of the jurors for the trial regarding the Whitewater scandal, showed up dressed in a Star Trek officers' uniform. Her motivation, she said, was that this was an important trial, and she thought that the values of Star Trek ought to factor into the outcome of the trial. Who can argue with that? She specifically cited inclusion, tolerance, peace, and faith in humankind as important values she sees in Star Trek, and I think those are good things for a juror to keep in mind. And if the story ended there, that would have been super.The kicker is that she got kicked out of the jury for talking with the press about dressing up in uniform for the trial. Jurors ought not talk with the press -- who can argue with that?
A lot of the people who go to Star Trek conventions, I'd wager, are not Star Trek fans. Sure, they may dress in embarrassing costumes. No, they do dress in embarrassing costumes:
The thing is, though, that the Star Trek fans that are busy learning Klingon and watching the original series in their mom's basement aren't being about what Star Trek is about.
William Carey was a Star Trek fan. The man went on missions to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to go where the church had not gone before. He violated the Prime Directive, trouncing the caste system, infant sacrifice, and suttee. At the same time, he tried to make the gospel applicable to the cultures of India, rather than forcing Indians to accept western culture to be Christian, and he put muscle behind this by learning many languages and translating the Bible into them. William Carey got the best of what Star Trek is about, and a couple of hundred years early. Who can argue with that?
Pfft, Star Trek is about humanism, and maybe Carey wasn't one.
ReplyDeleteCarey wasn't a humanist, and I'm sure there would be a lot of values promoted in Star Trek that would irritate him. However, I think that he did a much better job than Trekkies of demonstrating the things about Star Trek that you think are really good.
ReplyDeleteGiving sight to the blind?
ReplyDeleteTrekkies should be either shot on sight or at least rounded up for government experimentation. I'm sorry, but they forfeited their right to a free life when they decided to be lame.
ReplyDelete"Giving sight to the blind?"
ReplyDeleteCome again?
Alex - that one took me a second too, but think TNG. It'll come to you.
ReplyDeleteTim - hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa......
I figured Tim was talking about Geordi Laforge, I thought he meant that William Carey healed blindness, and I hadn't heard that.
ReplyDeleteNOW I KNOW IT IS A JOKE. TIMOTHY, YOU BRING MY HEART MUCH MIRTH.
Sweet, I'm a heart-mirth-bringer. That's pretty cool. I'll add it to my list of epithets?
ReplyDeleteyeah, the title on my post is a reference to the Jars of Clay song "Oh My God," which is one of the best songs they've ever written imho.
ReplyDeleteMatthew, until I realized you meant a post on your blog, I thought you meant that "William Carey and the Star Trek Juror" could fit into that song which...I guess so?
ReplyDelete