Are we Failing the Challenge?

That is a rather long episode of the Fan Series Star Trek Phase II. I apologize on the length but it was the only clip of the specific scene that I could find on this specific subject. If you want to skip to the scene itself skip to 52:26.

Now this specific scene talks about that specific incarnation of James T. Kirk saying that “Space is not the Final Frontier, it is the human soul, Space is where we’ll meet the challenge.” This line frankly blew me away. It was a line that was both surprisingly succinct and powerful. One of the most powerful single lines that I have seen from any Star Trek production let alone a fan series. One that is made with a pretty high quality to boot but that is just a testament to the occasional pearls of brilliance.

But at the end of the day I have to wonder if we are actually beating this thing, if we are rising to the noble objectives of that statement. And I have to wonder if we are largely because Star Trek.

No wonder I don’t like Star Trek too much with that kind of clap trap. Though I suppose there is nothing wrong with the clip in and of itself. What they are proposing to do was quite monstrous and Picard should be righteously indignant about it.

But no its really the comments. I have read in that comment section everything from saying that they are surprised that Trek was made in the eighties, at the height of Conservatism, to any one of a million comments. You can still probably see one of them at the top. “Religion gone? Make it so…” I have seen similar sentiments expressed about both the Judaic and Christian religions, and then just religion in general. Going on and on and on and on about how religion is either mentally deficient in some way shape or form. Or wishing it wasn’t there, or wishing that the religious could all sink into some pit or be put into some mental institution. Or snide comments about ‘oh why am I living in a state surrounded by those people.’

On and on and on it goes.

And this kind of bigotry and this kind of sentiment apparently comes from one place. And that place seems to be in this case, oddly enough, Star Trek.

A show that has preached diversity from day one by having a black woman at communications, an Asian at the helm, a Russian at the navigation station, and an alien science officer, a show that has continued to push the boundries, encouraging this kind of rhetoric? It seems inconceivable but yet it seems to be happening.

And I can’t think of an example of this in any other single show that I have seen. Nor any other Science Fiction Universe. Not Babylon 5 which showed a scene at the end of an episode where Jeffery Sinclair introduced the alien species to a representative of each one of Earth’s major religions. Not Doctor Who which had the Doctor say ‘sometimes really impossible things happen and we call them miracles’. Not Farscape.

Even Stargate SG-1 showed a lot more sensitivity to religion…and they were battling a race of false gods! When Samantha Carter said something along the lines of ‘out of all the gods out there I sure hope one of them is real.’

None of these shows has done this. Granted they also have their moments where they portray power-hungry Gods, or demi gods or their followers who would use their power as a club. But they always balanced it out.

So again I ask…are we failing the challenge? It sure seems that way to me.

I don’t care who you are. Atheist, Libertarian, Gay, Straight, Conservative, Liberal, Christian or Jew, we all deserve to be treated with respect and to be heard out. By one another.

To have our ideas heard and at least be tolerated. Fine we can disagree and fine we don’t always have to let you into our little clubs or marry you or anything. But to at least have the conversation.

People who claim to be of the highest tolerance, Star Trek fans, seem to be very intolerant for anyone who holds a different political, moral, or religious ideology.

So I put the question to you, are they failing the challenge? Are we?

Does Being Against Gay Marriage Make One a Biggot?

Quite simple, this issue, this blog, this question. Does being on one side or the other of the gay marriage debate make one a bigot?

Now again I’m not sure I care about the specifics on this issue. I do not care if one is gay or not or one acts in a gay matter or not. That is not my purview but someone with a far greater pay grade then I am. As long as the liberty of religious institutions are protected I do not care. But I still have to wonder.

Because it seems that the public perception is, whether it is the President, Facebook, or a large portion of the news media, has apparently convinced a large portion of society that anyone who is against Gay Marriage is some kind of bigoted monster worthy of a Hitler or a Stalin.

But what is marriage?

Well (Definition) (Definition 2)

So then marriage at its most basic is a religious institution that requires the elements of love, wanting to form a family, and eventually child rearing and reproduction.

Marriage is to try to form a commitment between you, your partner, the church, and God. It is a commitment of love to try to form a lasting bond.

You love each other. You want to form a commitment. You may or may not have had sex. But you want to try to have a life together.

That makes it an action. To be married you have to act. It is not a function of biology or our nature as humans being, it is an institution, one you have to choose to be apart of.

And one can morally object to the actions of others they disagree with.

It is no different then going to the bathroom, or getting up at midnight to get a glass of orange juice. It is an action. It is a choice.

Granted I acknowledge that one can be bigoted and be against gay marriage. Believing that there is some quality that makes gays gay and that in turn makes them some kind of sub human. We have seen this tragically in many circumstances.

But it is not bigoted in and of itself to be against people’s life choices. Especially when this life choice is in effect becoming a member of a club. You usually need the clubs permission before you can join. You usually don’t have the final choice in that matter. They can say no. And sometimes for some pretty small and crummy reasons.

What Do Gays Want?

First of all I would like to apologize for my absence. In short I hope to be back and hope to be on more in the future from here on out. I hope to get back into the swing of things and continue to provide you more information on politics, religion, pop culture, and Mass Effect.

Now though something about this issue has always bugged me. The title of the blog simply puts it in the terms that I mean.

Now when I am talking about gays here I am talking about Gays in general, specifically gays as the movement for LGBT and the ones that are trying to get their ‘rights’. As such this blog might be far off on a lot of its claims since I tend to misjudge collective groups, something I am quite happy about. And this also doesn’t work for every single person who chooses this as their sexual preferences. And also I am for the legalization of Gay Marriage, just as a means of getting the Government…any Government…out of our bedrooms and churches. Places where they do not belong.

Now gays want to be married, in a lot of ways they consider it to be their right to be married. And according to the Supreme Court in some instances they just might be right. (Source)

OK that is all well and good. I am wrong. The Supreme arbiter of the term ‘rights’ in this country considers marriage to be a right. And that we can’t argue it or dispute it until a future group of arbiters makes the decision one way or the other…hmmmm.

But that is well-considered, but what I want to know is why? Why do gays want marriage? And what do they want ti for?

Sure they might be religious and I support them if they are and they actually legitimately want to find a church where they can be married and then celebrate their life bond with another human being. Share their lives with them. But marriage is primarily a religious institution. Sharing a couple and making a commitment before God to continue to share your life with them.

And most people who I talk to on this issue says they don’t want to force themselves on the churches, don’t want to force the churches into marrying gays and that they want to just leave them alone to conduct their own affairs. So I have to take them on their word.

Even though I have heard stories where people have sued churches for not marrying them when they were gay or not using their property…so no I am sure it’s all good. And fine….

So gays still have to go to the churches, and the synagogues, and ask for permission to marry. Even when this is a right apparently. And the churches can still say no. Can still turn them away, and can still be as ‘bigoted’ as they want. So is anything really solved?

And most of the people who I talk to aren’t even religious themselves. In the least. Not the gays that I talk to, not the activists who support the LGBT movement, not anyone. In fact religion doesn’t seem to enter into their minds as being apart of the equation. Marriage is not a religious institution and seems to be quite divorced from the issue…no pun intended. And they don’t seem to make any distinction between it and Civil Unions.

Furthermore people have been expressing their ‘love’ for centuries. Within marriage, without marriage, in between marriage, around marriage, before marriage, and after marriage. Now I am not condoning these exploits but people have been sharing love for a long time and marriage does not seem to enter into the equation. Right, wrong, you decide.

And no one in the political main stream in the United States is actively trying to ban…well gay sex. You can go and do anything you want to anyone you want as long as they consent, and as long as the churches don’t have to condone it. The rest is between you and God.

All people seem to want to ban is gays from marrying.

So what do gays want? What are they after?

We all have individual needs and wants. No one is disputing that, not here. But it seems like the LGBT movement as a movement is a powerful political bloc that has somehow convinced a large portion of the American population that if you aren’t one hundred percent for gay marriage then you are some kind of bigoted monster that is worthy of a Hitler or Stalin.

After all the churches still have all the power, you can still express your love in other ways.

So could it be that they are after the benefits?

Can’t you get those without marriage?