The Star Trek solution

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan (but don't worry - I've never attended a convention, and I don't speak much Klingon.) Usually, if a Star Trek episode gets my Christian radar fizzing it's because of its humanist worldview (Gene Rodenbery based the whole franchise on humanist principles). But this weekend I was watching an Enterprise DVD which left me shouting quite loudly at the screen...

(Quick summary of plot needed here - sorry!) In Season 3 of Enterprise, we see Captain Archer on a long mission to save earth from total destruction. In his need to 'do whatever it takes' to save the planet we watch him sacrifice his principles one after another. His wide-eyed naivety at captaining the first ever star ship is replaced by a hard ruthlessness as he fights, cheats and even tortures his way to success. Interesting to watch - and probably quite fun to act. At the beginning of Season 4, Archer is back on the newly saved earth, but struggling to come to terms with the way he achieved his mission. He hasn't lived up to his own principles. He can't reconcile himself to what he has become, and neither can he change himself back to who he was. This inner turmoil is producing emotions he can't control, and bursting out in self-destructive acts.

In Christian terms, Archer has come face-to-face with his own sinfulness. And his inability to do anything about it. Fascinating. How was a humanistic show going to handle this? Usually, the starting premise is that human beings have it within themselves to solve their problems - but Archer seemed to be failing on that one. So... How did it end? (This is going to be the spoiler - so don't read on if you're now desperate to watch the show!)

Archer went mountain climbing. (To find the hidden strength within himself? - if so, it didn't work.) But he wasn't alone. Another starship captain joined him - a woman. Archer is angry. Archer is having nightmares. Archer can't solve his problems. Until... He and she sleep together at the top of the mountain. And suddenly everything is allright! It was just a one-mountain fling - no permanent relationship here - but it has wiped away all of Archer's problems.

I know I shouldn't have been shocked. This is a common worldview for many, of course. But this was STAR TREK!! It left me wanting to talk to about it (hence this blog). And wanting to use it as a discussion starter. It's not appropriate for my current group (they're 5-8s!), but I'd love to discuss this with a group of teens: What impact does our sinful nature have on us? What solutions does the world offer? What does the gospel of grace say? You and I may not have tortured anyone in a bid to save our planet - but what joy to know that our own sinfulness has been wiped clean, totally forgiven, by our wonderful, gracious Lord. And surely we want our young people to know this joy too.