JW's and star trek?

bboyneko

Why are there so many star trek refferences among x-jw's? Like the BORG getting assimilated, etc. I heard before that star trek was very popular in bethel despite warnings not to watch it. Does this have something to do with it?

Princess

Have you ever watched Star Trek? The Borg say "resistance is futile, you will be assimilated." Notice any similarities with the JWs?

Princess

mustang

Good question, bboyneko. And a paradox is presented.

I recall lot's of interest in StarTrek B4 I left. That was way B4 TNG, definitely B4 Voyager and the Borg. Oops, the Borg got Piccard in TNG, OK.

I recall those after I left saying that it got real popular, especially w/ the younger generation, Elders included. And I got a lecture (and shepherding call from an Older) about my ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION/SCIENCE FACT tm subscription!!! BTW, I went into aerospace and actually touched shuttle stuff.

Anyway, at some gatherings in homes, most would go into rapt attention over ST, and a hush would occur in the room w/ the TV while the episode played. At one of these gatherings, once, I heard a brother comment, "I wonder if our spaceships will be like that?"

The inference was that the Dubs would eventually go into space!!! It would be "our" manifest destiny. Say What!!!???

Someone who would preach against the system, decry the education required to further the developemnt of all that necessary space technology and then expect the world to just 'hand over the keys' to Cape Kennedy/Canaveral and those shuttles or other space ships boggles the mind??!! Its arrogance squared, w/ a side of audacity.

These characters couldn't build or develop them, but they expected to inherit all this. Right!!!

Anybody else notice this???

Mustang
Hands-on technocrat

bboyneko

Well once there was a brother who gave a talk, he was from betehel I think (Our congregation was only 4 hours from bethel so we got a lot of visiting bethel speakers..and they would be always be viewed as 'better' than any other speaker) and he said that since everyone would live forever, and noone would die out, maybe Jehovahs intends to make the other planets inhabitable so that we could start colonizing Mars and stuff..he said it was purely speculative but that it was an idea. So yeah, JW's have a facination with the future and space travel and stuff. I think the brother you talked about thought that Jehovah would help us develop advanced technology quickly so that we could explore space. But yeah maybe the ideals of starfleet (no hunger, war, greed, money, the world at peace united under one overnment) was similair to the beleifs already held

worf

As you mentioned, one of the biggest references from Star Trek has to do with the Borg.On the old h20 board you would have also seen references to the Society such as "Borganization".
This is also because the Borg race in Star Trek wanted to assimilate all other races.The Borg also claimed that they were the most perfect race and that all others were inferior.The Borg also allowed no independent thought among its members.All Borg were tied into one main
leader and their thoughts could be read by all members.If by some chance a borg started thinking independently(as a couple of well thought out episodes portrayed), they would be subject to being "adjusted" or "deactivated".
Sound familiar?
Personally I thought the Borg episodes were a good example of what all authoritarian religious organizations do to people, and an especially good example of the WTS.
There were a number of episodes from all four Star Trek series which portrayed similar things about authoritarian organizations, religious and political and believe me you can see the WTS in all of them.
Check out "Return Of The Archons" from the first series and "The Masterpiece Society" from TNG. Very interesting.
I would say that the above are some reasons why there are so many references to Star Trek.
worf

BoozeRunner

I think Worf said it all!!!
Wassup Worf? Nice to see ya :-)

Boozy...

Introspection

Well, I'd imagine that after a while you'd be bored silly living forever in paradise. I mean what is there to do? The earth being a finite space after a while you'll have done all there is to do.

"It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

mustang

Welcome aboard, Worf; long time, no see.

I agree w/ your conclusions and that the Borg is the penultimate example of a controlled environment. There is little doubt that WTS would have it that way, if possible.

Not that I disagree with you, but I noted a strong fascination w/ 'Trekking' BEFORE the existence of the Borg as shown in TNG.

Bboyneko; yes, perhaps it's not the time or place for it, but some attitudes would really have to change to develop or even 'assimilate' the infrastructure required for space-faring. We are nowhere near close to being really sophisciated at it. That includes man-CENTURIES and giga-bucks of NASA efforts.

It's one thing to posit/postulate a massive zot/zap of holy-spirit?? and stuff magically appears. Its another to drive it, repair it or make the necessary adjustments and field expedient modifcations on the fly.

It is also difficult to simply jump in and use technology dropped in your lap. There is training and maintenance to worry about. Without a proper infrastructure, you couldn't even copy or "build stuff under license".

How do I get a 10,000 transistor IC made from a place that can't even do steel, being only in the Iron Age? (Remember Kirk's episode w/ "more snakes for the garden of Eden, Scotty"? That's not to mention "iso-linear circuits"; I can't seem to find those at Radio Shack, either.

That infrastructure means education. Somebody's gonna have to change a policy to get where this leads. Brooklyn ain't up to it.

So, ST & others (particularly Borg episodes) have become a social commentary. This was something I noticed from my old favorite, Analog magazine, anyway.

Mustang

spider

I seem to remember reading a society publication brought out in the eighties.I think it was called the Peace book or maybe my memory is playing tricks.It was red....anyway - It was the only book I remember ever suggesting that after Armageddon we might collenate other planets.I was quite excited about it at the time.
Now, after all that you just said I wonder if the writer was just watching a bit too much sci-fi.

Bendrr

I watched the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation and just didn't care for it too much; I always called it "Liberals In Space". I substitute "The Empire" for "The Borg", being a Star Wars fan.
As a side note, the Star Wars books are getting a little tired now. Chewbacca gets killed, Han and Leia settle down with 3 kids, and I was starting to think Luke Skywalker was gay until he married Mara Jade. I kinda suspected her, too.
mike.

"Well done, Blind Squirrel! You've found an impressive nut!

JW's and star trek?

Share this