{"id":3494,"date":"2011-07-18T10:34:20","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T16:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/?p=3494"},"modified":"2011-07-18T10:34:20","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T16:34:20","slug":"star-trek-and-paganism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/","title":{"rendered":"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the joke, Llewellyn was the Borg, but Witch School might make as amusing a candidate nowadays.<\/p>\n<p>Jokes aside, I think there are a lot of similarities between Modern Paganism and the <em>Star Trek <\/em>canon. The United Federation of Planets, and it\u2019s exploration\/peacekeeping\/diplomatic arm Starfleet, aims to promote peace, justice, liberty, cooperation, and by it\u2019s actions, tolerance towards all people.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3495\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3495\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-3495\" href=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/2011\/07\/18\/star-trek-and-paganism\/the_next_generation_main_cast_season_1\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3495\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/files\/2011\/07\/The_Next_Generation_Main_Cast_Season_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"313\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3495\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Strength in Diversity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Federation\u2019s goal is not to change the cultures it encounters, even those within it\u2019s republic. The goal of the Federation is not to promote human values on alien civilizations, or to civilize aliens according to human standards. Starfleet keeps the peace, encouraging different races and species to live and let live and leading the way for advancing knowledge of the universe.<\/p>\n<p>Paganism\u2019s goal is for all faiths to live in peace together, for religious freedom for all and for spiritual knowledge and understanding to be readily available. When you consider all the religions falling under the Pagan umbrella, particularly when you use the term in it\u2019s broadest sense, Paganism as a movement contains at least as many religions as the Federation contains planets.<\/p>\n<p>The Federation makes mistakes, and sometimes the Prime Directive isn\u2019t followed to the letter. Sometimes it happens that the Federation butts in on a primitive civilization or has to take military measures to prevent injustice. Sometimes toes get stepped on, sometimes you end up on the wrong side of the neutral zone and sometimes you\u2019re just plain wrong.<\/p>\n<p>We have a choice. We can remain separate. We can each form our own boundaries and defend them ourselves, or we can cooperate in the name of liberty. Like the Federation, we can work together, knowing we will make mistakes but that ultimately our higher ideals will always prevail. There is no problem that we cannot solve better together, and no Pagan leader that doesn\u2019t have a Spock, McCoy, Sulu and Uhura backing them up.<\/p>\n<p>Conflict is nothing more than a test of character, and just like in space, in a world where religious freedom is a precious thing, we need each other to survive.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the joke, Llewellyn was the Borg, but Witch School might make as amusing a candidate nowadays. Jokes aside, I think there are a lot of similarities between [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[331,492,862,2701,951,1023,1285,1298,2711,1388,1459,1646,1648,1734,1786,1826],"class_list":["post-3494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paganism","tag-character","tag-diversity","tag-ideals","tag-interfaith","tag-justice","tag-liberty","tag-pagan","tag-pagan-values","tag-paganism","tag-prime-directive","tag-religious-freedom","tag-star-trek","tag-starfleet","tag-the-federation","tag-tolerance","tag-united-federation-of-planets"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PANTHEON\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-18T16:34:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/files\/2011\/07\/The_Next_Generation_Main_Cast_Season_1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Star Foster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Star Foster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/\",\"name\":\"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-18T16:34:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-18T16:34:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d\"},\"description\":\"We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/\",\"name\":\"PANTHEON\",\"description\":\"Where Star Foster Attempts To Be Clever Regarding All Things Pagan\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d\",\"name\":\"Star Foster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Star Foster\"},\"description\":\"Southern polytheist in the Midwest.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/author\/star-foster\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek","description":"We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek","og_description":"We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/","og_site_name":"PANTHEON","article_published_time":"2011-07-18T16:34:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/paganportal\/files\/2011\/07\/The_Next_Generation_Main_Cast_Season_1.jpg"}],"author":"Star Foster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Star Foster","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/","name":"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-07-18T16:34:20+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-18T16:34:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d"},"description":"We all know the jokes. Heathens are Klingons, Recons are Vulcans, and oh, there are a lot of choices for the Borg nowadays. Back when I first heard the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2011\/07\/star-trek-and-paganism\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Paganism: What We Can Learn From Star Trek"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/","name":"PANTHEON","description":"Where Star Foster Attempts To Be Clever Regarding All Things Pagan","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d","name":"Star Foster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Star Foster"},"description":"Southern polytheist in the Midwest.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/author\/star-foster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}