I think Star Trek is at its best when they lean into the “explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations.” This happens on the “away missions” and especially on ones when the question of whether the “prime directive” applies. Thus, the episode “New Eden” had both elements going for it and I enjoyed it very much.
In the story, the scriptwriters advance the “Red Burst” signal story line some more and raise questions about the role of faith in society.
First, a quick science inquiry about the “Red Burst” signals: are these light based phenomena?
Certainly, it seems so from the way they are described. Science nerds will know that light travels fast. Science nerds will also know that in the scale of the galaxy and interstellar space the distances are vast even at light speed!
Thus, if the latest “Red Burst” signal was determined to be ~ 50,000 light years away in the Beta Quadrant, and the Burst is a light based phenomena (like observing a supernova - an exploding star) then the burst was initiated 50,000 years earlier! This “Bat Signal” to come help these people living on “New Eden” would have taken place 49,800 years before the “Red Angel” whisked them away from Earth to park them on Terralisia.
Have the scriptwriters worked this into their story arc?
If the signals are intentional from some intelligence, then that intelligence would have to have a completely different perception of linear time. This is not new to Star Trek as this idea was leaned upon heavily in Deep Space Nine where the “wormhole aliens” or the “Prophets of Bajor” were not constrained by linear time.
The other interesting feature of the story was its discussion of religious faith. There are two points that could serve as a springboard for conversation.
One question could be: what is god?
There was a quick conversation by the cast and crew about how a sufficiently advanced technological race would be viewed by a less advanced race as god. This theme has appeared in a number of stories throughout Star Trek’s history. In any case, it is expected that god would be very powerful and capable and in those Star Trek stories those societies become dependent upon and often grossly distorted by that powerful god-like entity.
In addition to “power” and “might,” our understanding of god would also include goodness of character. The mythic Greek pantheon of gods had powers of various type but in the end they also had the foibles of humanity.
Will be interesting to see how this story arc plays out. What intelligence is behind the signals? What is the “Red Angel?” If the “Red Angel” could whisk away people from earth and park them 50,000 light years away, what is motivating them to be enlisting our Disco family in errands of mercy? We shall see how the writer’s room works out the role and nature of this “higher intelligence(s)” interacting with more ordinary species.
The other issue the episode raises is the notion of stitching together all the world’s religions into one that all the people on Terralisia can follow. Captain Pike, whose father was a science teacher and comparative religion teacher, observed that the people on New Eden has a faith that works for their society by merging all the faiths of earth. People often say: oh, aren’t all religions basically the same? They all want people to be good. And so it appears that the people on Terralisa have actualized this.
But is this somewhat simplistic story telling on the part of the script writers?
Certainly, at a superficial level, there are many similarities between the major religious faiths. However, upon closer examination, there are differences that would not be easy to paper over.
To cite just one: in the non-theistic faiths of Hinduism and Buddhism, the central claim is karma. Briefly, karma is the concept that one’s current life was impacted by the sins of one’s prior life in a series of reincarnations. In the Christian faith that I hold, the central claim is that Christ died for our sins and was resurrected from the dead for our salvation.
The religion project of New Eden would only work if all the faiths merged together were pruned of their major differences prior to putting them all together.
#StarTrekDiscovery
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