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Many Christians, like Wainer, are fans of the Star Trek universe. One appealing quality of the series, he writes, "is that the Christian imagination, often badly in need of an embodied cultural vision that can reinforce its call to a virtuous life, has uses for something like Star Trek.At its best the franchise evokes a wonder at God's creation and hints at universal truths that transcend cultures."

So Star Trek should be saved—if it is given something worthy to say such as "journeys that mirror the inward adventure of the human soul toward a reality not of this world," Wainer writes.

But will this happen? It could, he argues, but it depends on Christians. Unlike most television programs, Star Trek has had an open submission policy for writers to pitch stories. "One hopes the small but growing body of Christian writers who are committed to being good writers will step through [the open doors of opportunity]," Wainer writes.

Meanwhile, National Review Online Editor Jonah Goldberg feels Star Trek has run its course.

"As anyone who's tuned in knows, much of Next Generation and all of Voyager were suffused with touchy-feely environmental and sexual themes; an emphasis on diplomacy over self-confident unilateralism; too much character development and too little exploration; and various potshots at American culture, particularly capitalism," Goldberg recently wrote in his review of Enterprise. "As even Brannon Braga, the series' co-creator, admitted, 'We had moved away from the essence of Star Trek.'"

But Goldberg feels Enterprise may be the cure. At any rate, he says, it is a good start. In a syndicated column about the history of the Star Trek franchise, Goldberg wrote: "Enterprise, with its rediscovered emphasis on "human" (read American) values and its revived enthusiasm for the thrill of exploration, is, to me, good news for … Trek fans and normal Americans alike."

Todd Hertz is assistant online editor for Christianity Today.

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January (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46