I. Relate the quote from Roddenberry to the 1 Corinthians citation that opens the chapter, (p. 77).

II. Notice that Linford believes the attitude toward religion in DS-9 has changed--(on the surface at least). AS WE WATCH THE HOMEFRONT (& SEQUAL) EPISODES, WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?

III. FAITH:

A. Based on your knowledge of the series, how are the religious protocols different in DS-9?. As a refresher, recall how Berman and Piller reacted to the "Roddenberry vision."

B. Examine Linford’s analysis of the religion of the Prophets as it relates to Major Kira and Capt. Sisko. Are Siko’s roles as Emissary and Star Fleet officer in conflict?

C. What does PAGH mean? (p. 78)

D. Instructor’s Note: By the Seventeenth century, in part due to ethical subjectivism and technological advances, changes occurred in Christian epistemology. Both the Protestant Reformation and the dissemination of literature and pamphlets (Caxton’s printing press,(1422-1491) forced reevaluations of traditional belief systems. Philosophical / literary explications can be found in the rationalist (Descartes) vs. empiricists (Locke), controversy on the nominalist / realist controversy, and in Milton’s On Christian Doctrine. Note also John Donne’s comments on the macrocosm. Consult the web sites (British Literature and Philosophy) and read the provided primary sources. Correlate your findings with the present investigation.

E. There is a familiar ST theme dramatized: in TOS and TNG what are “gods” from the UFP’s point of view? Does Sisko believe the same about the Prophets?

IV. ANALYSIS:

A. Linford raises the issue of a nondenominational Christian--is it possible to adhere to a belief system without espousing a particular religious metaphysics? John Locke's views might be of interest here.

B. Examine pages 80 - 81 carefully: what is the difference between religion and religiosity?

IV. UTOPIA:

A. Instructor's Note: What does UTOPIA mean? A full consideration of the concept may be found in Plato’s Republic, wherein Socrates attempts to construct an ideal state to correspond with the three elements of the soul. You should note what Plato believes vs. his persona , Socrates--hence the term “Socratic irony.”

B. A convention of science-fiction of course is to posit utopias: other planets (or islands on earth) offer opportunities for writers to hypothesize dialectically; thus we need a dysutopia, and the genre has offered both:

1. More’s Utopia--note Linford’s comment on page 83
2. Shakespeare’s The Tempest--made into a science fiction movie
3. Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels--Book IV is especially important
4. Shelley’s Frankenstein--the perfect man / man as creator
5. Huxley’s Brave New World --the title comes from The Tempest
6. Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451--the future of technology
7. Miller A Canticle for Leibowitz--are we doomed to repeat it all over again--what does ‘It’ mean, and what would Roddenberry think?

C. Linford defines the ST utopia on page 83--do you agree with his stipulations enough to make the series the eighth utopian entry.

V. Linford believes that ST of DS-9 moved away from technology in so far as Berman and Piller decided to dramatize a ‘darker side’ of the UFP. Ironically this would reverse the Enlightenment concept of progress in the 18th C. Is perfection possible on earth, and is scientific humanism both a necessary and sufficient condition for achieving the dream?

VI. Linford mentions several DS-9 episodes that dramatize a religious perspective different from TOS and TNG: Each episode dramatizes the dialectic Sisko must reconcile--his dual roles as Star Fleet Officer and Emissary of the Prophets...Do you see a thematic progression from season to season?

A. In the Hands of the Prophets--season one--this episode is extensively analyzed; what pedagogical / moral issues are dramatized?

B. Emissary--seasone one--in this pilot episode for DS-9, what do Berman and Piller dramatize regarding the relationship between science and religion? They later noted that dramatizing religious issues would have (unforeseen) implications for future episodes. Religion became central to the meaning of DS-9.

C. Destiny--season three--what relationship must exist according to Sisko between prophecy and scientific experimentation?

D. Accession--season four--Sisko would appear more comfortable if he were just a Star Fleet Officer and not the Emissary. Does this episode sustain that conviction? Why?

E. Rapture-season five-does the "metaphysical mysticism" articulated in this episode provide a belief system that transcends science?

VII. MESSIAH:

Sisko in Destiny seems to take the perspective of the renaissance humanist (Galileo), arguing that one’s religious beliefs should not retard scientific experimentation. Is the purpose of the wormhole experiment to validate that the Prophets are aliens; not gods? This recalls a favorite ST theme going back to Kirk’s proving that god are merely supercomputers, (The Return of the Archons, for example) , and Picard goes to great lengths in Who Watches the Watchers to explain divinity in terms of technological sophistication.


VIII. RESPECT:

A. In this section, Lanford regards DS-9’s treatment of religion “problematic.” (p. 93). What does he mean?

B. Instructor’s comment. The difficulty here is one that confronted the empirical assault on scholasticism by Bacon, for example. Bacon argued (NOVUM ORGANUM) that we must renounce preconceptions and become acquainted with things. (“empirical observation") Interestingly, he uses a religious emblem / metaphor to discuss four errors in epistemology that he defines as idols:

1. the tribe--innate human prejudices
2. the den--prejudices specific to the individual
3. the market place--language that ignores the reality it defines
4. the theater--false systems of philosophy (scholasticism).

C. The first commandment prohibits false gods, or idols--there is only one true God. What issue discussed by Linford is reflected here? Does the ST universe reject any belief system that claims absolute infallibility as a false idol? In the new millennium, will science’s task be to reject any dogma than cannot be validated empirically?

D. Read Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin and Einstein. What did they have to say about God and science? How relevant is deism?

IX. MODELS:

A. Is "God" God or an alien?

B. How would the Greeks of Homer's Iliad view the space shuttle, or a paramedics' technology that seems to bring one back from the dead? What was Kirk's answer?

C. Aristotle spoke of necessary and sufficient conditions. Is religion a necessary and / or sufficient condition for survival?