Star Trek franchise

2007-11-16T00:34:09Z

Freedomman: /* The Prime Directive */

[[Image:startrektoscast.jpg|thumb|right|The crew of the Enterprise from the original 1960s show.]]

'''Star Trek''' is an American TV series created by [[Gene Roddenberry]], which premiered on [[NBC]] September 8th, 1966 and ended June 3rd, 1969. The show featured a crew of space explorers traveling around the galaxy in a ''Constitution''-class starship called the ''USS Enterprise NCC-1701'', set in the 23rd century. It never caught on with late night viewers and was cancelled due to low ratings, but soon established a strong following in syndication that saw the show become much more popular than it had ever been in its original run. The original TV show became a franchise. Many different spin-offs of the original program have now been made, the last of which was a prequel with the original 'Enterprise' space ship.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Series Name
| Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)
| Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS)
| Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
| Star Trek: Voyager (VOY)
| Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT)
|-
| Original Air Dates
| 1966-1969
| 1973-1974
| 1987-1994
| 1993-1999
| 1995-2001
| 2001-2005
|-
| Number Of Episodes
| 80
| 22
| 178
| 176
| 172
| 98
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|Movie Name
|Star Trek: The Motion Picture
|Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
|Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
|Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
|Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
|Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
|Star Trek: Generations
|Star Trek: First Contact
|Star Trek: Insurrection
|Star Trek: Nemesis
|-
| Year of Release
| 1979
| 1982
| 1984
| 1986
| 1989
| 1991
| 1994
| 1996
| 1998
| 2002
|-
| MPAA Rating
| PG
| PG
| PG
| PG
| PG
| PG
| PG
| PG-13
| PG
| PG-13
|}

== Extraterrestrial life ==
The drama of the shows typically arises from the crew's contact with various forms of [[extraterrestrial life]], mostly [[humanoid]] but not all (e.g. the "Crystalline Entity"). In various ways, the [[premise]] of the [[ancient astronaut theory]] is used to assert the seeding of [[life]] throughout the [[galaxy]] as brought up in the TNG. (However, not to the overt extent of the later TV series, [[Stargate SG-1]].)

==Comments on Religion==

Star Trek: The Next Generation has numerous examples of anti-religion bias. Well-known examples include the 3rd season episode entitled "Who Watches the Watchers," where it is implied that an alien culture disgarding religious beliefs is a positive development. Religious parents may wish to be wary if their children watch "Who Watches the Watchers,". In the episode "Tapestry", Captain Picard dies and goes to the "afterlife" he makes a comment "The Universe is not so badly run." This suggests that perhaps the Captain believed there was a deity but he had never been exposed to a formal religion. However the majority of episodes remain agnostic on religion.

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 was heavily influenced by religion. The one of the major religions was; The Bajoran profets (sometimes called Wormhole Aliens), who existed in the celestial temple (normally called the Wormhole). Their purpose was to protect the Bajorans, and fight the evil spirits called Pah-wraiths. In the dominion the founders (shape-shifters) were believed to be (and treated as) gods (in the episode "The Ship" and many others). For klingons there was Sto-vo-kor (what they called heaven). Klingons coming to Sto-vo-kor meant that they had fought as honorable warriors in their life (as is seen in "Image in the Sand" and many others). The Ferangi had a religion in The Great River (as shown in "Faith, Treachery and The Great River"), which was similar to "[[The invisible hand]]" a phrase coined by [[Adam Smith]].

== The Prime Directive ==
Starfleet had The Prime Directive which said that they should not interfere with the natural progression of a species. It was a conservative idea but it was often ignored by Starfleet officers for moral reasons. There was also a Temporal Prime Directive which said that when going into the past (by various means) they should not try to alter the course of history. When someone from Starfleet (or not from starfleet) violated the directive officers were justified in working to stop, them as long as they did not violate the directive themselves.

== The Original Series ==

The main characters from the original series were:
*[[Captain Kirk]]
*[[Spock]]
*[[Dr. McCoy]]
*[[Scotty]]
*[[Sulu]]
*[[Uhuru]]
*[[Chekov]]

[[Category:Television shows]]
[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Science fiction]]

The God Delusion

2007-11-16T00:30:59Z

Freedomman: /* Childhood, Abuse and the Escape from Relgion */

'''''The God Delusion''''' is a "surprisingly intolerant" <ref>{{cite book
|quote=For a scientist who criticizes religion for its intolerance, Dawkins has written a surprisingly intolerant book, full of scorn for religion and those who believe.
|publisher=Publishers Weekly
|title=The God Delusion
|year=2006
|month=August
|url=http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618680004
|
}}</ref> book by the famous [[atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]].

==Contents==

In his book, Dawkins' main objectives are to convince his readers that the existence of [[God]] or any other [[deity]] is highly unlikely, that the Bible is incoherent, that morality does not come from religion, and that if religion does effect morality, it only does so negatively.

Dawkins also intends to teach that atheists can live happy, intelligent, lives - perhaps even happier lives than religious people. It asserts that atheists do not do evil things in the name of [[atheism]], while [[religion|religious]] people have been known to commit atrocities in the name of their religion.

=== Deeply Religious Non-Believer===
Dawkins attempts to establish Einstein as nonreligious, and to prove that religion is unworthy of respect.

===The God Hypothesis===
Dawkins explains the different kinds of religion, including the divide between [[Monotheism]] and [[Polytheism]]. He also asserts that the founding fathers of the USA were nonreligious. He continues to explain Secularism, Agnosticism, and some basic assertions of the religious.

===Arguments for God's Existence===
Dawkins summarizes some common proofs for God and attempts to debunk them.

===Why There Almost Certainly is No God===
Dawkins gives his reasons for believing that God is about as likely as "fairies living under his garden".

===The Roots of Religion===
Dawkins gives and explains some thoughts about the origins of religion that have been proposed by atheists.

===The Roots of Morality: Why are We Good?===
Dawkins explains why he believes that morality "evolved".

===The 'Good' Book and the Changing [[Moral Zeitgeist]]===
Dawkins suggests that morality does not come from religion, but rather a changing moral ''Zeitgeist''.

===What's Wrong With Religion? Why Be So Hostile?===
Dawkins shows why he believes that religion is evil and repressive.

===Childhood, Abuse and the Escape from Religion===
Dawkins explains why he believes that religion is "child abuse", and that the scars from the "indoctrination" last into adulthood and even the child's entire life.

===A Much Needed Gap?===
Dawkins concludes his book on a more positive level, giving inspiration to those whom he may have convinced to "de-convert" from their religion.

==Criticism==
''The God Delusion'' has been subject to a great deal of criticisms from the religious and the non-religious alike.

===Andrew Brown: Prospect Magazine===
{{Cquote|
"It has been obvious for years that Richard Dawkins had a fat book on religion in him, but who would have thought him capable of writing one this bad? Incurious, dogmatic, rambling and self-contradictory, it has none of the style or verve of his earlier works."<ref>http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7803</ref>
}}
Andrew Brown of Prospect Magazine was unimpressed by Dawkins' book. Brown calls atheism "unnatural" and points out that many atheists were violent in their belief (or lack thereof), citing Stalin killing members of the clergy.

Brown also attacks Dawkins' argument that suicide bombers are caused by religious schools. While Dawkins states that if these children were not taught what he calls "faith without question", suicide bombings would not be an issue. Brown, however, says that religion is not a necessity in suicide bombings. He points out that it is a tactic used by Marxists in Sri Lankav.

===Marilynne Robinson: Harper's Magazine===
<blockquote>
"There is a pervasive exclusion of historical memory in Dawkins's view of science. Consider this sentence from his preface, which occurs in the context of his vision of a religion-free world: 'Imagine . . . no persecution of Jews as 'Christ-killers.'"<ref>http://solutions.synearth.net/2006/10/20</ref>
</blockquote>

Robinson's major complaints about ''The God Delusion'' lie in how sheerly false the book is in many aspects. Although Dawkins claims that "the majority of us believe in free speech", she points out that most countries do not, pointing out that [[China]] (population 1.3 billion<ref>http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/chinapopulation.htm</ref>) does not. In her review, Robinson basically says that Dawkins purposefully ignored important parts of history in his attempt to convince his readers. "It's a shame," she says, "to see him reduced to one long argument from professorial incredulity."

===Terry Eagleton: London Review of Books===
<blockquote>
"Card-carrying rationalists like Dawkins [...] are in one sense the least well-equipped to understand what they castigate, since they don’t believe there is anything there to be understood, or at least anything worth understanding."
</blockquote>

===Alister McGrath: The Dawkins Delusion?===
''The Dawkins Delusion?'' is a response to Dawkins' ''The God Delusion'' by [[Alister McGrath]].

== Quotes from ''The God Delusion'' ==
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
::-Chapter 2

"I am one of an increasing number of biologists who see religion as a ''by-product'' of something else."
::-Chapter 5

"By contrast, what I, as a scientist, believe (for example, [[evolution]]) I believe not because of reading a holy book but because I have studied the evidence... Books about evolution are believed because they present overwhelming quantities of mutually buttressed evidence."
::-Chapter 8

"... [Moral absolutism] rules the minds of a great number of people in the world today, most dangerously so in the Muslim world and in the incipient American theocracy... Such absolutism nearly always results from strong religious faith, and it constitutes a major reason for suggesting that religion can be a force for evil in the world."
::-Chapter 8

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
*[http://www.richarddawkins.net RichardDawkins.net]

[[category:Book]]
[[category:Atheism]]

Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Star Trek franchise

The God Delusion