MAKE IT SO
Personal Values & the "Star Trek" Universe
Thursdays @ 5 pm at the Ecumenical Center
Do YOU like Star Trek......then this program is for you!
When the
first episodes of Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” graced the television screens
of homes in the mid 1960’s no one had any idea how influenti
al a program it
would become. Not only has the program introduced several phrases into the
American lexicon, like “Beam me up, Scotty!” it has contributed much to
advances in technology. The MP3, cell phones and many other technologies have
come about because of the fictional technology used by the crew of the U.S.S.
Enterprise.
What lies
beneath the show’s surface, however, is a program which lays a blueprint for
what humanity can achieve and how it can achieve it. Roddenberry envisioned a
future not ravaged by war, but one where humans eliminated problems like
hunger, poverty and the need to accumulate material wealth. In Roddenberry’s
future, human beings’ primary goal was to better themselves by using their
talents to reach their full potentials.
Despite
their “advanced sensibilities,” the characters in “Star Trek” still find themselves
dealing with ethical dilemmas that plague the real world today. The show is
truly at its best when it confronts these situations head on and gives the
viewer a chance to wrangle with the question or situation him or herself.
“Make It So” is a discussion-based program focusing on the moral and ethical dilemmas
confronted by the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in “Star Trek: The Next
Generation.” Of all the “Star Trek” series, STTNG is perhaps the one which
finds the crew engaged in the most challenging situations and having to make
difficult choices. These situations and choices are the most representative of
situations faced by modern day men and women.
Participants meet once a week and watch an episode
of STTNG. The participants watch each episode in sequence and
eventually work their way through the entire
series. After each episode, the group is guided by a group leader
through
a reflective discussion. Participants are asked to discuss certain
aspects
of the episode, the choices made by the characters and their ethical
and moral
implications. Through these discussions, participants will have an
opportunity
to look within themselves and understand their own value systems and
why they
believe what they believe.
