Star Trek Fandom as a Religious Phenomenon

Author(s): Michael Jindra

Source: Sociology of Religion, Vol. 55, No. 1, Religious Experience (Spring, 1994), pp. 27-51
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3712174 .
Accessed: 09/04/2014 12:36

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Oxford University Press and Association for the Sociology of Religion, Inc. are collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Sociology of Religion.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Soaology
ofReligron
1994,55:127-51

StarTrekFandomas a
ReligiousPhenomenon*

Michael
Jindra
University
ofWisconsin-Madison

Thisessayisanethnographic
exploration
ofStarTrekfandorn.Rather thanthemore common
textual
analyses
oftheprogram, this
article
examinesthehistory
andpracticeofthefansthemselves,
oncomputer networks,
atconsentionsandintourism,inUStarJleet"
fanclubsandinfanliterature.
Allthesefanactivities
canstruct
andaddtothealtemativeuniverse
ofStarTrekwhile alsoconnecting
itwiththepresent.
Ata timewhen scholars
arefinding
religion
innonconventionallocations,
I argue
thatStarTrekfandanisoneoftheselocations.
StarTrekfandorn
involves
a sacralization
ofelements
ofourculture,alongwiththefonnation ofcommunitieswithregularized
practicesthatincludea
"canon" anda hierarchy.
StarTrekfarXnisalsoassociated witha popular
stigma, givingfansa
senseofpersecution
andidentity
common toactive
religious
groups.

StarTrek(ST) fandom is a phenomenon unlikeanyother. Nowover25

yearsold,itoriginated
whentheoriginal StarTrektelevision
series
wasthreat-
enedwithcancellation after
itsfirstyear.Fansimmediatelysprangintoaction
witha letter-writing
campaign tokeepitgoing (Trimble1983).Whenitfinally
wascanceled after
itsthird
year, theshowwentintosyndication, andironically,
thatiswhenthe"fandom" phenomenon really
started
totakeoff.lThefirst
con-
ventionwasinNewYorkin1972.A centralized fanclearinghouse
organization,
theWelcommittee, wasestablished in 1972to introducefansto ST fandom
(VanHise1990;Bacon-Smith 1992).Atthistime, noncommercialfanmaga-
zines("fanzines")
werealready beingwritten;andbooks, manuals,andnovels
werepublished.
EffortstoreviveST broadcastsinsomeform continued.
Ananimated series
wasproduced from1973-1974, andin 1979thefirst ofthesix(atpresent)ST
movies wasreleased.In 1987StarTrek:TheNextGeneration (TNG) waspro-

* A version
ofthisarticle
was presentedat theCentralStates
Anthropologixl
Society
annualmeeting
at Beloit

College
inMarch,1993. Thisresearch
uas begun forananthropology
seminarbyPeter
Nabokov
at theUniversity
of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Thanks aredueto:Peter Nabokov, EmikoOhnaki-Tienzey,
VemVisick,
DavidYamane, the
anonymousSociology
ofReligion
reviewers
andeditor,tO graduate
students
tOOnumerous
tomention,
andtO themany
SturTrekfanswhotooktime withrnetO helpmeunderstand their
roleinths phenomenon.
AUresponsibility
forthe
interpretations
inthis
article
rests
withtheauthor.

1 Peopleidentify
themselvesaccording
tO certain
"fandoms,"
suchasTV andfilm
fandoms
(Quantum
Leap,Dr.Who,StarTrek,
etc.),science
fiction,
comic
books
andother
popculture
phenomena
(Bacon-Smith
1992:309).

27

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
28 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

ducedbyParamount forfirst-run syndication. Goingintoitsseventh seasonin

Fall1993,ithasachieved itshighestratings yet,often making itthetophour-
longshowamong males18-49years ofage,andalsoa top-rated showamong
otherviewercategories, including females.
No other popular culture phenomenon hasshown thedepth andbreadth of
or"productions'}
"creations" (inthebroadsenseof"cultural productions") that
StarTrekhas,bothofficially andunofficially. Thenumbers arestaggering: over
$500million inmerchandise soldoverthelast25years (Paikert 1991),over4
millionnovelssoldeveryyear(often bestsellers), dictionaries ofST alienlan-
guages,institutesthat study them, "fanzines" numbering in the thousands,hun-
dredsoffanclubs, conventions, on-line computer discussion groups,and tourist
plusofcourse
sites, theendless reruns,broadcast inover100countries. Captain
KirkandMr.Spock, thetwomaincharacters cBn theoriginal series(TOS),are
household names notonlyintheUnitedStatesbutinother English-speaking
as isthespaceship
countries, onwhich they travel,theErlterprise. Other popular
culturefadshavecomeandgoneovertheyears, butST recently celebrated its
anniversary
twenty-fifth andshows nosignofletting up.
Therehavebeennumerous explanations forthepopularity ofST. Newsweek
magazine (Leerhsen 1986)offered ninediKerent "theories" forthepopularity of
ST, rangingfrom howitplugged into"sixties" issues,tothe"family" feeling it
exudes.
A number of academics havefocused on the messages of theshow.
Anthropologist PeterClaus(1976),utilizing Levi-Straussian structuralism,ex-
amined themediation ofthenature/culture oppositions intheplots. Karen Blair
(1977),using CarlJung's morepsychological approach tooppositions, seesthe
mediation ofinternal oppositions suchas masculine/feminine, as in Spock's
conflictbetween mindandemotion. InaHark( 1979)regards eachstory as a
moral message, a lessononrelations with"outsiders" oronthedangers ofsuc-
cumbing tocomputerization.
Othershaveargued thatitssuccess isduetotheappealofthesevenoriginal
charactersandthedevelopment oftheir relationships (Paikert 1991:62).This,
however, isdisproved as a solereason bytheoverwhelming success ofthenew
withitsentirely
series, newsetofcharacters.
Recently, academics havebeguntoturntheir attention tothehard-to-ig-
norefansthemselves. Mostrecent work published onfandom hascomeoutofa
culturalstudies framework, which focuses onhowactivefansusetheshowfor
theirownpurposes. Fansare"textual poachers" (Jenkins 1992;Bacon-Smith
1992),whotaketheST universe andcreate works (stories,art,music, games)
thatallowthem todealwith socialissues (e.g.,feminism) intheprocess creating
.

commun1t1es.
a ternat1ve . .

Thisessayshares somefeatures withthislaterwork, butI willdeallargely

witha different bodyof theory comingOUt of thesociology of religion.
I willsetouttodemonstrate
Specifically, thatST fandom hasstrong affinities
witha religious-type movement. Drawing onrecent discussions conceming the
changing form and meaning ofcontemporary religion (Luckmann 1991; Swatos
1983;Wuthnow 1992),I willattempt toshowthatST fandom isonelocation in
which tofind religion inoursociety.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 29

METHODS
Theaboveexplanations attempt tolooktotheshowitself forexplanations
ofST'spopularity. I setout,ontheother hand, tolookatfan"culture" for
itself,
itisinthepractice ofthefansthatwebetter understandthenature ofanysocial
group. The ethnographic method (mainly interviews andparticipant/obser-
vation)provided bymy training in cultural anthropology allowed metounderS
takethiskindofstudy and,I would argue, isoneofthebestways understand
to
anygroup phenomenon, especially a rather onelikeST fandom.
diffuse
Having a familiarity withST fandom onlythrough occasional mediareports
ofconventions andso-called "trekkies," I wasquiteunprepared forwhatI found.
WhenI mentioned tofriends thatI wasundertaking thisproject, I wasdeluged
withnames ofpeople whowere"big"fansoftheshow. Almost everyone seemed
to knowsomeone whowasa serious ST fan.I struck upconversations with
strangers whoturned outtobefans. SoonI hadmore names offansthanI could
possibly interview.
Theeffort andimagination putintoST anditsuniverse impressed me.Itwas
much bigger thanI hadeverimagined. I went tothepublic library andtobook-
stores andfound a wholesection ofStarTrekSrelated materials, mostofwhich
were(ofcourse) checked out.Manuals, books, andnovels fillouttheST uni-
verse, offering Trekchronologies, descriptions ofother planets andaliens, and
detailed blueprints ofships.Therearenumerous guidesto fandom itselfand
memoirs written bythefounders ofthemovement, thosewhotried tokeepthe
original seriesontheair.Thereisa journal devoted tothestudy ofKlingon cul-
tureandcomplete dictionaries ofthree alienlanguages. Thepublished guides to
Trekmerchandise andmemorabilia listed somuch materialthatitwasimpossi-
bletotakeitallin.
I attended a localST convention andenjoyed severalhours ofconversation
withfansaboutST andwhytheylikedit.I wenttomeetings oflocalscience
fiction clubs.I wasalsointroduced toa ditferent kindof"community," thatof
thecomputer on-line networks, andquickly foundthere wasnowayI couldfol-
lowalloftheST talkonthesenets,forthevolume oftheST newsgroups ex-
ceeded1,000 messages every week.
I found thislatter type of"electronic" ethnography tobequiteunique. One
couldcallit "participant-observation," but withoutpostinganything on the net,
oneremains onlythetotal, anonymous observer.This observation isof a kind
thatisalmost idealifonewants toavoidthepostmodern problem theobserver
affecting theparticipants. It hasitsdisadvantages in that one cannot always
knowwho(gender, socialposition) issaying what,but spending time on the net
allowstheopportunity at leasttogetto"know" some of the more regular con-
tributors.
Eventhough everyone knows thatwhatheorshewrites isprobably being
readbythousands ofstrangers, thisfactissometimes forgottenintheanonymity
ofthemedium. Asa result thecomments aresometimes surprisinglyintimate, as
wewillseelaterinthisessay. I alsoposted a 28-questionquestionnaire ona net,
from which I received 33 responses, almost allofthem through electronic mail.
Thiskindofethnographic research offers immense opportunities forresearchers

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
30 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

toconductexplorations
intoallkinds ofcultural
phenomena,
fortheseon-line
services
contain
discussion
groupsfora variety
ofpopular
andspecialized
topics.
STARTREKASA RELIGIOUS
PHENOMENON?
WhenI undertook thisresearch,
myfirstintentionwastofocus onhowST
drawsa picture
ofthefuture thatisattractive
tomany Americans. Butearly
onI
realized
I wasdealingwithsomething muchbigger andmore complex thanI had
anticipated.
StarTrekwasnotlimited toscience fictionfans,norwasitjusta
popculture phenomenon createdforcorporate profit,
as willbe madeclearby
thisessay.
StarTrekfandom seemed akintosomekindofmovemerlt.2 Itcertainly
was
nota political
movement, butithadpolitical aspects.
Itwassomething broader
thanthat,morelikea religious movement. Atfirstthought thisseemsrather
ludicrous,
forST isa TV show.Andyetas I looked at itfurther,ithadfeatures
thatparalleleda religious-type
movement: an originmyth, a setofbeliefs,
an
organization,
andsomeofthemostactiveandcreative members tobe found
anywhere.
Itistheactivitiesofthesefansthatwilltakecenterstageinthisarticle.
To
addressST asa religious
phenomenon, however, wefirstneedtounderstand the
placeofreligioninoursociety,
howitischanging, andwhatitischanging into.
RELIGIONIN CONTEMPORARY
AMERICANSOCIETY
The"folk" definition
ofreligion,thatis,howmost Americans thinkofreli-
gion,isthatofa system ofprivate,conscious andarticulated beliefs
setofffrom
theother "spheres"
oflifesuchaswork, politics orleisure.Thisviewofreligion,
however, resultedfrom thepeculiarly Western process ofsocietal "differen-
tiation"(Tschannen 1991),whereinstitutional religion wasgivena specific
function.In themedieval era,forinstance, religiouspractice wasintimately
connected toeverydaylife.Sincethen, however, thepractice ofChristianity
has
oftenbecome "abstracted,"
ordisconnected from everyday life(Asad1983:245).
Asa resultwetendtolimit religiontoitsinstitutional andconfessional form,as
seeninthedenominations, ortoa setofprivatized religiousbeliefsthatareonly
peripherally
connected toa person'spublic life(Bellahet al. 1985).Theviewof
religion
asprivateandconscious alsoseverely circumscribes ourunderstandingof
it.MirceaEliadewrites, "To theWestern mind, whichalmost automatically
relates
allideasofthesacred, ofreligionandevenofmagic tocertainhistorical
formsofJudeo-Christian religious
life,
alienhierophanies must appearlargely
as
aberrations"
(1958:10-11).It isalsoimportant tonotethatone'sreligion need
notbearticulatedas belief,butismoreoften anongoing experience, livedout
andtaken forgranted(Pouillon 1982).

2 Usingthetermreligiousmovement"follows
therecent
trend
inreligious
studies
away fromtheterm
"cult"or"sect"
with theiroften
contradictory
definitions
andpejorative
connotations.
"Religious
movements"
alsoallowsfora broaderdefinition
ofreligion
thatavoids
theWesternmodel
ofreligion,
alongthelinesof
Asad'scomments ( 1983
).

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 31

"DisFised"
Religion

Without andconfessional
itsinstitutional form, weoften failtorecognize
religionin ourownsociety, or as ThomasLuckmann putsit,it becomes
"disguised" undervarious politicalorcultural forms(Luckmann 1991:169).
Religion"isdifferentfrom whatitwasinthepast"(Swatos1983:329). Oras
RobertBellahstates, "theDurkheimian notion thatevery group hasa religious
dimension, which would beseenas obvious insouthern oreastern Asia,isfor-
eignto us.Thisobscures therecognition ofsuchdimensions inoursociety"
(Bellah1974:41, n.1). Eliadeargues that"wemustgetusedto theroleof
recognizing hierophanies absolutely everywhere, inevery areaofpsychology,
economics, andsociallife"
spiritual ( 1958:11).
Where inoursociety canweseereligious elements?Inmany people'sminds,
theworld hasbecome "disenchanted" ofgods, ancestral
spirits
andnature deities,
"menhavebecome likegods"andscience "offersustotalmastery overourenvi-
ronment andoverourdestiny" (LessaandVogt1979:413, citingEdmund
Leach).Thismodern-day religion
isexpressed inmany areasofourculture, in-
cludingpopular culture,asinthecaseofST,I willargue.
Thisisnotaneasyargument tomake, for"thevery manner inwhich reli-
giousconcepts areheldandexpressed leavestheminherently ambiguous and
somewhat ambivalent" (LessaandVogt1979:413). Religiouschange isnotsim
plya matter of"belief" or"disbelief" ora "shiftinbeliefs,"butrather, itisa
"complex interplay ofbalanceandproportion between conviction andskepti-
cism,andseriousness andmerediversion" (LessaandVogt1979:414). This
makes religion tolocateandmeasure."
"difficult
Religion's
Strerlgth

Thomas Luckmann argues isstillstrong

thatreligion inWestern in
society,
opposition to thosewhosee itssteady andeventual demise.He arguesthat
religion"asa partofhuman lifehadnever weakened andthat,in
substantially
fact,itremained embedded in thelivesofordinary people,evenin modern
industrial
societies"
(Luckmann 1991:169,179).
ofWestern
The"secularization" societydoesmeantheremoval to
ofreligion
itsownseparate butalso,Luckmann
sphere, argues, itsreplacementwithan
emergent form bestdescribed
ofreligion, astheprivatization Anex-
ofreligion.
emplar ofthisisthe"NewAge"movement, which rejects interms
organization
andinstead
ofbiginstitutions, the"notion
cultivates ofnetworks,"whichallow
theformation of"commercially culticmilieus,
exploitable which arecharacter-
izedbyvaried-generally weak forms [T]heNew
ofinstitutionalization....
Ageandsimilar magical
ofa holistic,
representatives world viewsupplyindivid-
ualsearchers withthebricks andsomestraw forfurther individualbricolage"
(Luckmann 178).
1991:176,
Religious inother
practice, words, onnotonlyinlarge
iscarried institutions,
butincreasingly networks,
insmaller withfeatures andpracticesthatvaryfrom
placetoplace,butwitha commonality oftenfostered bycommercialization.
Kenneth Thompson arguesthatsymbolic communities are a partof the

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
32 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

"sacralization"thatresists processesofsecularization.
Thesecommunities be-
comesacred totheextent theyare"sociallytranscendent,"
thatis,marked off
from "themundane world ofeveryday routine"(Thompson 1990:179).
Thises-
saywillseektodemonstrate thatST fandom isamong thechief
locations
ofthis
kindofreligious practice andforms a typeof"symboliccommunity"thatidenti-
fiesitself
in opposition to the"mundane" (in thewordsoffansthemselves)
world ofnon-ST fans.
First,
however, I willlookatST asa fixed setofconsciously
maintainedbe-
liefs.
Thisis inpartthe"folk'conception ofreligioninourownsociety,as a
fixedsetofconsciously maintained beliefs.
SomeST fansdo adhereto ST
"philosophies" (Paulson1991),andothers aresimplyattracted
bytheworld it
portrays,
a reflection ofdominant American cultural
themes(Kottak1990).For
both,however, thecontent ofST provides themwithan orientationto the
world,andtoits(our)future.
SOMETHINGTO "BELIEVE"IN: THE WORLDVIEWOF STARTREK

ST,ofcourse, isto a certainextent a subset ofthelarger categoryofscience

fiction. Frederick Kreuziger callsscience fiction a religion
inAmerica, withits
"central myth" ofprogress "which helpspeoplelivein or intothefuture"
( 1986:84).It isa universalizing faith,meant forall peopleeverywhere. Much
science fiction doesnot allowforthepossibility thatpeoplemayoptoutofthe
type ofsociety envisioned bywriters,foritisassumed allwillhappilyparticipate
in it.Scienceandtechnology arethevehicles bywhichthisfuture willbe
brought intoexistence, "andshould be understood inreligiousterms" as that
which 'sbreathes newlifeintohumankind" ( 1986:15).
Therehavebeentwomaingenres ofsciencefiction, theutopian andthe
apocalyptic (1986:100). ST fallssolidly intotheutopian category. ST history
shows thatwaronEarth eventuallystopped} andnations andplanets joinedto-
gether ina "United Federation ofPlanets" forwhich theEnterpriseisanambas-
sador, explorer anddefender. This"positive viewofthefuture" isoneofthe
most popular reasons fansliketheshow, as they oftenstatethemselves. William
Tyre(1977)seesinST themythic theme ofparadise,onethatlinks pastand
present, orthatdisguises thepastaspresent. ST embodies thesymbols, ideasand
ways offeeling orarguments about themeaning ofthedestiny itsmembers share,
one thatis uniformly positive.AprilSelley(1990) sees in ST:TNG an
Emersonian typetranscendentalism thatisa sortof"naturalism" basedonthe
power ofscience andhumanity's manipulation ofit.Faithisplacedinthepower
ofthehuman mind, inhumankind, andinscience. OnST,threats arenormally
from alienforces, asproblems suchaspoverty andwaranddisease onearth have
beeneliminated. Somehavecriticized the'sarrogance" ofTNGbecause offre-
quentreference madeontheshowtohowfartheyhave"advancedf' overtheir
earth ancestors.
EvenStarTrekwriter anddirector NicholasMeyer statesthat"ST has
evolved into a sort ofsecular paralleltotheCatholic Mass.Thewords ofthe
Massremain constant,butheaven knows, themusic keepschanging. . . . ItshuS

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 33

manism remains a buoyant constant. Religion withouttheology. Theprogram's

karma routinely runs overitsdogma" (1991:50).
StarTrekispartofAmerican mythology, similartothefrontier myth and
theTV show"Westerns" thatexemplified it.Anthropologist Conrad Kottakar-
guesthatST is "a summation ofdominant American cultural themes ...a
transformation ofa fundamental American origin myth" thatdoesnotresonate
inallsocieties ( 1990:101-6).
Thismythic element ofST isexplored morefully (butproblematically at
times; seeJenkins 1992:13)inTheAmerican Monomyth, which compares con-
temporary myths seeninAmerican popular culturewiththeheroicmyths of
which Joseph Campbell wasfond ofspeaking (JewettandLawrence 1987:33).
ST popreligion takesa central placeinthisexposition. Theauthors examine
howtheStarTrekmythology ofprogress, discovery, science andegalitarianism is
deeply ingrained inourculture, anditisthesenotions weseektotransmit to
others through theworld (Dolgin andMagdoff 1976;Kottak 1990).ST exempli-
fiesthisona literally universalscale.
One cannottalkofcentral American values,religion ormyths, without
seeing "progress" at thecenter ofthem(Lasch1991).Theorigin ofnotions of
progress hasitself beena major issue, withphilosophers engaging inlengthy and
complex arguments overTheLegiiimacy oftheModem Age(Blumenberg 1983).
Progress underlies oureconomic policy ("development") andiscentral inour
politics, especially inelection years,whenthepolitical rhetoric extols thegreat
"potential" oftheAmerican people. Itisgenerally agreed thatJimmy Carter
lost
the1980election when he spoke of a "moral malaise"in America, incontrastto
Ronald Reagan's endlessly upbeat message ofAmerican progress andprosperity.
ST mixes thescientific andtechnical idealsofAmerica withitsegalitarian
ideology to produce a progressiveworld where peoplefrom all raceswork to-
gether ina vastendeavor toexpand knowledge. Thefollowing waswritten bya
fanaboutthefirst public viewing ofST,ata World ScienceFiction convention
in 1966:"Wenoticed peopleofvarious races,genders andplanetary origins
working together. Herewasa future itdidnothurtto imagine. Herewasa
constructive tomorrow formankind, emphasizing exploration andexpansion"
(Asherman 1989:2).
Religion often points ustoanother world; ST doesthesame.Aswewillsee
below, thisworld isambiguously realtomany ST fans.Inthiswayitisnotdif-
ferent from thetradition ofChristian eschatology thatsees,inthecontext ofa
linear history,a future perfection.Variations onthistheme havebeenadapted
bymany other Western philosophies, suchasorthodox Marxism.
Indeed, theutopian element inWestern thought goesbacka longway,to
theearlysixteenth century, andtheimmediate post-Columbian period.The
utopias ofThomasMoreandothers werecreated in thisperiod, incomple-
mentary opposition withtheanarchy and disorder of conceptions of the
"savage." Alsotiedinwithutopian impulses istheWestern notion of"order"out
of whichcamethe"project" of theWest,thatof universal assimilation
(Trouillot 1991:32).On theheelsofthisimpulse havecomea number of
utopian religiousmovements (Hobsbawm 1979),anditisthisculture-wide ideoS
logical inclination uponwhich ST fandom draws.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
34 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

Thepopularity oftheoptimistic, progressiveviewoftheworld hasbeen

much stronger thantheapocalyptic, pessimisticview.Therehavebeenpopular
SF moviesintheapocalyptic vein(e.g.,Bklde Rurzeer)buttheinitial drawof
thesemovies didnotcoalesce into the popular universe created by the fansof
ST.Therehavecontinually beensegments ofsocietythatholdtothepessimistic
viewofthefuture (which alsogoesbacktoBiblical apocalyptic thought), but
thishasalways beena minority viewinthetwentieth century, heldbysegments
onboththeleft andright ofthepolitical scale.Thevastcultural acceptance of
ST demonstrates themythical resonanceofa future universe-wide utopia.
ThatST hasprogress anda "positive viewofthefuture" ascentral themes is
inwriting
reaffirmed byST fansthemselves (Lichtenberg et al. 1975; Gerrold
1984)andvery directlybyitS latefounder GeneRoddenberry, "themanwho
createdanAmerican myth." In 1991,justmonths before hedied,a 30-page in-
terviewwithRoddenberry waspublished inTheHumanist, theofficial magazine
oftheAmerican Humanist Association,towhichRoddenberry hadbelonged
since1986.Intheinterview hereveals thathehada very conscious humanist
philosophythatsawhumans takingcontrol oftheirowndestiny, theirabilityto
controlthefuture.Roddenberry's intention wastoexpress hisphilosophy inST,
buthehadtokeepthisintention secretlestthenetwork pulltheplugonhim
(Alexander 1991).
likeRoddenberry,
Others, haveusedST toexpress theirphilosophy publicly.
Millshastaught
Jeffrey courses atvarious collegesonthe"cultural relevance of
StarTrek."He points to the Prime Directive(forbiddinginterference in another
theVulcanphilosophy
culture), ofIDIC (Infinite Diversity inInfinite Combi-
nation),andthegoverning structureoftheUnited Federation ofPlanets asthe
kindsofideasuponwhich weneedtoactifwearetosurvive intothetwentieth
century.Bywatching ST,studying itandapplying itslessons, wecanmakethe
worlda better place,Millshaswritten. "[I]nthislightStarTrekalmost becomes
ofscripture,
a sort doesn't it?WhattheBibledoesin66books, StarTrekdoesin
79 episodes.... I can'tthinkofa seriesthatreally spoketo thefuture of
humankind withas muchclarity andvision as StarTrek" (quoted in Paulson
1991:29).In thissenseST maybeakintoan American "civilreligion," about
which I willspeakmore later.
ST hasstrong affinitieswith outlook,
a religious namely anunderlying belief
andmythology thattiestogether messages abouthuman nature andnormative
statementsaboutsociallifewitha construction andpresentation offuture soci-
ety.
STARTREKFANDOM
phenomenon
ST asa religious canbeunderstood as a setofbeliefs,
butthe
ofitsfans
activities usa much
gives fuller ofitsreligious
picture To see
potential.
theorigins ofST fans,
ofthevastactivities letuslookbriefly of
atthehistory
science fictionfandom, oftoday's
theprecursor widespread ST fandom move-
ment.
ST fandom ofa phenomenon
is inparttheculmination thatbeganinthe
post World WarI era,whenscience pulpmagazines
fiction hada smallbutloyal

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 35

readership.
From thebeginning ofa group
ithadthemakings from
setapart the
restofsociety.
Thecentral factaboutthescience-fiction writers
community, alike,wasthatit
andreaders
wasa family.
Themembers shared interests thattherest
andoutlooks oftheworld disdained.
Theythought interms ofscience andwhenthey
andthefuture, weren't
readingorwriting
aboutthosethings,whatthey wantedmostwastotalkaboutthem. Insodoing,theygave
birthtothatuniquecultural
phenomenon, 'fandom."
scienceSfiction
It isvery toexplain
difficult science-fiction
toanyonewhohasnever it.The
experienced
closestanalogy,
perhaps,might Christians"
betothe"cellar ofpaganRome, small,furtive
groups meeting
ofbelievers, insecret,
shunnedorevenattacked orasfans
byoutsiders, came
tocallthem,the"mundanes" (Pohl1984:47).

Thesefansformed a community,atfirst male,withfemales

exclusively en-
tering
later:
"fansmarried fansandraisedtheirchildren are
tobe fans;there
thirdS
andevenfourth-generationfansbeginning toshowupthesedaysatthe
'cons' a short
term forscience-fiction
conventions" (Pohl1989:47).
wassetforST fandom,
So a precedent anditwasoutofscience fan-
fiction
domthatthefirstST fanscame.Thestory oftheorigin andgrowth ofST fan-
domhasitselfattaineda levelofmythology, as a kindoforiginmyth ofthe
movement. Oneofthefirst showingsofST,ata science fiction in
convention
1966,isrecountedinthefollowingmanner intheStarTrekCompendium. The
authortalks
oftheevent almost
interms ofa conversionexperience:
After wasoverwewere
thefilm unable
tO leaveourseats.
WejUSt noddedateachother
and
Wecameclosetolifting
andbegantowhisper.
smiled, theman(Roddenberry)uponour
shoulders himoutoftheroom....[H]esmiled,
andcarrying thesmile
andwereturned before
weconverged (Asherman
onhim- 1982:2
).

Fromthenon,according totheauthor, theconvention wasdivided intotwo

factions, the"enlightened"(whosawthepreview) andthe"unenlightened."
ST'sexposuretoa primetimetelevision however,
audience, began togiveit
a wider audiencethansciencefictioneverhad.Theletter-writing campaignsto
savetheseries arenowlegendary,asistheleader ofthismovement, BjoTrimble,
wholater publishedhermemoirs( 1983). Initshedetails ofthe
theorganization
campaign andthemassive numbers ofletters thatweresentto NBC,which
savedtheshowfrom beingcanceledafter itsfirst
year.Themovement became
evenstronger aftertheseries
wasfinallycanceled dueto a badtimeslot)
(largely
in 1969after three HereishowST fandom
seasons. isdescribed byoneofits
earliest fans:

starved
Allinall,fansliterally fornewinformation, newmaterial,
more fuelfortheir
fierf
obsession fortheir almost-religion future.
ofa rnore-than-promising Becauseofa lackof
material
toplacatea mind hungry
forST,fans fanofST was
hadtobecreative....[E]very
family a distant friend
wehadnotmet.Conventions werelikesteppingthrough an
enchanteddoorway intoanother
world.Theforce offandomwaspalpableandwelonged for
rebirth.
Webelieved wecouldmake sowewrote
ita reality letters andreviews
andscripts and
novels.
Wewished. Wedreamt.Webumed with inspiration.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
36 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

The author whichmadetherevival

goeson to speakof"suffering," all the
ST 'brought
sweeter. hope."Italsobrought against
andprejudice"
"intolerance
fans.Why?"ProbablybecauseTreksomehow perfect
their
threatens micro-
little
Thewriter
cosmofexistence." thenspeaks acceptance'
aboutthe"cultural of
magic
ST. "STanditsfansstillhavethepowerful tomake animpactonsociety;
evento manipulate thefuture. has beenproven"
Thatability (Van Hise
1990:1112).
FANNETWORKS
Organitaiions

ST fandom isa widespread andcomplex phenomenon thatincludes femiS

nists andfamiliest theworking classandacademicsX Indeed, itseems torevolve
around different networks offans} withsomeofthemainonesbeing fanclubs,
computer netsand women writers (Bacon-Smith 1992; Jenkins 1988).
Thefanclubshavegrown into a worldwide circuitofclubs, withnearly 200
inseveral countries, boasting approximately 100,000 members (Paikert 1991),
whichincludebothStarfleet chapters andchapters ofthenewer"Klingon
Assault Group" (KAG). A hierarchy of Starfleet clubs isestablished bynaming
them afierStarTrekvessels, withlarger, more established clubs given as
status
starships(e.g.,USS Excelsior) while smaller ones arecalled "shuttles."
Hierarchy is established within eachclubbythetitlesgivento leaders
(Admiral, Captain).Biographies arewritten oftheleadership fortheStarfleet
newsletter (Starfleet Communique), whichincludes photos ofthemposing in
uniform withtheirrankandtitle(e.g.,Admiral John Dow,Communications
Chief).Members moveupthehierarchy bybeing activeingroup events,much
liketheBoyScouts.BothStarfleet andKAGorganizations stresscommunity
service projects; thisaspectdistinguishes them from a mere fangroup andunder-
liestheseriousness withwhichtheytaketheir beliefsaboutbuilding a better
world.
Included among thefanorganizations isa central clearing house forinforma-
tion called "Welcommittee" thatconnects fansandintroduces newfanstothe
world ofStarTrekfandom. Theyprovide free advice onwhere clubsare,howto
start clubs,andhowto hostconventionsv Theyalsoprovide informationon
fanzines andjustaboutanyother question onemight haveaboutStarTrekfin-
dom.TheST Welcommittee beganin1972andnowcomprises atleastfourteen
geographic areas,eachwithitsown"captain" and'screw," working in many
states andsixforeign countries (VanHise1990).
NewStarTrek-related groups continue toorganizeJ Witness theadvertise-
ment fora correspondence club:
StarShipsoftheThird waytomeet
Fleetisa great peopleandtobeinvolved thedetails
with
andimaginationthatweallknow ofthatisincludedinStarTrek. from
Everyone the
around
whojoinsisplaced
country ona shipandassumes a position a rank.
andisgiven lines
Story
arebegun byshipcaptains andthosestory bythecrew
independently
ideasarecontinued
members.Storylinescanbedeveloped overa periodoftwotofourmonthsandareeventually
andpublished
compiled forthecontributorstO read.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 37

Besides
theshipwriting
work,youcanalsotakeclasses
atThird FleetAcademy.
ThirdFleet
AcademyisbasedinRioRancho NewMexico. BytheU.S.mailyoucantakeclassesateither
B.S+,M.S.or Ooctoratelevelsandeamdegrees in fieldssuchas Starship
Operations,
Engineering,
MedicalandevenSecurity.
I highly
recommend ThirdFleetforthose
ofyouwhoenjoy writingStarTrektype
ofmissions
andenjoyshating
themwith others
(monthly
postonStrekSD listserv).

Computer
Networks
andElectronic
Billboards

Another fan"community" existsinthecomputer "on-line"networksthat

haveStarTrekbillboardsorlivediscussion groups.On thesenets,individuals
"discuss"
theshow,postingcomments, questions,orresponding tootherposts.
Fansoftentakeonpseudonyms from thecharactersintheshow. Thereareover
3}000postingslmonth
onthebtggest USENETnewsgroup thatisdevotedsolely
toStarTrektalk,
calledrec.arts.startrek
(r.a.s.).
A similartypenetworkisBITNET,which alsohasa very activeST newsS
group(70-90messages/dayduring theacademic year).Othercomputer nets
suchas Prodigy,
Genie,Compuserve, andAmerica-On-Line, allhaveST news-
groupsorhaveregularly
scheduled livediscussiongroups.
Theseusers work pri-
marily
from their
homes. UsenetandBitnet areprimarily
utilized
byinstitutions,
andthough thebiggest
number ofusers seemtohemen,women arealsoactive
onthenet.Laterinthisarticle,I willgiveexamples ofpostingsonthesenets,
andshowhowa process ofsystemization occursinvolving
theformation ofuni-
fiedbeliefs
andpracticesin an ongoing processofforming andmaintaining
community.
Women
Eventhough many peoplethink ofmenasthebiggest ST fans, itisactually
femalefansthathavebeenwritten aboutthemost byacademics (Bacon-Smith
1992;Jenkins1992;Penley1992)+ Women, incontrast to theST male"geek"
stereotype,
havebeenleaders intheST fanmovement from thevery beginning,
havewrittenmany oftheST novels? andwerealsoinstrumental insetting up
theearliest
fanclubs(Lichtenbergeral. 1975:ch.1).
Whathavewomen foundintheshow? Camille Bacon-Smith's recent book,
Enterprising
Women, ismostlyaboutwomen writers
of"fanzines,"ST storiespubS
lished
privately
among a networkoffans. Thesewomen writers"stealcharacters"
fromtheshowandflesh them out inways thatenablethem toliveoutside the
boundaries
ofa restrictive
society.
Rather thanfocusing onthemore scienceand
action-adventure
aspects
oftheST universe, female fansfocus ontherelationS
shipsofthecharacters.
According toBaconSmith (1992:293),thesefans"re-
construct
theirownreality"and"create a community" under theguiseofplay,
protecting
them from themasculine gazethatportrays playas trivial.Through
thestories
women areallowedtoplayrolesandexpress feelingsthatmasculine
culture
doesnotallow.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
38 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

COMMUN17sY

MuchofST fandom seems torevolve around certain "communities" (e.g.,

electronicbulletinboards,women writers)that ST,
discuss and remake it in var-
iousways. Thelocalgroups suchas StarFleetareface-to-face communities tied
intoa national organization, muchlikedenominations. The electronic and
women's networks more
area little diffuse,yetinsomeways dealmore withthe
"philosophical"issuesofST,aswillbemadeclearshortly. Takenasa whole, ST
fandom formsa type of"symbolic community" wherepeople seektoform identi-
tiesdistinct fromtheoutsideworld.As Anthony Cohendescribes them
(1985:63),symbolic communities "create a symbolic world whichisa kindof
fantasticreconstruction ofempirical society." Communities suchas theseare
often a response tothebreakdown oftraditional structural communities based
moreon face-to-face relationsbetween relativesandneighbors. Thislossof
community allows (orforces) peopletochooseorconstruct their ownidentities
(LashandFriedman 1992:7).Peopleusethesesymbolic communities tobuild
theseidentities,inopposition totheculture around them, according toCohen.
InST fandom, theseidentities become quitepersonal whenStarfleet mem-
berstakeonspecific ranks andtitles andusetheminallcorrespondence ofthe
groups, includingsignaturesontheir e-mail posts.Thefan's distinctiveness isex-
pressed intheirdisdain ofthe"mundanes" whodonotconsider thealternative
worlds andfutures thatscience fiction constructs. ST fandom providesanoppor-
tunity forfanstobuildcommon links ata timewhenpeople's mobility andlife-
stylemakethisproblematic. It is veryeasyto strike upconversations with
strangers aboutST, andit is frequently reported among fansthata group of
strangersfound common ground intheir loveofST (Amesley 1989).
Asdiscussed symbolic
earlier, communities thesecularization
resist andra-
ofmodern
tionalization life(Thompson 1990). Yetthere isa paradox here, ifwe
seektoapply thistoST fandom, because the ideologyexpressed in ST and ad-
heredtobymany ofthefansisanexpression of rationalisticmodernism itself,
theprogressive belief thatwecanconstruct a bettertomorrow. Or,comparing
withBenedict Anderson's "imagined communities" of nationalism, theST imag-
inedcommunities areusually explicitly non-nationalistic,finding identity
their
notinethnicity butinadherence toa vision ofthefuture. Myargument, how-
ever,isalongthelinesofa postmodern critique ofmodernism, forI argue that
themodernism thatisexemplified byStarTrekisinthefinal analysisa faith it-
selfthatispracticed inthevarious types ofcommunities thatmakeupStarTrek
fandom.
CONVENTIONS

Thedifferentcommunitiesdescribedabovearerather from
isolated each
butthere
other, forthemtomeetatotherlocations
areopportunities suchas
conventionsandtourist which
sites, where
alsoserveas locations seriousfans
meetcasualfans.
ST conventionswereamong theearliest ST conven-
Thefirst
fanactivities.
tioneverheld,inNewYorkin1972,entered ST mythology 3,000people
after

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 39

showedupwhenonly300-400peoplewereexpected (VanHise1990:87-88).
conventions
Sincethen, grown
have until are
there now morethan90annually.
andcostume
trivia
Theyfeature contests, bridge
literature,
artwork, mock-ups,
byactors.
andappearances JamesVan Hise,theauthorofthe TrekFan's
a convention
described
Handbook, way:
inthefollowing
Ifyou've never it'sanexperience
beentoa convention, toexplain.
thatisdifficult It'slike
beingushered intoanother where
world, everyfacetofthedayhassomething todowith
STARTREK.Itmight beseeing variety
theincredible room
inthedealers'
ofmerchandise or
seeing oftheseries
a star andhaving
inperson theopportunity To describe
toaskquestions. it
asa time warpwouldnotbefarfromwrong. You'reverymuch from
cutoff therealworld ina
convention.Youcaneasilyforget owntroubles
your aswellasthoseoftheworlduntilthecon
endsandyouhavetocomedown toearth It'snowonder
again. manypeopleattendasmany
conventionsastheycan.Itisanintensetwoorthree andisquitea stimulating
dayvacation
experience(1990:90).

Conventionsarean opportunityto immerse in theST

further
oneself
muchas oneimmerses
"experience," oneself lan-
Usingthereligious
inritual.
moveonmypart.
isnotjusta rhetorical
guageof"immersion" Witnessthefol-
lowing from
taken
quote, response:
a questionnaire
I wenttoa whilebackthey
Ata convention hadthisthing aboutthe"Temple I
ofTrek."
andwatched evenparticipated
stayed inthechanting. Theyhadsomewoman whowas
with
there herbaby fairlynewbom. Andthey thekidintothispseudo-church.
"baptized"
bizarre eventhough
Pretty it wasall justa joke.ButI must admit I waskindof
atthetime
wondering there
ifeveryone wasreallytakingitallasa joke.

Theambiguity ofTrekpractice
overtheseriousness itsunder-
I believe,
reveals,
lying potential.
religious
Conventions areoftena unique toobserve
opportunity fandom, fortheycan
expression
bea direct ofthefervencyoffandomandofitsrelationshipswiththe
general Conventions
public. oftengiveST fandom itsmost public as
visibility,
thelocalmediausuallycoverthem andmany casualfansattendthem. Onefan
expressedtomehisdistaste as hecalledthem,
ofthe"nota cluers" thosefans
whoarenewtofandom andknow little orfacts
ofthehistory oftheST universe.
STARTREKTOURISMAND "PILGRIMAGE"

In recentyearsthe number of StarTrekplacesof "pilgrimage" and

commemorative has
exhibitions been The
increasing. anniversary
twenty-fifth
servedas the occasionforsomeof the exhibitions, suchas one at the
Smithsonian.TheOregon Museum ofScienceandIndustryhasopened a 6Z000
squarefootpermanent Other
Trekexhibit. allow
places fanstoexperience the
show.As partoftheirparkinCalifornia,UniversalStudioshas a ST setin
which theyfilm acting
infulluniform,
tourists,
selected outa ST plot.
onefanwhoproudly
I visited showed methevideoofhervisitthere. The
acting
ofthetourists
footage
videospliced with
outparts actualfootagefrom one
ofthemovies, theappearance
giving thattheywere partofa ST movie.
actually

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
40 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

Thisfandescribed theexperience "asa dream cometrue" which madethe2,000

miletrip"worthwhile." "Wepilgrimage outthere; it'sourMecca," shetoldme.
Another fanshowed menumerous pictures ofherposing inuniform ona mockS
upoftheEnterprise bridgebuiltfora convention.
Various towns arenowtaking uptheST theme inorder toattract tourists.
Vulcan, Canadahasturned itselfintoa ST "theme" town. A towninlowapro-
claimed itselfCaptainKirk's hometown (theKirkcharacter doescomefrom
lowa)andhasanannual Captain Kirkfestival.Though thismaybepurecom-
mercialism onthepartofthetowns, their successiscontingent ontheir appeal
tofans asa placeoftourism.
Thereisactually muchtobesaidfora connection between StarTrekand
tourism. InDeanMacCannell's classicTheTourzst (originally published in1976)
he namesscience fictionandtourism (alongwithexistentialism) as theonly
"widespread movements universallyregarded as essentially modern," akintoa
"modern religion."
They"areself-conscious collective movements motivated by
a collective questforanoverarching (solarorgalactic) system, a higher moral
authority ina godless universe,
which makes oftheentire world a single solidary
unit,a mere world withitsproper placeamong theworlds" ( 1989:16).
PartofST'sappealisintheimage ofsociety itpresents, thefuture itholds
forth.Asmentioned before,oneoftheclearest messages ofST fandom ishow
much people seeitasa signofhopeforthefuture. TheappealofST isnotfora
kindofpersonal salvation,butforthefuture oftheST collective "we.""I"will
notliveuntil thetwenty-fourth century, but"we"certainly will,according tothe
ST future. Itishopeforourselves asa society,a myth about where wehavecome
andwhere wearegoing. FanswanttO bepartofforming thatdestiny.
Participation inscience fiction,
liketourism, "helps theperson toconstruct
totalitiesfrom hisdisparateexperiences. Thus,hislifeandhissociety canappear
tohimas anorderly seriesofformal representations, likesnapshots ina family
album" (MacCannell 1989:15). Theexperience ofsitting onthebridge inuni-
form andbeingphotographed orfilmed bringsoneintodirect participation in
theuniverse, much asmany rituals
do,fortheonlywayreally tO "connect" with
something istoparticipateinit. Cultural productions cancarry individuals be-
yondthemselves andtherestrictions ofeveryday experiences. "Participation ...
cancarry theindividual tothefrontiers ofhisbeingwhere hisemotions may
enterintocommunion withtheemotions ofothers 'undertheinfluence' '
(MacCannell 1989:26).Itisthefan's dream actually tobeontheshow, andthe
closestthings toitarebridge mock-ups andstudio tours.3 Outofthisexperience
comes a closer identification
with theuniverse they seek.

3 Many celebrity
fans
areattempting
tobecome
partoftheST universe
bymaking
appearances
onthe
show.Whenplanning for
TNGwasunder
way,Whoopi
GoldbergcalledParamount
inorder
tO play
a part
in
theseries,
asking
only
a nominal
fee.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 41

LINKINGTHE STARTREKUNIVERSETO THE PRESENT

Thisuniverse, however, isnota totally

separate, fantasticaluniverseuncon-
nected tothepresent. In various ways, theStarTrekuniverse is"linkeds'with
thecontemporary world. Thelead-in to every TNGepisode ("Space:thefinal
frontier.Thesearethevoyages oftheStarship Enterprise. . .") beginswitha
shotoftheEarthfrom closein,andthena gradual "tour" through theother
planetsofthesolarsystem untilitfinallyfocuses on theEnterprise. Thisse-
quenceorients theviewer to envisiontheevents astaking placeinhisownuni-
verse.
Other"linkage" isaccomplished bysomeoftheTrekmanuals andnovels.
Therecently publishedStarTrekChronology: A History oftheFuture (Okudaand
Okuda1993),compiles a historyoftheworld from thepresent tothetimeofthe
latest
Enterp7iseinthetwenty-fourth century.
Thisworldisa direct projectionintothefuture from thepresent, forthe
showcontinually refers
tohistorical eventsfrom thetwentieth century andbe-
fore.Through timetravel, manyplotsactually takeplaceinpre-twenty-first
century time.Episodesthathavedonethisarefrequently among themost popu-
lar.4OnefanI talked tofocused onhowspaceandtimearemanipulated inthe
plots,especially
through timetravel, which allows one"a second chance,. . . to
setthings rightagain."Timetravel allowsusthisritualisticrecourse, muchthe
samewayhealing rituals
orritualsbasedonorigin mythsdo.Origin myths often
takeplace"inthebeginning" butarereallya message foralltime, a modeltobe
attainedoftenthrough reenactment ofritual(Eliade1958).
Ithasbeensuggested thatST isahistoric. Itrelatesnottoanyspecific time
andplacebutismeant foralltime(Amesley 1989:336-37).William Tyreargues
thesamething:
Myths no longerlinkusto thepastX
sinceweknowthepastisgoneandisofhistorical, not
immediate,relevancetothepresent.
Bicentennialism
recalls
thepast.On theotherhand,any
sciencefiction
canlinkustothefuture....ST, bydisguising
ourpastasourfuture, putsusin
it,notthehistorical
pastbutthemythicpastofourfirst
beginnings....
[T]heseries(ST) itself
mediatesthetensionbetween thepastandthepresentbyestablishing
a thirdtime,thatoffirst
beginnings.
Itisa timewiththeanticipation
andwonder ofthefuture
without theanxietiesof
thepresent,withthegloryandsecurityofthepastwithoutitsremoteness.
Bytranscending in
an ultimately
inexplicablewaythesumofmessage andmedium STAR TREKputsthefan-
become-believerinthattime(1977:713,717).

ST hasalsoaffected
thefans'lives.Actors
often
relate howthey getletters
fromfanstellingthemhowtheshowinspired themto becomeengineers or
doctors,
ortodowellinschool(alsoseeLichtenberg
et al. 1975).ST hasgiven
peoplehopeforthefuture,
inspiring
themtotakecontrol oftheirlivesinthe
samewaymany self-help
andquasi-religions
do(GreilandRudy 1990).

4 A numberofsources
havelistedthemost popularepisodes.
Onethatisgenerally
recognized
tobeamong
thebest,
ifnotthebest,
isCityon dleEdgeofForever&omTOS, which
takesKirk,
SpockandMcCoybackto
the1930s.
ThebestTNGepisode issaidbymany tobeYesterday's
Entnise,which
alsoinvolved
time
travel.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
42 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

Fansalsowantto bring ST into thepresent

time,toorder thingsalongthe
linesoftheST universe. ST fans havehadan impact ontheUnited States
space
program, supporting increasedfunding andspecific
spaceprograms involving
manned andexploratory spacemissions.Sciencefiction becomes sciencefact
(Asherman 1989:151) as "fansactivelyengineer
events tomakeittrue" (Van
Hise1990:14), suchasnaming thefirstspaceshuttle
theUSS Enise.
In thenextsection I willexamine theattraction
ofST byseeing howitis
linkedwiththepresent world, seenas a "reality,"
authenticated andkept
"consistent," andfinallyfilledoutas a complete
universe. I willprimarily
use
quotesfrom therec.arts.startrek(RAS) newsgroup, most ofthem postedin
JanuaryorFebruary 1992+
THEREALITY
OF THESTARTREKUNIVERSE
ST, likemany other shows, actively encourages a 'ssuspensionofdisbelief8'
andsetsitself upas a reality in which fanscan"exist." Thereality ofthisuni-
verseisimportant tomany people. MuchofthetalkaboutST revolves around
thecharacters, suchas Mr.Spock, theVulcancharacter whoadheres to a phi-
losophy oflogicunaffected byemotion. Cassandra Amesley (1989:330), inan
academic article entitled "HowtoWatchStarTrek," argues thatviewers have
an"implicit assumption thata person likeSpock'exists"' andthatanyperceived
inconsistency "deviatesfrom hisreality" ("Spock wouldn't dothat" isa frequent
fancomment). Thisview, however, isdifferentfrom other ways ofreading tele-
visioncharacters which criticizesinconsistenciesasflawed writingorfocuses on
theplotanddoesnotbother aboutinconsistent characters. The"suspension of
disbelief8'
isparticularly realforStarTrekfans"[I]gaina deepexperience from
watching TOS; themovies andreading thepaperbacks. I 'transport'
myself tO
TOS every timeI watchandthisis especially truewiththemovies" (RAS
Questionnaire). "1heofficers andcrew. . . arenotreal,butthatfactissome-
timesoverlooked bythefans" (Irwin andLove1990:47).
Thisperception iswhatWilliam Shatner, ina controversial Saturday Night
Liveskitsetata ST convention, poked funatwhen heimplored thefans to"Get
a Life!"after theyaskedhimquestions thatassumed thereality oftheST uniS
verse.
AtST conventions, where castmembers ofST areoften paidhefty feesto
makepersonal appearances, these actors aresometimes questionedas ifthey are
thecharacters they portray.Actors havehaduncomfortable moments answering
suchquestions as'WhatisVulcan reallylike7"
and"Why didyoumarry Spock's
mother?" (Irwin andLove1978:69).
FILLINGOUT THE STARTREKUN1VERSE

Therehasbeena virtualindustry builtuparound "filling

out"theST uni-
verse.
Referencebookssuchas theStarTrekTechnical Manual,whichliststhe
specifications
ofStarfleet
ships,
andWorlds which
ofthtFederaiion, detailsplanS
etsandtheracesthatliveonthem,havebeenamong themost popular.
Dozens
ofotherbooksareinexistence,
withtitles suchastheSurfeetMarrulgeManual,
CookBook,andStarfleet
Starfleet Officer (Van Hise1990:41-50).
Requirements

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 43

Languages anddictionaries
havebeencompiled fortheKlingon, Vulcan, and
Romulan worlds,threeofthebestknown aliensofST.Theentire history,geog-
raphy,philosophy andeventheactuallocation oftheplanet Vulcanhasbeen
described,
sometimes withthefullcooperationofpeople atacademic institutions
andevenNASA.5A journal forthestudyoftheKlingon language (HolQed)
hasalsobeenintroduced recently,
andonecanattend a Klingonlanguage camp.
Otherliterature includesmoreconventional encyclopedias,handbooks and
"crew books" thatdelveintothecharactersandactors intheseries. Stories
in
Trekmagazine havealsofilled
outthebiographies ofthecharacters (Irwin and
Love1990).
TheST universe hasbeenfilledoutwith justabouteverything tomakeit a
full,
consistentreality,
toenableonetolivewithin thisuniverse.Thisisa uni-
versemuch larger
andmore complex andcomplete thananyother fictionaluni-
verse.Theonlyothers thatcomeclosearetheJ.R.R. Tolkiennovelsandthe
gamesomewhat basedon it,Dungeorls
andDragons, which hasspawned clubs,
videogames, androle-playing.
Another fancompared StarTrekwith otherfan-
doms:
Considerfora momentwhytherearen'tbillboardssuchas: rec.arts.murphybrown or
rec.arts.cheers.
(IF therearesuchbillboardsandtheyhaveanywhere nearthevolumeof
R.A.S.,I'd be stunned;mysystem contains 1,406messagesanditgoesbackonlyabouttwo
weeks.)
I thinkthatthereason"rec.arts.startrek"
andTrekkiesexistis this:StarTrekis an evolving
universeofstories,characters
andideasthatgoesbeyondthemedia.Itispartoftelevision,but
goesbeyond it.Eventheworst episodesofStarTrekbuildon thatuniverse andenrichit.I'm
fascinatedbythe postings on thisbillbcardbypeoplewhohaveworked to catalogthat
universeandwhopointoutwhentheshow's writers
getlazyandstepoutside oftheestablished
rules.

ST novelsandfanliterature
arebigbusiness.
Why? Theyfilloutthestory.
Following
isanexchangebetweentwoRAScorrespondents,
oneofwhom isfed
upwiththeshow.Theotherseemstobecounseling
him:
Maybeit'sthecommercialTV medium you'reupsetat.Perhapsyoulikenovelsbetter
because
youcan useyourimaginationto conjureuphypotheticalsituations
andmannerisms ofthe
characters
morefreely,
instead
oftheconcrete "that'sthewayttis"in1V land.Maybeyou
don'tlikethelackoftechnical
infoin theshow?Or maybeit'stoofake?Describe whatyou
don'tlike.
Therearea lotofinconsistencies
intheshowthatthenovelstendtofill.Myfavorite isTroi.
Heresheisreadingthefeelings
ofalienslight
years
awayinoneepisodebutshecouldn't figure
outwhatthewomanwasuptoin"SiliconAvatar" whenyoudidn'tneedtobe telepathic to

5 Ina July 1991letter

toSky69Telescopemagazine,threescientists
attheHarvard-Smithsonian Center
for
Astrophysicsco-authored
a letter
withGeneRoddenberry thatidentified
thestar40 Eradani
as thesunaround
whichtheplanetVulcanrevolves. Thiswasbasedon recent astronomical
observationsthatrevealtheageof
thatstaras beingcompatiblewitha planetthathostslife,
whereasthepreviouslynamedVulcansun(Epsilon
Eridani)
couldnothave.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
44 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

figure
outshewanted
revenge.
That'spretty
pooranditsthese
inconsistencies
thatmake
the
showhard
toswallow."

Thisperson
continues
inhisdepressed
state:
TherearethosefewwhoI thinkwouldlikeanyshownomatterhowshittyitwasaslongasit
had"Star
Trek" inthetitle.
uStar
Trek:
TheTJHooker episodes"
or'sStar
Trek:
ThePartridge
FamilyGeneration,"
"StarTrekmeets
theBradyBunch"these
would allbeinthe#1timeslot
causepeople
likemewould watch
everyweek hoping
thatthismightbetheonethatchanges
myopinion.
Just tobeletdownonceagain.

THE CONSlSTENCYOF THE STARTREKUNIVERSE

Thefanliterature andmanuals havebrought aboutthecompletion ofan

alternate universe, inwhich thecoherence oftheuniversemust bemaintained
forfansto continue their"suspension ofdisbelief."
Fansgoto extraordinary
lengths todothis, forinstance,oftenfocusingontheconsistency andreality
of
thetechnical detailsoftheship:"Thetrek universeispossibly
themost complex
andselfSconsistent fictional
realityevercreated.We allknow howthephaser,
transporter,et al. work.Weknowthatyoucan'tbeamthrough a shield
orcom-
municate through 'subspaceinterference'."
6 A correspondentresponds:
"That's
whywelikeit because it'ssocomplete.A complete universe
iswhyI'ma ST
fan. . . there'ssomuchmaterial thatwecanalways learnsomethingnewabout
it."
Inorder forthisuniverse toremain a "reality,"
itmustbekept authentic.
We
eavesdrop onthefollowing conversationoverwhether thedetails
inthefilms
(as
compared to,say,theseries)are"true"ornot.(Thetechnical manualreferred
to
intheconversation contains thedetailsofthetechnology intheshow.Tech-
nicalmanuals havebeenamong thebiggestsellers
ofallofficial
ST manuals):
I don'tthinktheclassof1701-C wasmentioned ontheair,sotheTNGTechnical Manual
takesprecedence
("Ambassador"). Somepeopleclaimitisan"Alaska"classship,
butthisisan
inventionofFASAandtherefore worthless.
Actually,IMOneither onetakes precedenceovertheother.7TheTNGTechnical Manual's
speculations
couldeasilybe invalidatedbythecreatorsoftheseries,muchas earlyTNG
writers'
guides
havebeen.
And,ofcourse,filmedmaterialcanbeinvalidatedinthesameway, ifthewritersdecidethey
wantto.
Correct-which leavesuswiththequestion ofwhether thenewmaterial iscorrect
(i.e.,
they'verevised
thehistory)
orwhether they're
simplybeinginconsistent
andfailingtoproduce
a consistent
universe.
Ingeneral,I tendtotakeTrekClassicandfeature
film information
over
anyprovidedinTNG(oranimated Trek;IlmnotsurehowI would reconcileinconsistencies

6 In themagazine
Trek,thereis a columncalledStar TrekMysteries
Explained"
whichattempts
to
explain
thetechnical
details
oftheseries.

7 IMO/IMHOisnetshorthand
for"In My(Humble)Opinion."
TOS istheoriginal
StarTrekseries
and
TNG isthecurrent
"TheNextGeneration"
series.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENONIENON45

ifthereareany betweenanimated and feature

filmTrek).Also,nonfilmmaterial
cannotinvalidate
filmmaterial,
IMO. Givenartinconsistency
there,
I always
takethefilm
version
astheaccurateone.

Itisnothistorians
andanthropologists
alonewhodebate notionsofhistory.
This
conversationstarted
onthetechnicalclassification
oftheshipandquicklybe-
camea debate aboutcorrect
ST history,
oras itisoften
referred
to,the"canon."
References
totheStarTrek"canon" arefrequent onthesenewsgroups
andform
therulesforthedebate.A regularly
posted"netiquette"
(whichgivesguidelines
forposting
onr.a.s.)gives
thedefinition
ofcanon:
"Canon"meansthatGeneRoddenberry (orhisdulyappointed representative)
hasdeclared
somethingtobeofficially
partofthe"StarTrek"universe. Thisincludes theTV episodesand
themovies, primarily.
"NonScanon" iseverythingelse(thebooks,theanimated series,
comic
books,thestory youmadeup whenyouwereplaying "StarTrek"withyourfriends during
recessbackinKindergarten,etc.).Youcangetintosomepretty goodargumentswithpeople
on thenetaboutwhether ornotsomething actually"happened" intheStarTrekuniverseor
not.SinceStarTrekis sciencefiction(tomostofus,anyway), somepeoplehavepointed out
thatarguing aboutwhether something fictionalis "real"or "unreal"involves
a lotofnul
statements("Nothing
unreal exists" from ST IV: TheVoyageHome).Still,canbea lotof
fun,whenitdoesn'tdevolveintoname-calling.

Itshouldbenoted,
however, thatotherdefinitions
ofcanonareofferedon
thenet,whichareusually
moreinclusive
thantheabove.Ineffect,
the"canon"
formsthecosmology
oftheST world, giving
itthecoherence
thattiestogether
themany fansoftheshowwhodevotemanyhoursto discussing theshow.
Episodes
areheavilycritiqued
aftertheyarebroadcast.
Fansseemto"reject"
someshows andacceptothersas uptothestandards
oftheshow.Whatisau-
thentic
or"pure"
Trekisoftendebated.Whenonefanproposeda movie idea,he
attached
anextendedprologue
onthe"philosophical"
problems
ofit:
[B]uttoexplainitI needtoofferanobservation ofmine,ofthenature oftherec.arts.startrek
hierarchyandoftrekmoregenerally. (It'sprobably nota newone,byanystretch ofthe
imagination.)It occursto methatthings arenotunlikea religionaroundhere.I've seen
debatesaboutHolyScripture whatconstitutes it,itsauthenticity,
etc. otherwise known
as whatiscanon?(Which,personally, I cankindofunderstand therationaletothesedebates,
butmostly I sortofshrug myshoulders. Thisis *just*StarTrek.I know,I know,there'sno
suchthingas "just"StarTrek.)We haveHighPriests andDefendersoftheTrueFaith(e.g.,
Lynch, Kanamori, etc.),8whoprophesy, revealanddefend whatis"true"trektothoseofus
wandering in the wilderness,etc. (Of course,whenthe HighPriestsdisagreeamongst
themselves,wegetinquisitions,holywars,etc.)ThenwehaveGod which, ofcourse,is
Roddenberry. To thefundamentalistsofthenet,Roddenberry's wordandvisionis ab olute.
(OneoftheTenCommandments ofTrekissurely, "Thoushaltnotputanyimages before
thy
Roddenberry.")Now,GeneRoddenberry was,IMHO,a greatman,witha wondrous visionof
thefutureandofwhatHumanity canbe.But,ifI cannowswitch from a metaphorical
(and,at
leastintended,humorous) analysis
totheconcrete, Roddenberry wasNOT God.

8 ZRegulars"
on thenetwhopostreviews
andotherinfo.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
46 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

ThefansofST haveconstructed their ownworld-a consistent utopian

world where sciencehasgiven uscontrol overtheproblems oflifeweexperience
andreadaboutinthepapers. Inorder tocomplete their
created universe,both
thecreators oftheshowandthefans havetorely, ironically,
on"science/magic."
Asshown above,thescience ontheshowisoneofthemost common topicsof
fandiscussion. Thetechnology usedisgivena veneer ofscientificreality,
but
most fans,evenwhiletrying to make it as closetoreality
aspossible,recognize
thatmost ofthetechnology ismadeupandisthuscloser tomagic. Sciencethus
turns intomagic, a stateofaffairsthatSwatos( 1983:330) anticipatesinnew
religionswhere magic/scienceisreliedupontoprovide control inareasoutside
ourabilitytomaster.
ST isa bodyofknowledge thatiscontinually beingaddedtoandrevised.
Theon-line comments andnovelsareoriented to maintainingitsreality,
to
maintaining thecoherence oftheshow.Thisisfundamentally differentfrom
other popular films
orseries(suchas theJames BondorIndiana Jonesmovies),
which havean underlying humor aboutthem. Theactionintheseisoften so
outrageous thatconsistency
or"reality" issimply notpossible,nordofans expect
it.Ifthesamething weretriedonST,fans would howlinprotest.
Fanshaveshown anenormous abilitytobea partofST,toappropriate itfor
their ownpurposes. SaysDavidGerrold, a writerfortheoriginalseriesandthe
author ofthebest-selling
TheWorld ofStarTrek:
A history
ofStarTrekfs fanswouldbe a listofenterprising
(punintended) individuals
who
havebuiltbridgesets,designedblueprints,
sewntheirownuniforms, writtensongsandplays,
puton conventions, makeStarTrekhome-movies or written theirownStarTreknovels.
They'vepublishedStarTrekfanzines,
drawn cartoons,
paintedpictures,
builtmodels,
designed
newcostumes andmakeup forconvention masquerades,
collected
filmclipsandvideotapes
andpropsfrom theoriginal
TV series nottomention allthosewhohavestudied StarTrek
andanalyzeditfrom thisposition
orthat.
Thisthenis theessenceoftheStarTrekPhenomenon: thefanshaveclaimedtheshowas
their
own.Theyareitscaretakers. Theyarethekeepers ofthedream (1984:xvi).

Whatcanbemadeofallthiscreativity thisinventionandfilling
outofan
entire
other universe? I would argue thatthisisa creation
ofmythology inmuch
thesamewaythatanyLevi-Straussian would
bricoleur doit(Levi-Strauss1966).
Levi-Strauss
usedthisterm (French for"handy-man") toillustrate
theprocess
of
creating
mythology where bricoleurs use theavailable "tools"and"materials"
of
theculture to create a mythological structure
overa periodoftime.In this
situation,
thebricoleurs actnotontheir ownculture,butonthealternative one
theyhaveconstructed (butwhich ofcourse cannotbetotally separated).
The
creationofnewplotsand stories andtheironing outofexisting onesis
essentially
themediating ofcontradictions inthestory (universe).
In thisuni-
verse,
thecontradictions arean affront to theconsistentuniversethatfansso
desperately
wanttoseecreated.
In calling theactivities ofST fandom "mythological,"I do notintendto
eliminatethe"playful" orentertainment aspectofST andclaimitisonlyseri-
ous.Thereiscertainly a mixofentertainment andseriousness aboutStarTrek
among fans, butthiscoexistence is alsopresentinthecreation of"primitive"

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 47

mythology.Do theseconsumers ofmythology takeittobeonlyliterallytrue?

Heretoo,thereis a mixture ofrealityandunreality, ofentertainment with
mythology,ofambiguity (Willis1967;Turner 1979).Onecanseethisinrituals
thatinvolvemasking, wherethemasked figure personifies
theambiguityofthe
personunderneath themaskandthespirit thatisthemask. Participation
ina
masked performance,as intheST universe, often involvespretending,
butut-
terly
seriouspretending
(LessaandVogt 1979:414).
"Playisseriousbusiness,"
asVictorTurner saysaboutritual
and"liminality"
among theNdembu incentralAfrica.
Turner speaksofhowplayandseriousness
havebecome separated in"industrial"
societies,howdifferent"spheres"have
beenconstructedout oftheseparation ofeconomics, religion,
politics,
andthe
domestic.In thisprocess,"meaning, commitment, andsymbolism [become]
centeredonconsumption, playandleisure"( 1984:334).ST fandom,I believe,
is
an example ofplayandritual coming backtogether, backto their4'natural"
conditionofcoexistenceandambiguity.
THE STIGMAOF FAdJDOM

Religious movements often havea senseofbeing persecutedorlooked down

uponbecause oftheirzealousness. Andindeed, there isa stigmaassociatedwith
ST fandom. Thestigma isquiterealandisoneofthemost controversialaspects
ofthephenomenon. Disclaimers onthepartoffansthatthey arenot"hardcore"
fansarecommon. Many(ifnotmost)fanswanttodistance themselves froma
segment offansthattheybelieve tohavegone"toofar"intheir fanactivities.
Thereisa "lore"surrounding themostfanatic ST fans, among bothfansand
nonfans andamong thestaff oftheshow.Thisbelief gotits mostwellknown
encouragement fromWilliam Shatner's Saturday Night Live"Geta life!"skit.
Jonathan Frakes, whoplays Riker onTNG,saidontheArsenio Hallshowthat
someTrekfansare"a little weird," a statement withwhich actors WilWheaton
(Wesley Crusher) andJohnDeLancie("Q") readily agreed (Uram1991:22).
BothShatners andFrakes's comments havebeencontroversial, especially
the
onecoming from Shatner, givenhisposition as theiconicCapt.Kirk, andthe
factitappeared onSatardWy Night Live,whose fans, I would guess,seethemselves
as theantithesis of"geeky" ST fans.9 StarTrekdirector Nicholas Meyer admits
"I don'treally understand &ndom. I tendtothink it'speoplewith toomuch time
ontheir hands" (Teitelbaum 1991).
Anastounding 80 percent offansinonenonscientific polltaken ata con
vention saidthatsomefansare"excessively activeanddevoted." Itisbelieved
thatthesepeopleconfuse fiction orentertainment withreality, andneglect
"real"issues andsometimes their ownmaterial needsinthepursuit offanactivi-
tiesandmemorabilia. Stories arepassedaround among fansaboutpeoplewho
confuse reality
withunreality. Oneperson claimed he knewwhathecalleda
"Dataite," a fan
whowould allow no criticism ofthecharacter "Data"onTNG.

9 Occasionally
someonewillgetontheST Usenetnewsgroups
anddirect
a "Geta life!"
at thefans,
eliciting
angry
responses
from
those
whoparticipate
inthenewsgroup
(RAS"netiquettet'
pOSt).

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
48 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

Someargue (Amesley1989)thatthere
arenoreal"hardcore"
fansoutthere,
thatitwasallaninvention
ofthemedia.YetonelocalfanI metreadAmesley's
comment anddisagreedwithit,claiming
thatsheherselfwasa hardcore
fan.
Andintheintroduction
toa livediscussion
group
(calledStarfleet
Academy)on
theAmerica-On-Linecomputerservice,10
themoderatorofthegroup defended
theirreputation:
A "cool"dudewhosescreennamewon'tbe revealedhereoncebeamedaboardtheStarfleet
Academy and,after
a fewminutes,
decidedthatwewereall "nerds."
Perhapsweare.Perhaps
thetruedefinition
ofa nerdissomeone
whoenjoys thenewandunusual andisn'tafraid
tolet
hisorherhairdown,takeonthepersonality
ofanalienraceandtheorize
aboutthefutureand
what's
really
outinthegreatbeyond.

ST elicits
thistypeofcontroversy because,
I believe,
itexistsintheliminal
areabetween entertainment
andseriousness.Nonfans sensethe"seriousness" of
StarTrekwhenthey witness
fandom activities
andreact againstitbecause they
believeitshouldremaintotally
intherealm ofentertainment.Thatpeopletake
itseriously
offends
them. ST fans,ontheother hand,wanttoberespected and
understood,andwanttheirdevotion toberecognizedas legitimate.
I believeitis
inthisinterplay
between "seriousnessanddiversion,"
a common featureofreli-
gion(LessaandVogt1979:414), thatweseetheroots ofthetension overST,its
fandom andthegeneral public.
Whether serious
ST fandom isbecoming culturally
acceptableisnotcertain.
Over50percent ofAmericansnowsaythey arefans,butsinceST hasitsroots
inanentertainment medium there arelikelygoingtobefanswhoresent those
whotakeit moreseriously, who"transport" themselves to theST universe
through viewingit,discussing
it,attending conventions andbelonging tofan
groups. Wereit notforthestigma, we wouldprobably see evenhigher
attendanceatconventionsandinfanclubs.
CONCLUSION
IsStarTrekfandom a religion,
oratleasta religious
phenomenon? Recently,
academicshavebeenexploringdifferent
definitions
ofreligion,
prompted bythe
growthofnewreligions and"quasi-religions."
ST fandom doesnotseemtofit
themorerestrictive,
substantivedefinition
ofreligionthatposits
belief
ina deity
orinthesupernatural.
Itdoes,however,havesomecommonalties withbroader
definitions
ofreligionthatcomeundertherubric "quasi-religions,"
suchas
AlcoholicsAnonymous andNewAgegroups. Theseorganizations"ridethe
fencebetweenthesacred andsecular"
(GreilandRudy1990:221), between re-
ligion
andnonreligion.Thereligious
content varies
according
to whom inthe
movement onetalks,
andhowinvolved theyare.

10America-On-Lineislivebecausepeoplerespondtoeachotherimmediately
through
theircomputers
during
a settime.TheUSENETnewsgroup issimilar
toa bulletin-board
system
inwhichmessages
areposted,
tobereadandresponded
toanytimewithina fewdays.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 49

Thesenewreligions often have"nostable organization,canonized dogmas,

recruitment system, ordisciplining apparatus" (Luckmann 1991:178).They tend
to be moretherapeutically-oriented, qualifying as "IdentityTransformation
Organizations" (ITOs),which "encourage adherents toundergo radicalshifts in
worldview andidentity" (GreilandRudy1990:226-27). Thiselement islessex-
plicitinST fandom, butitisthere. George Takei(whoplayed SuluinTOS),
oneofthemore popular convention speakers, usually gives aninspirational-type
speech detailing thehistory ofST andfandom, howthey bothshowthepoten-
tialofhumankind andhelpinspire peopletogettheir livestogether andmake
careerdecisions. "Forthebeliever 'StarTrekLives'ismore thana slogan ofa TV
showthatwould notdie.Itistheritual crytoa world where hebelongs, where
he has it all together. STAR TREKoffers thecomfort ofreligion" (Tyre
1977:717). TheNietzschean turntoward oneself as thesource ofhopecanbe
found throughout our"therapeutic" society (Reiff 1966;Bellahet al. 1985),and
ST fandom isonemanifestation ofthis.
ST fandom, however, differs insomesignificant waysfrom thequasi-reli-
gionsdescribed above.Itismore organized thanmany ofthese other groups. ST
fandom maynothave a disciplining apparatus (outside of"flaming" someone on
thecomputer nets),butit does have an organization, dogmas, a low-key recruit-
ment system, anda "canon." Theappealofmany oftheabovegroups tends tobe
limited tocertain segments of society. ST fandom cutsacrossclass,gender, and
ethnicity more thanmany other quasi-religions. Fans come bothfrom working-
classandacademic andprofessional backgrounds (though whattheylikeabout
theshowoften differs). Eventhough thereisa stigma associatedwithserious
fandom, ST doesprovide a certain commonality andunity ofpurpose fora wide
varietyofpeople.
Indeed, I wouldargue thatST fandom hasstrong elements ofa "civilreli-
gion."Robert Bellah, whopopularized thenotion ofa civilreligion,callsit"an
understanding oftheAmerican experience inthelight ofultimate anduniversal
reality"(1974:40)thatseekstobecome a world civilreligion,whichisexactly
whatweseemto haveintheassimilationist, homogeneous Earthoftwenty-
fourth century StarTrek.A civilreligion isa "generalizing" ofreligious belief
necessary tohavean integrated society, as a counter to"pluralizing"trends that
dividesociety (Tschannen 1991:400). Thegeneralized involved
beliefs inST
fandom consist, as detailed above,inputting faith inscience, humanity anda
positivefuture. Muchofscience fiction ingeneral displaysthesamebeliefs, func-
tioning "rather likea newcivilreligion, legitimating anthropocentric attitudes
andproviding compensators forthealiensterility ofthephysical world,"a pri-
mary example beingtheinteresting career ofscience fictionwriter-therapist-re-
ligiousleaderL. RonHubbard andhisChurchofScientology (Bainbridge
1987:60).
Formany fansofpopular culture, organized religion seemingly haslessrele-
vance,partially hecause they perceive itnotasforward lookingbutas backward
looking. Exceptions are,ofcourse, tobefound among millennialdenominations
thatspeakinspecific terms aboutthefuture. Butforthebulkofthepopulation
whoserelation toorganized religion ismorenominal, mainline denominations
areoften seen either as status-quo and backward looking, orperhaps concerned

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
50 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

toomuchwithpresent-day politics toprovideanyrealmeaning forthefuture.

Americans aretraditionally forward looking,
anditiseventslikethespacerace
thatanimate them. ST fandom embodies thisidealism
andoffersfansreasons
to
hope.
ST fandom doesnothavethethoroughgoing seriousness
ofestablished
reli-
gions,butitisalsonotmereentertainment. Thisinterplay
ofseriousness
and
entertainment,I argue, isa signofitsvitality. Thecommunities, bothsymbolic
andgeographic, thatareformed byST fandom areevidence oftheongoing
sacralization
ofelements ofourmodernist culture
thatexpress
hopeinthefuture.
Itisa phenomenon thatrelates todeep-seatedAmericanbeliefs
aboutthenature
ofhumankind, theworldand itsfuture, andencouragesthepractices that
parallelreligious
processes ofcodifying, forming a communityanddeveloping
.

nstltutlons
.

togUlC
.

e ltS praCtlCeS.
. . .

REFERENCES
Alexander, D. 1991.'tGene Roddenberry."Humanist (March/April):5-38.
Amesley, C. 1989."HowtowatchStarTrek."Cultural Studies
3:323-39.
Asad,T. 1983.UAnthropological conceptions
ofreligion." Man18:237-59.
Asherman, A. 1989.TheStarTrekCompendium (updated).NewYork:PocketBooks.
Bacon-Smith, C. 1992.EntetprisingWomen. Philadelphia:UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress.
Bainbridge, W. 1987."Scienceandreligion," pp.59-79inD. Bromley andP. Hammond (eds.),
TheFuture ofNewReligious Movements.Macon,GA: Mercer University Press.
Bellah,R. 1974[1967]."Civilreligion inAmerica," pp.21-44inR. RicheyandD. Jones(eds.),
American CivilReligion.
NewYork:Harper & Row.
, R. Madsen,W. Sullivan,A. Swidler, S. Tipton.1985.HabitsoftheHeart.Berkeley:
University ofCaliforniaPress.
Blair,K. 1977.Mearung inStarTrek.Chambersburg, PA:Anima.
Blumenberg, H. 1983.TheLegitimacy oftheModern Age.Cambridge, MA:MIT Press.
Claus,P. 1976.UAstructuralist appreciation of StarTrek,"pp. 15-31in W. Arensand S.
Montague (eds.),TheAmeTican Dimension.PortWashington, NY:Alfred.
Cohen,A. P. 1985.TheSymbolic Construction
ofCommuruty. London: Tavistock.
Dolgin,J.andJ.Magdoff. 1977."Theinvisibleevent," pp.351S63inJ.Dolgin,D. Kemnitzer,and
D. Schneider. (eds.),Symbolic
Anthropology.NewYork:Columbia UniversityPress.
Eliade,M. 1958.Patterns inCamparativeReligion.
NewYork:Meridian.
Gerrold, D. 1984[1973].TheWorld ofStarTrek.NewYork:Bluejay Books.
Greil,A. andD. Rudy.1990.uOnthemargins ofthesacred,"pp.219-32in T. Robbins andD.
Anthony (eds.),InGodsWeTrust. NewBrunswick, NJ:Transaction.
Hark,I. R. 1919."StarTrekandtelevision's moral universe."
Extrapolation
20(1):30-37.
Hobsbawm, E. 1979[19591. "Millenarianism,"
pp.44044 inLessaandVogt,q.v.
Irwin,W. andG. B. Love(eds.).1978.TheBestof"Trek"vol.1.NewYork:Signet.
. 1990.TheBestoftheBestofTrek.NewYork:ROC Press.
Jenkins, H. 1988.bStarTTekrerun, reread,
rewritten." C7itical
Studies in MassCommunication
5(2):85-107.
. 1991.gIfI couldspeakwithyoursound." Camera Obscura23(May):149 76.
. 1992.TetuAlPoachos.NewYork:Routledge.
Jewett, R. and). S. I>wrence. 1988.TheAmerican Manomyi.Landham, MD: UniversityPressof
America.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 STARTREKFANDOMAS A RELIGIOUSPHENOMENON 51

Kakutani, M. 1992."Novelists makea literary lungeintothefuture." NewYork Times(Feb.21):B1.

Kottak, C. 1990.Prime TimeSoaery. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Kreuziger,F. 1986.TheReligion ofScience Bowling
Fiction. Green, OH: PopularPress.
Lasch,C. 1991.TheTrueandOrlly Heaven.NewYork:Norton.
Lash,S. andJ.Friedman (eds.).1992.Mode7ruty andIdentity.Oxford: Blackwell.
Leerhsen, C- 1986.UStar Trek's ninelives."Newsweek (Dec. 26):66-73.
Lessa,W. andE. Vogt.1979.Reader inCornparative 4thed.NewYork:Harper
Religion, & Row.
Levi-Strauss, C. 1966.TheSavage Mind.Chicago:University ofChicagoPress.
Lichtenberg, J.,S. Marshak, andJ.Winston. 1975.StarTrekLives! NewYork:Bantam.
Luckmann, T. 1991."Religion old andnew,"pp. 167-82in P. Bourdieu andJ.Coleman(eds.),
SocialTheory ina Changeng Soaety.Boulder, C. Westview.
MacCannell. D. 1989[19761. TheTounst. NewYork:Schocken.
Meyer, N. 1991."StarTrek."Ornni 14 (3).48-51.
NYT. 1992."Another NewYork
finalfrontier." Times(Mar.3):A6.
Okuda,M. andD. Okuda.1993.StarTrekChronology. NewYork:Pocket Books.
Paikert,C. 1991."Specialreport on StarTrek." Variety(Dec. 2):49ff.
Paulson. S. 1991."Freeenterprise." Isthmus. Madison, WI (Sept.27).
Penley, C. 1992."Feminism, psychoanalysis,andpopular culture," C.
pp.479-94inL. Grossberg,
Nelson,andP. Treichler (eds.),Cultural NewYork:Routledge.
Studies.
Pohl,F. 1989."Astounding American
story." Heritage40 (Sept./Oct.):42-54.
Pouillion, ). 1982."Remarks on theverb'to believe'," pp. 1-8in M. IzardandP. Smith(eds.),
Between BeliefandTransgression. Chicago:University ofChicagoPress.
Reiff,P. 1966.TheTriumph oftheTherapeutic.NewYork:Harper & Row.
Selley,A. 1990."Transcendentalism in StarTrek:TheNextGeneration." JournalofArnerican
Culture 13:31-34.
Swatos,W. H.,Jr.1983."Enchantment anddisenchantment in modernity." Analysis
Sociological
44:321-38.
Teitelbaum, S. 1991."Nicholas Meyer." (Dec.):24-34.
Cinefantastique
Thompson, K. 1990."Secularization and sacralization,"pp. 161-81in J.Alexanderand P.
Sztompka Progress.
(eds.),RetSiinking Boston: UnwinHyman.
Trimble, B. 1983.On theGoodShipEnterprise. Norfolk, VA: Donning.
Trouillot, M.-R.1991."Anthropology andthesavageslot,"pp.17-44inR. Fox(ed.),Recapturing
Anthropology. SantaFe,NM:SchoolofAmerican Research.
Tschannen, O. 1991."Thesecularization paradigm." Journal Study
fortheScientific ofReligion
30:395-415.
Turner, V. 1984.Process, Perfonnance, andPilgrimage.NewDelhi:Concept.
Tyre,W. B. 1917."StarTrekas myth andtelevisionas myth maker."JoumalofPopularCulture
10:711-19.
Uram,S. 1991."A trek cruisedownmemory lane."Cinefantastique(Dec.):19-22.
Van Hise,J.1990.TheTrekFan'sHandbook. LasVegas:Pioneer Books.
. 1991.Trek:25thAnmsersary Celebration.LasVegas:Pioneer Books.
Willis,R.G. 1967."Theheadandtheloins," pp.197-206inLessaandVogt,q.v.

This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:36:29 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions