Star Trek: 10 Greatest Captain Sisko Speeches
3. The Complexities Of Religious Belief
By the close of Deep Space Nine's debut year, Sisko had more or less settled into his role as commander of the station, and Federation representative to Bajor. He was, perhaps, less comfortable in his role as emissary of the Prophets, but the season finale went a long way to easing that. In The Hands Of The Prophets gave the audience Vedek Winn, played by the incomparable Louise Fletcher, who was a dogmatic zealot, thirsting for power.
The truly dangerous aspect of people like this is their ability to weaponise peoples' faith, which is exactly what happens when she arrives on the station. Winn interrupts Keiko O'Brien's class and, initially, even Major Kira seems to support her. This division threatens to undo the good work that the Bajoran Provisional Government and Starfleet have done together on the station. For Sisko, it is truly brought home when even Jake gets caught in the crossfire.
From Jake's point of view, his life is disrupted by religious people arguing over things he doesn't understand, and he voices his frustration to his father, calling the whole thing stupid.
It may not be what you believe, but that doesn't make it wrong. If you start to think that way, you'll be acting just like Vedek Winn, only from the other side.
This crucial lesson for Jake not only helps the boy to understand the complexities of belief, but also demonstrates that Sisko himself has come a long way toward accepting his position. Though Winn would remain a fairly large thorn in his side for years to come, her arrival did at least forecast the beginning of deeper understanding for the Siskos.