Star Trek Enterprise and Terrorism

Like the famous 1960s Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" where a similar fate befalls the warring races (the half-black/half-white faces) of Cheron, this Enterprise episode suggests that war in the name of religion can end much the same. The Triannon sects seemed to resemble the Sunni-Shiite division in the Middle East whose different religious beliefs, like those of the Triannon, seem to be so minor that their conflict appears somewhat ridiculous to outsiders. The Triannon use of terrorism, especially suicide bombers, to achieve their political goals in the name of religion is called into question by this episode. Religion and terrorism again were intertwined in a three-part ENT arc that explored the origins of Vulcan culture ("The Forge," "Awakening," and "Kir'Shara) In this case, a terrorist attack on the United Earth (pre-Federation) Embassy on Vulcan that claims 43 lives is pinned on a Vulcan religious sect called the Syrrannites who are followers of the father of Vulcan logic Surak. As the story unfolds we learn that the Syrrannites have been set up by the leader of the Vulcan High Command V'Las who seeks to destroy the Syrrannite movement because it threatens his war plans. As pacifists the Syrrannites could upset his goal to attack the Andorians who he believe possess some secret Xindi weapon that might someday be used against Vulcan. In the end Archer helps expose V'Las's war plans and the Syrrannites can now reveal Vulcan's true path, which will over the next century transform Vulcan into the peaceful and logic-oriented culture of Spock. Star Trek writers in this storyline examine how terrorism can be used to exploit people's fears and rally them behind more aggressive action. In some ways this seems reminiscent of the Bush Administration's claims that Iraq and Saddam Hussein supported, if not engaged, in terrorist activity thus justifying the American preemptive war against Iraq. As Enterprise approached its series finale, writers once again used terrorism as a way to explore growing American xenophobia in the years following 9/11. In "Demons" and "Terra Prime" an underground xenophobia movement led by John Frederick Paxton develops a weapon that he threatens to use against Earth if it leaders do not halt plans to forge a coalition with Andorians, Vulcans, and other species. To show the power of this weapon, Paxton blows a huge hole in the moon in order to convince Earth leaders to end the coalition conference. Paxton's movement, Terra Prime, opposes the Coalition of Planets because they fear that these aliens are corrupting human society. To demonstrate visually the danger of alien interaction, Paxton breeds a Vulcan-human hybrid child using stolen DNA from Trip and T'Pol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qZqidGppl8 Star Trek writers seem to address the growing anti-immigrant and, some might argue, anti-foreign sentiment that grew significantly in the U.S. following the 9/11 attacks. Terra Prime's miscegenation fears and its belief that humanity's cultural purity were under assault by what Paxton believed were culturally inferior "aliens" resembled some of the xenophobic ideas of the more virulent anti-immigrant groups that surfaced during the last decade. In the end, Star Trek's optimism wins out as Archer defeats Paxton's plans and gives a rousing speech promoting diversity and collaboration, which results in the formation of the Coalition of Planets and later the United Federation of Planets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkecbH6an0w&feature=related For nearly two decades the more recent Star Trek television series explored important social, political, and cultural issues, ranging from race and gender to religion and AIDS. As terrorism engulfed American society, Star Trek likewise addressed this issue in ways that reflected the fluctuating attitudes and experiences of the American public. In doing so, Star Trek not only incorporated terrorism into the history of the fictional Star Trek future, but is also allows us to reexamine our own recent history. In short, it clearly went where no one has gone before.