Each month, a long-time member of the Milwaukie Baha'i community hosts Star Trek Night at her house. The premise is this:
In the Star Trek Universe, every episode contains a discussion or treatment of a theme or principle central to the Baha'i Faith. Star Trek night is a raucous family-oriented evening in which Baha'is and non-Baha'is gather to socialize, and deepen on the faith by way of Star Trek episodes.
Original series, Next Generation, and even some Deep Space Nine episodes will make appearances. During any given Star Trek evening, there is usually time for two episodes. It's not uncommon for upwards of thirty people to be present in this typical Portland bungalow -- family members stack themselves like cordwood on the sofas; others watch from the adjoining dining room. Buster, the Beagle, sneaks off with stuffed animals and hides them in the bedroom.
The dialog - quite reminiscent of Mystery Science Fiction Theater 3000 - is respectful and inspired, but unrelenting ... to the point that closed-captioning is required to make sure we can always follow the dialog.
I simply cannot describe the scene adequately; it must be experienced first-hand to appreciate.
Tonight, for example, it was all about the Godly virtue of Perfection. We watched The Changeling from the original series – all about finding perfection and a perverted space probe. Then, we watched an episode from Next Generation regarding the perfect woman, an empathic metamorph who fixes her personality on the traits most desired by her chosen mate. It was cool when my son, R, stands up in the middle of this mass of people and shouts at the top of his lungs: “She can’t REALLY be perfect; she has NO FREE WILL!”
That was a cool moment for a Dad…
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