Why there are no muslims in Star Trek

[frank recktenwald]

The Iranian Ambassador to the UN finished giving a speech and walked out into the lobby where he was introduced to a United States Marine Corps General.
As they talked, the Iranian said, "I have just one question about what I have seen in America."
The General said, "Well, is there anything I can do to help?"
The Iranian whispered, "My son watches this show called 'Star Trek' and in it there is Kirk who is Canadian, Chekhov who is Russian, Scotty who is from Scotland, Uhura who is black, and Sulu who is Japanese, but there are NO Muslims. My son is very upset and doesn't understand why there aren't any Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, Egyptians, Palestinians, Saudis, Syrians, or Pakistanis on 'Star Trek'.
The General leaned toward the Iranian Ambassador and whispered back, "That's because it takes place in the future...

 

[Uzin]

Another nice one Frank, in fact I think those characters were from the original movie that was made in the late seventies, most Americans had no idea where Middle East was then ... !? lol

 

[windeguy]

I was in Social Studies class in junior high school. We were studying the Middle East. Teacher asks, "What is in the Middle East that is important for the USA?" I whisper under my breath "sand". Evan, sitting next to me, rapidly raises his hand and I think "Oh no, here we go, I hope he is going to say oil". But no....

Teacher says, "Yes, Evan"?

Evan says, "Sand!" with great confidence.

Teacher stops in his tracks for about 5 seconds, starts to turn colors while trying to hold back. Then he runs into the hall and laughs hysterically for about 30 seconds. Must have felt like an hour for Evan. The entire class is now in stitches.

Evan says to me while the teacher is indisposed , "I'm gonna get you." True story.

 

[dv8]

i am not familiar with the series, really, but are there any christians in star trek?

 

[Xavier_Onassis]

i am not familiar with the series, really, but are there any christians in star trek?

There are five Star Trek series: The original (Capt. James Kirk) The Next Generation (Capt. Jean-Luc Picard) DS-9 (Capt. Benjamin Sisko), Voyager (Capt. Kathryn Janeway) and Enterprise (Capt. Jonathan Archer).

The Christian religion has not been mentioned so far as I have seen, in any of them. On DS-9 there is a Lebanese character (Dr. Bashir), but there is no mention of Islam, either. As a rule, when an alien planet is afflicted with some religion, that religion is shown to be defective in some way. One exception is the religion of the Bajorans in DS-9, in which there are a couple of opportunistic phoney prophets and several more sympathetic ones. Sisko is regarded as an Emissary of the Prophets, which he does not seem to admit until some strange things happen.

But no, Jesus is never mentioned in any of the Star Trek episodes, so far as I know.

 

[wrecksum]

Another nice one Frank, in fact I think those characters were from the original movie that was made in the late seventies, most Americans had no idea where Middle East was then ... !? lol

Most still don't...............

 

[greydread]

Star trek had some sneaky religious inuendo....

Jew or Not Jew: The Ferengi

 

[waytogo]

Ferengi's couldn't be Jewish..............
They never wore a Yamaka.............:classic:

B in Santiago

 

[windeguy]

Ferengi's couldn't be Jewish..............
They never wore a Yamaka.............:classic:

B in Santiago

The article ended up conceding that the Ferengi were probably Dutch.

Yup, looks like the Bajorans are Israel. Well, that solves that problem. As for the Ferengi? Well who's more short, conniving and money-grubbing than the Dutch?

(kidding, kidding, really just kidding)

Verdict: (Ferengi) Not a Jew.

 

[windeguy]

Oy Vey. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are both Jewish.

 

[Chirimoya]

My ex-wife's uncle was the Executive Producer and Unit Production Manager for the original Star Trek television series...he always said that they tried to make the series as religion-neutral as possible. He died several years ago, so there's no way to ask him personally about the Muslim aspect.

This "joke" should be rephrased this way:

- Dad, why is there no religion in Star Trek?
- Because it's the future, son.

 

[Xavier_Onassis]

It isn't hard to understand why Star Trek has not chosen to dwell on religious topics. There would be demonstrations, sermons and boycotts. It is safest just not to mention terrestrial religions at all. There were some references on Voyager to the character Chakotay's American Indian beliefs. He was first described as a Sioux, then as a Hopi, and he had a facial tattoo abd there were references to his "spirit guide", but the description of his religion was very shallow.

I doubt that religion will vanish as a result of people being better informed. We still must have millions of Americans who read their horoscopes daily. Astrology was an important aspect of Zoroastrianism, which is not a prominent religion in the Western world and not a majority religion anywhere. There is a Farsi minority in India, and some Yazidis and Assyrians in Iraq and Syria.

Many people need a religion of some sort.