I was watching TV last
night and came across an episode of the original Star Trek. This particular episode, “The Return of the Archons,” can
be a bit troubling to view. It seems to be a brutal criticism of the concept of
religion. And I don’t know. Maybe that is what it was meant to be. But when I
thought about it a bit, a subtler message emerged for me.
Prepare yourself for some
nerdiness, because I’m going to give you the layout of this episode. The Enterprise investigates a planet called
Beta III where the inhabitants give thoughtless obedience to a figure by the name
of “Landru.” This planet had experienced a time of dreadful war and
destruction, but Landru had led them out of it by returning them to a system of
brotherhood and understanding. Thousands of years later, the people live in
peace and happiness, but without freedom or creativity. Anyone who resists the
will of Landru is “absorbed” into “the Body,” forced to join the collective and
lose their free will. Some are immune to the process, however, and these people
are destroyed by the commandment of Landru. All fear Landru and his “lawgivers,”
men wearing brown hoods and robes with staffs that can absorb or destroy those
who “are not of the Body.” Captain Kirk and his landing party are captured, and
some are absorbed. Kirk and Spock escape with the help of members of an
underground movement, however, and confront Landru. It turns out he is nothing
more than a computer invented by the original Landru millennia before. This
computer had enforced its heartless vision of the perfect society because it
did not possess the soul and wisdom of its namesake. Kirk confuses it with a
series of paradoxical questions, causing it to self-destruct and liberating the
planet to create its own destiny once again.
Christianity could be
seen as the target of the message here, but I prefer to think only a particular
version of the faith is under assault. The original Landru corresponds to Jesus
Christ, who offered a message of hope and peace to His followers. The
computerized copy stands for church hierarchies and bureaucracies that replaced
the true message of Jesus with voluminous rules, and turned a living faith into
blind compliance. The soulless followers represent those who call themselves
Christians because they have been conditioned to, not because they have decided
to believe anything. Taken this way, “The Return of the Archons” is a
well-deserved criticism. Too much of Christian history has looked like it.
There have been too many times when the name of Christ has been invoked as a
way to control and conquer, when His mission was to comfort and save. And how
many CINO’s are there, “Christians in Name Only?”How many say they believe, but
live lives far removed from the example Jesus left? How many have appeared
clueless that such an example even exists?
Landru and his disciples
are, if you will, a parable. If we learn from it, we start to talk about the
faith of the Bible in the terms the Bible presents. The message is one of love,
of comfort, and of freedom. The freedom to choose, to question, to create. It
does not call us to a robotic existence, but a robust one. And in seeking to
live this way, we need to remember what we have that the people of Beta III did
not. Christians have a living leader and example. Jesus Christ is alive, and He
shares His life with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. We can go to
Him for true guidance, and find in Him true freedom. We do not have to be
afraid of challenges, but can be welcoming of the opportunities they represent.
Contrary to what Mr. Spock said of Landru’s people, we do not have “the peace
of the factory; the tranquility of the machine.” We have the life and liberty
of the living God. We shouldn’t give that away for the ease and ignorance of heartless
institutionalisms.
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