'Star Trek proposed a true model of cooperation' - Vatican hails show a model of peace

By Kenya Sinclair (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
9/9/2016 (2 years ago)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)

Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano honored Star Trek's 50th anniversary on September 8, 2016.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The famous show has been translated into comic books, artwork, several films, remakes and more.

After fifty years of touching global audiences, Star Trek celebrated it's 50th anniversary, as did everyone else.

For one day, Facebook changed its emotes to a Star Trek theme, people posted their favorite quotes and artwork, stores offered discounts on the show's merchandise and even the Vatican had something to say about the widely popular series.

"[W]hile builders of nuclear fallout shelters made buckets of money, especially in the United States, Star Trek proposed a true model of cooperation," L'Osservatore Romano wrote.

The piece explained how Captain James Kirk and his crew traveled to distant galaxies in search of new civilizations "in order to propose peaceful relations [built] on a foundation of equality."

Even the casting was an amazing call for peace.

The show aired for the first time September 8, 1966. The 60s are known for several things like disco, bright colors, free love and more - but on the darker side is the ongoing clashes between races.

Star Trek ignored social norms and included a crew featuring a black woman and Japanese man, both of whom were intelligent and offered stereotype-breaking moments.

"Today it might seem totally normal, but it's important to remember that America at the time had recently emerged from a bloody war fought against Japan, too, and it was marked by deep racial tensions," the article read.

It continued, explaining how the tense "relations with countries beyond the Iron Curtain, far away just like Vulcan" were metaphorically brought together with Spock's character, who was half human, half Vulcan.

The show "marked an era" simply by featuring a "totally human star voyage in search of new ways of understanding one another. A voyage that is always needed."

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