For its day, Star Trek (1965-69) was revolutionary in terms of multicultural solidarity. There was a Russian, an East Asian, a Scot, a pointy-earred Vulcan, and an African American woman. And this interstellar diversity and comaraderie occurred against a backdrop of US war against South East Asians backed by Russia, and the 82nd Airborne attacking Detroit and Newark. No piece of American culture has had a more powerful impact on shaping the world’s view of human progress through world unity. This has been demonstrated by the fact that Star Trek has spawned 700 episodes syndicated worldwide.
NASA’s Columbia seemed to catch up to Star Trek’s Enterprise. But it did not, as its casting of the crew was designed for war and not ‘to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no one has gone before.’
One couldn’t help but notice that amidst the seeming multicultural story about the crew, there was something missing. Oh it was quite inspiring to see almost equal numbers of men and women. And wasn’t it grand that there was a Black astronaut? And the media hasn’t been able to stop talking about the Israeli son of Holocaust survivors and the Indian heroine of her country.
But step back for a minute and look at it this way: With a story of representing so many cultures and faiths, where was the representation for the Muslims? There was a Jew, a Hindu and at least two devout Christians. If you were a Muslim, how would you look at this effort? Every faith that is attacking Muslims is represented.
In the world of Star Trek as twisted by NASA, the Muslims are the Klingons or Romulans–in short, not human, but Enemy. At least Picard’s Enterprise had Worf, the Klingon, among the officers.
Reading some of the quotes from the Columbia astronauts prior to the mission was instructive. One of the them insightfully remarked, that astronauts were “a type of actor or celebrity.” These people were chosen primarily for their symbolism. Columbia was just a scifi show with a message of three anti-Muslim religions united.
Does anyone believe that there is a real need for anyone to actually be present on these flights? Remote controlled robots could have controlled any experiments. Not a single individual on that mission was necessary for its completion. The selection of each individual served an ideological or bureaucratic political purpose. Merit is irrelevant; NASA has the entire world to choose from, they can get whoever they want including talented British or Canadian Pakistanis or Muslim African Americans, Iranians or Arabs.
– It was not lost on anyone in the Muslim world, that the Israeli, Ilan Ramon, was the pilot who bombed the Iraqi nuclear power plant in 1981.
– The Christian piousness of the African American was noted in almost every article.
– And how could one ignore the significance of a Hindu woman on this mission
In the post 911 world, the Missing Muslim was not an accident; the casting of this Shuttle Show was deliberately done to instill a sense of demoralization in the Muslim world and a sense of triumphalism and comaraderie among the Christian/Jewish/Hindu Axis for war.
Although NASA’s space actors didn’t return, they still served a useful purpose preparing the world emotionally for the coming decades of war. The Shuttle Show, especially in death, provides unifying energy so that Christians, Jews and Hindus can feel a common historical bond through their losses which reflects the deeper bond of their bloody crusade against Muslim lives. NASA’s Columbia Show cast was designed to evoke solidarity among the Christian, Jewish and Hindu fanatical murderers of Muslims.
Columbia was not the Enterprise. It was not noble or peaceful or transformative of the human spirit. It was destined to be crass war propaganda whether the crew lived or died.
Cancel the Show.
JAKE BASHIR is a freelance writer living in exile, and doesn’t have a return email address.
