This is weird. This is a notion I can’t wrap my head around. Do we accept racism, sexism and homophobia as part of tolerating intolerance? Do we accept people who espouse these ‘ideas’? Within the Star Trek fandom there is a philosophy – Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations – IDIC. One quick, snap interpretation of this is that Trekkies should accept all values – but should we?
Star Trek’s been very much against discrimination from the very start. The placing of Black women and Asian men on the bridge of a star ship in positions of authority should make that very clear. There are a number of episodes of Star Trek that press the point. ‘Let that be your Last Battlefield’ is but one example. ‘Balance of Terror’ is another. If there are ideals and people that disregard the principles raised by these and other episodes, what does that say?
I welcome diversity. I welcome the inclusive future Star Trek presents to us. There are many who pay lip-service to IDIC and yet at the very least remain quiet when far-right miscreants twist the values presented by the franchise. At worst, some people take IDIC to mean we should accept Nazi-esque philosophies – and that it’s wrong to be intolerant of them. Needless to say, I’m in no rush to accept discriminatory ideals, least of all when they come from Trekkies who should know better. I will never dictate to people what to do in life, but if you’re gonna vote for toxic people like Donald Trump, ask yourself if he’d ever get the point of IDIC or Star Trek. If you’re going to suggest we accept racism, sexism and homophobia, under the guise of being ‘tolerant’, just remember that the ones who want to discriminate will never be tolerant.
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To further back up my point that there is no such thing as racism, and since you like throwing the Bible at me, Acts 17:
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
Oh, and science has confirmed this many times.
Tell that to the family of George Floyd.
ha ha ha ha I knew you wouldn’t listen to the truth. Just like BG. Don’t post another bible verse at me since you refuse to listen to it yourself
Since it appears you have a highly selective memory when it comes to the parts of the Bible that speak of kindness and charity, I’ll continue to refresh your memory, as and when it’s required (which will be often).
I find this argument to be intriguing. Not because of the “tolerating intolerance” notion, but because nobody is asking anybody to accept bigotry, just different points of view when it comes to Trek.
For instance, I find Michael Burnham’s character to be badly written. She’s mutinous, insubordinate, and contrived to be unstoppable. Yet even yesterday people were still attempting to link critiques of her to some sort of bigotry.
Honestly, what Trekkie who watched and enjoyed every iteration of Trek before 2017 is suddenly going to have a problem with a character’s race or gender? It’s ridiculous. More insidiously, I believe it’s tactical. I believe the reason fans of the new shows do this is so that they can have an excuse to be intolerant of those who would criticize the show.
“Why should we give this racist any air?” *blocked*
IDIC is not made to be self destructive. Nobody is asking you to accept Nazism. Acting intolerant to those who simply have a different point of view about a television show however is entirely corrosive and is anti-IDIC.
I’m not objecting to different points of view. In fact I have said before, more than once, that people should be free to criticise things. I believe nothing should be above criticism. Nor do I claim that if you don’t like DSC or the characters you’re a bigot. I believe there certainly are fans who have failed to understand the point of IDIC and believe that we should accept bigoted perspectives in the guise of being tolerant.
It is a sad reality that there are indeed Trekkies who believe IDIC means accepting misogynistic, homophobic, racist points of view. It would be naïve to believe otherwise.