When the Pilgrims Met the Borg: Faith, Perfection and the Assimilated Pilgrim.
This is a piece of fiction about when the Pilgrims coming to the new world run into a Borg sphere in the ocean, rescue a few survivors and, through evangelism, and Borg assimilation, the Pilgrims and the Borg combine into one unstoppable, efficient and beautiful thing. I was having fun–trying to copy William Bradford’s writing style–all for Thanksgiving.
(With all due respect and apology to Star Trek. This is more fan fiction, than commercial–a teasing out of parallels, not an appropriation)
Comparing the Borg and the Pilgrims sheds a little light on problems I think are present in modern evangelical churches today. These churches seem to be more into evangelism for the purpose of gaining members to their flock–rather than in giving them a complicated Christ. Just imagine giving Christians the ability to choose a denomination, to wrestle with salvation, grace, letting them understand Christianity before they were “indoctrinated” with a particular denomination—why that would be insanity? Where would the offering come from??
Modern Churches–especially the big ones–sometimes have a problem with new ideas, nonconformity, questioning, and problems with allowing new Christians to truly follow their own journey to Christ.
This is most apparent in churches that condemn LGBT folk. But it’s present in a lot of churches. Whenever I had a question in my church, no matter the local congregation, I was bullied back into the “right” interpretation of things. If I held another interpretation, I was either looked on as a bit “wacko” because I held that belief–even if that belief was held by another Christian denomination–or I had people try to talk me out of my ideas.
What is valued most in today’s churches is a congregation that thinks alike, that marches forward together–conformity is not a bad thing. The military uses it as an effective strategy to form a more unified group, a unit. Groups that share values and goals are easier to find a sense of belonging in, a sense of home, and that shared sense of values and expectations and traditions protect and “conserve” the sense of a group identity. These can be positive things. It’s, well, also easier to collect money from that kind of yes-men congregation, and easier to get them to believe what you want them to believe. Powerful men and women sometimes join “mega”churches for networking; some join them for the unchallenging way they can glide across a field of challenging scriptures, beliefs, and thorny interpretations. They do it because Pastor “Bob” has “the answers” and so they feel good. And they can financially contribute to “problem areas” in the world and feel good that they have done something, participated, alleviated–they may even get a taxable receipt. A strong church can help one feel as if they are part of a grand design, a huge benevolent power, even when they might feel alone and singular, lost and unsure–the Church alleviates the burden of having to think through it for themselves; it gives them simple, easy avenues of influence and penance. I may be a bit harsh, but I think Christianity was meant to be a bit more messy, a bit more uncertain, a bit more dealing with the real world. Group identity is good, but not group stagnation.
Not so dissimilar to the Borg–which gave a sense of identity and helped people feel like a Collective–a Mass of minds with one thought, efficient in their labor and in their goals.
In my story, the Borg help the Pilgrims realize their dream and, in a sense, the Pilgrims in this version never fail. With the Borg’s help–they accomplish their goals and more! They sacrifice themselves, their own thoughts, their individuality, but become better as a whole. And one could read the scripture in that Borg light: death to the old man, and raised to new life in a group of Christians who give you a higher purpose.
I don’t believe all churches are like that, and I certainly don’t believe God intended it that way. Early churches don’t resemble the modern ones at all. But even in Paul’s time—he needed conformity of thought so that they could establish a doctrine. Without agreed upon ideas, there is no group structure. And you might lose truth. However, TOO MUCH doctrine, TOO MUCH conformity where you have all the answers, and everything makes sense in the world, leaves out all the reality of life, all the individual ways that God COULD interact with us. He is AMAZING. And wants to have a personal individual journey with each of us. I am always surprised by the way God interacts with me–that he doesn’t just ignore me, or deal with bigger things. He loves me. And that love–and that individual love, the path that it takes for me–is important to preserve
–and it’s important to remember, EVEN in a collective.
