Jack of Harts

Those of you who pay attention to science fiction may have heard that the new Star Trek series has boycotted God. Seriously. The word God is no longer allowed. They say that is in reflection of Gene Roddenberry’s vision. The problem with that argument is that God has always been part of Star Trek. Religion and faith have been there since the very beginning.

In one episode of The Original Series, Kirk met the actual Greek god Apollo and told him we had no need of him. That one God was quite adequate. In another episode, they visited a world where a Twentieth Century Roman Empire reigned supreme and they worshiped the Son of God. And do I even need to mention Star Trek V: The Search for God? What about Next Generation’s Q, a being who certainly thought himself a god and wished us to worship him. And then there was that little sideplot where DS9’s Sisko became the Emissary of the Gods of Bajor.

God, Religion, and Faith have been integral parts of many of our best stories. The original Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 touched or wallowed in these concepts, and it made them richer for it. And many other great science fiction stories in print and video alike have wrestled with those concepts.

God, Religion, and Faith are part of my Jack of Harts universe. Jack himself is a…wayward Christian. He was raised in the church but…well…like many young adults he has gone a different path. He didn’t precisely reject his faith, but he certainly lost it over the years. Malcolm and Charles are two men raised by Great Families who did not believe in God. They were raised as princes of the universe who need hold no other gods above them. And their mentor, long ago sent packing for the cardinal sin of not believing in the greatness of the Families, became a Christian pastor and began a new life of service to humanity. Their faiths, or lack thereof, are recurring themes in my stories.

God, Religion, and Faith are part of our culture, and ignoring them does a disservice to the stories we wish to write. What is humanity without God? Without religion? Without faith? Communism answered that question for us in the real world. The Hunger Games are a fictional example of how low humanity without decency and faith can fall. I can think of few things worse than a society where they are banned…dismissed…boycotted.

And so I write stories about a future where we did most things right. We created a world we would want to live in, not simply one that makes for exciting stories. A world where someone can grow up in peace. A world where, in their own ways and despite the trials they all went though, the main characters all found a good path to adulthood. My world is no Utopia, but it is far closer to that than a Dystopia.

We still have faith in the ultimate decency of humanity. And that faith is the central conflict of my stories. The Alien Shang do not share our faith in the decency of our humanity. We are a threat. We are not worthy. And so it is up to our brave heroes to stand up and not go quietly into that night. To have faith in themselves, their friends, and many they’ve never met.

And that is where I borrow another of Gene’s old rules. Members of Star Fleet did not fight one another in his vision of humanity’s better future. And in my stories, the Cowboys do not fight each other. They have their faults, but they are the best of us. They are the ones with the courage to stand forward, to volunteer to defend those who do not or cannot. They are a team, standing side by side in defense of the civilization behind them. A civilization we could be if we do more things right than wrong. If we create a world we would like our children to grow up in.

I have faith that we can do that. And so I write it. And so I hope you read it.