When the Borg Come to Church
The Assimilation of Fundamentalism
Spoilers for Star Trek:Picard Season Three
There is an ongoing tension within the American church between ideas of fundamentalism and more ancient understandings of faith and beliefs. This is especially true within Wesleyn-Holiness traditions, where we react to anything which may seem novel. Ironically, those things that seem novel are often what Wesleyan-Holiness people originally thought. But that tension is largely a result of differing understandings about faith itself. This is often driven by an understanding of scripture that is shaped by mid-twentieth century battles that were and are misplaced. Robert Mullholland, Jr. explains the contrast between a Wesleyan understanding of scripture and that of fundamentalism in a chapter of Square Peg. “Wesley and most of his descendants developed a doctrine of Scripture that focused on its role in transforming the believer’s inner being as the ground for reordering behavior. Fundamentalism, on the other hand, developed a doctrine of Scripture that tended to focus on reordering behavior in obedience to a body of propositional truths.” The main difference is transformation. Because of that focus, Wesleyan traditions typically see a living and dynamic scripture in which we are welcomed by the Holy Spirit into relationship as we read, hear, and encounter. This difference is also lived out in how we approach faith, our doctrinal understandings, and our ethics. Wesleyans live in a tension of unity of essentials and charity in non essentials. Fundamentalists live in a certitude of uniformity or assimilation. That gets us to the Borg.
In the Star Trek universe, an antagonist appears that is not a species, or faction, but a totally different contextual enemy. This is the Borg who assimilate planets, species, and systems by forcing them into the Borg collective. This entails a takeover of the bodies and minds of creatures such that the Borg Collective controls them in a hive type mind. The Borg is technologically superior to most because they assimilate technologies into their collective and grow that way. However, their assimilation is also their weakness because it is difficult to grow in non technological ways in that rigidity. The United Federation of Planets and Star Fleet is not uniform, but exists in a tension of unity in diversity. That gives the Federation an advantage when resisting the Borg. But the Borg ideal seems inviting. Individual Borg do not not disagree or fight because they do not have a diversity of thought or even dreams. Borg can only think of those who are Borg in the we and those who are not Borg as the unassimilated. The Borg are extreme fundamentalists that demand uniformity and certitude of purpose.
I do not know while writing this article how this last season of Picard ends, but in episode nine, we see an adaptation of the Borg, which makes identifying them harder. The Borg has only assimilated through technological additions to organic bodies which take over and assimilate those bodies. But the Borg has inserted code in the transporter systems of Star Fleet that can re-write the brain workings of various species, such that any below the age of full brain development can be assimilated with no hardware additions. When the Borg turn on these changes, the older Star Fleet members are hunted on their ships for destruction because they cannot be assimilated. The Borg go on a fundamentalist hunt for those who remain in a unity of diversity and resist assimilation.
While episode nine ends on a wonderful picture of the Enterprise 1701-D from the Next Generation series rebuilt and being piloted by the original bridge crew, we are left wondering what the Borg are doing. The American church, especially Wesleyan-Holiness people, find themselves in a similar position. The fundmanetalists have been noisy over the decades and have convinced many that fundamentalism reflects classic Christianity rather than a modern type of forced uniformity in propositional truth. Wesleyan-Holiness people are tempted by fundamentalism because it appears to solve the problem of moral decay perceived. But fundamentalism is a dead and lifeless form of faith being driven by proposition rather than living relationship. We invite the Borg into our churches when we seek to control through fear, intimidation, and enforced morality. It seems much better to live in the tension of unity and tell a beautiful story of a God who hears us, sees us, knows us, and is with us, even in the messiness of unity in diversity.
(M. Robert Mulholland Jr., PhD - Truesdale, Al. Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Aren’t Fundamentalists (p. 27). Nazarene Publishing House. Kindle Edition.)