Are there conservative-leaning #StarTrek fans out there? What do you like the most about the franchise? pic.twitter.com/LELemRZVxf

— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) November 20, 2023

Hundreds replied, saying they loved the characters, the intelligent writing, the adventurous tone and its rooting in classical art and literature. They praised “Star Trek’s” depiction of “Men of action. Men of reason. Men of medicine. Heroism. Courage. Adventure. Chivalry. Quest for knowledge. Quest for beauty. Quest for wisdom. Exploring the unknown. Respect for the ways of other tribes. [And] high moral code.”

It is clear that many conservatives grew up with the show and have deep nostalgic ties to it. Conservative podcaster Kira Davis responded that she grew up on “Star Trek,” adding, “I always felt like I was on ‘the team’ when I watched the shows.”

Many even went as far as to defend the show as being nominally conservative. “The original Star Trek at its core was a western in space as some TV exec snidely told Roddenberry. But that was a strength. It was about heroics. Facing down an enemy,” says @JimRoseAF.

“There is some Conservatism in Star Trek. Star Fleet as an institution is driven by the Declarations’ natural rights. [Neither] Kirk nor Picard are determinists. Unlike teacher’s unions, they promote by merit, not seniority,” says @BelAves.

[True, but each iteration of ST watered that down more and more. ST:TNG was only barely crypto-socialist and became openly hostile to faith and dissent from the cultural-elite narratives. DS9 fell into determinism of a sort, although it started off interestingly enough. And after that, I didn’t have much interest in following the ST universe any longer, not even with the brief respite of JJ Abrams’ entertaining if noisy reboot. — Ed]