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Chapter 2

Habitats of the Wild World

The scene is a courtroom somewhere in the heartland of the USA. The presiding judge for the trial is adjusting his robes so he can sit down comfortably; the prosecuting attorney is at his table checking his notes. Across the room, the defendant has taken his place at the table next to his attorney. And it is now time for the jury of the defendant’s peers to file in and take their positions in the jury box.

There comes the housewife, followed by the retired postal clerk, the auto mechanic, the high school teacher, and the bookkeeper. And next to file by to find their seats are the telephone operator, the Burger King assistant manager, the dental hygienist and the … officer from the Starship Enterprise. She’s in full uniform with insignia, communicator, and phaser gun.

No, this scene is not based on fiction. It is based on an incident at the Whitewater Trial in 1996. Although the occupations mentioned above were not necessarily those of the Whitewater jurors, the presence of the Star Ship Enterprise juror is fact.

Well, it’s not exactly fact. The alternate juror in question was actually a 31-year-old file clerk from Arkansas named Barbara Adams. But she was, indeed, dressed in the full regalia of an officer from the crew of the fictional television show Star Trek. And she wasn’t just pulling a prank for the day … she wore the uniform throughout her stint on the jury. (She was excused from her position fairly early in the trial for talking to a television reporter.) When she went back to her file clerk job, she continued to wear it for special occasions, as she had for a long time.

Ms. Adams is a devout Trekkie—one of those fans of the Star Trek show whose interest in the show goes far beyond just a hobby. This is not merely a person who has collected videotapes, DVDs, action figures, posters, and other memorabilia. This is a person who has immersed herself in a total subculture of people who dedicate most of their free waking moments, outside of work and eating, to a focus on the alternate reality of the Star Trek universe.

Those who inhabit only the normal reality of American life may be totally unaware that such a subculture exists, unless they have seen the amusing and amazing documentary video by director Roger Nygard titled Trekkies. The 1999 video takes the viewer on a safari exploring the world of Trekkies. It covers the regional and national conventions, where they dress up as their favorite characters and rub shoulders with others who share their obsession. It follows them as they buy and swap collectibles—from small action figures costing a few dollars, to authentic props from the Star Trek movies and TV series, which fetch prices in the thousands of dollars. And it explores the private lives back home of some of the most devoted of the breed.

In her home town, Ms. Adams is an active member of one of the Star Trek clubs that meet regularly throughout the country. These are not just casual social clubs where fans swap stories and collectibles. Many model themselves after more traditional fraternal organizations. The members take their crew positions and titles very seriously, and engage in charity works in the same way the Knights of Columbus or the Masons do.

Although most Trekkies probably don’t even own a full uniform, like Ms. Adams wore at the Whitewater trial, she is not unique. The Trekkies video featured Dr. Denis Bourguignon and the whole staff at his Orlando dental office, who dressed as Star Trek crewmembers, and conducted the business of cleaning and fixing teeth in an environment totally dominated by the Star Trek theme. The walls were covered with Star Trek posters, starship models hung from the ceiling, and memorabilia filled the shelves on the walls. New prospective employees did not have a choice regarding whether or not to become a part of the theme—willingness to wear the Enterprise uniform was a prerequisite to employment.

The video noted that there were even serious classes at the time that one could take in order to learn to speak the fictional language of the enemies of the Enterprise, the Klingons.

Other Alternate Realities

Most Americans do not realize that this Trekkie subculture exists, even though it is inhabited by many thousands of their countrymen. And the world of the Trekkies is not the only such subculture in America that is a virtual society, within the larger society, to which most Americans are oblivious. There are likely thousands of such subcultures built on shared interests.

Families who have one or more children who are competitive dancers (tap, ballet, jazz, and more) make up another such subculture. Parents and siblings of these children are often required to build their whole schedule outside of work and school around the needs of the latest scheduled competition of the dancers in the family. The family’s finances may even be in jeopardy from the incredible expense involved in outfitting their children with costumes for their competitions, paying for travel expenses and accommodations necessary to compete on the national level, investing in years of private dance lessons, and much more. They are so immersed in the competitive dance subculture that all of their friends and acquaintances may be limited to people they meet at the practices and competitions. The world of competitive dance is their reality, their culture, their own society.

The same can be said for any number of competitive subcultures, from figure skating to gymnastics to modeling, both for adults and children. The average American never thinks about those groups of people whose primary concerns revolve around upcoming beauty pageants or Olympic tryouts. They may even assume that most people spend their time outside of work, school, and sleep the same way they and their neighbors do: watching TV, reading the latest best-seller on the NY Times booklist, hosting back-yard barbecues, going to sporting events and concerts, working on a common hobby like coin collecting or scrap-booking, and so on.

Occasionally, there are TV documentaries that give a glimpse into American subcultures such as youth beauty and talent pageants. And this may raise the consciousness of many Americans about that particular subculture. They can comprehend how some families might be driven, by aspirations for their children, to become part of such a subculture for a few years. But there is another set of American subcultures that seldom get any time in the national media. If the average American ever got a glimpse inside these cultures, they might find some of the stories as amusing and amazing as the story of the Trekkies. A closer inspection might even leave them puzzled and troubled at times.

American Spiritual Subcultures

Most of those directly involved in the Trekkie subculture realize that the whole subculture is based on fiction. They are serious about their participation, but serious because they are having fun. The occasional emotionally or mentally disturbed individual might become obsessed with the Trek world to the point where they couldn’t distinguish fiction from reality. Even so, such people are in an extreme minority.

But there is a set of subcultures, ranging in size from a few dozen people to hundreds of thousands, in which the individuals are just as devoted and intense as are Trekkies or beauty pageant moms. Yet they do not believe that their subculture is based on either fiction or short-term, temporary individual or family aspirations. The people in these subcultures are just as immersed in their unique interests as any Trekkie is in the trivia of Star Trek. Many of them spend most of their time outside work, school, and sleep involved in the activities of their subculture, to the exclusion of many of the standard interests and hobbies of most Americans. These are the spiritual subcultures within a number of modern American religious movements.

This reference is not to people in general who embrace a particular religious belief system, or belong to any of the thousands of denominational or independent church congregations in America. Whether one is a Baptist, a Catholic, a Methodist, or an independent Pentecostal, it is not unusual at all to be an active part of one’s community of faith. Nor is it unusual for one’s closest friends to be those who share similar religious beliefs. And diligent attendance at weekly worship services, Bible studies, and church social activities is a normal part of the lives of many Americans. Regular personal, individual Bible study and prayer are also a normal part of the lives of many. Thus the knowledge that their neighbors might attend a different church denomination or have a different circle of regular church friends than themselves is not puzzling or troubling to most people.

What many, if not most, Americans are not aware of are the growing number of spiritual subcultures based almost entirely on the personality and powers of persuasion of one man or one very limited group of men. Inside some of these subcultures, leaders exert an unusual level of influence over the daily lives of their supporters, to the point of almost micromanaging their lives. This can include legislating everything from what clothes to wear to what positions followers may use during sexual intimacy with their spouses.

The next chapter will explore ways in which such subcultures are created by aspiring gurus in the Brave New World of 21^st Century American religious movements.