Jill

I would not call myself a "trekkie". I'd be shunned and laughed at by true trekkies. I would not call my husband a trekkie, either, although he can tell you the entire plot and storyline of a Star Trek - Next Generation episode before the opening credits begin. However, many of my nights growing up were spent watching Next Generation and Deep Space Nine (Voyager was irritating and the original series was a little too campy for my tastes).

I only just discovered now that Gene Roddenberry was a humanist. Combine that with my high school discovery and later immersion into Kurt Vonnegut books and it shouldn't be a surprise that I found the humanist philosophy to match my beliefs so closely.

I suppose a child can have worse influences than a fleet of starships roaming the galaxy, creating alliances with vastly different races and trying to help civilizations in need.