The Hand of Mercy

Take a look at my latest Inquirer article, from March 29, 2015

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20150329_Extending_the_hand_of_mercy.html

Spock, Nimoy, and Logic

“You gotta watch Star Trek,” this friend insisted. It presented an optimistic vision of the future and was attracting a loyal cadre of fans who would one day be called Trekkers. The show had already finished its undistinguished three season run and was in reruns on UHF channel 48, the Philly station largely credited with reviving the now legendary franchise. It still thrives after 50 years. UHF is an unknown acronym for anyone with a Twitter account.

And Leonard Nimoy as the stalwart Mr. Spock has been at the heart of that phenomenon for every one of those years, including in 2013’s Star Trek: Into Darkness. Zachary Quinto is a creditable younger version, but we all know he is not just playing Spock, he is playing Nimoy playing Spock. There is no other access point to that role.

Spock is a cultural fixture in part because of his alien origins — his father hailed from Vulcan, a planet of savages who saved themselves by turning to the discipline of logic. More importantly, he represents the lofty vision of reason guiding behavior, as well as the flawed vision of reason shunning emotion.

In the Star Trek universe, Spock’s strictly logical approach is set against the passion of Dr. McCoy who vociferously decries the Vulcan’s disparagement of emotion, empathy, and caring. Captain Kirk plays the referee, trying with mixed success to get the right mix.

In business consulting, Spock is referenced frequently, especially during personality assessments like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. The MBTI suggests that people tend to make decisions based on one of two criteria: logic and feeling, objective reason and personal values. Spock is often channeled as the paradigm of decision-making based on logic.

Today the Spocks and McCoys are feuding as volubly as ever. Sometimes the earth itself seems caught up in a pitched battle between those who contend that the victory is to the furious, the violent, the uncompromising and those who want to work it out calmly and rationally.

Leonard Nimoy had a distinguished and varied career as a stage, screen and TV actor, movie director, author, photo artist, and humanitarian. It is his half century of portraying a pointy-eared alien that has earned him immortality.

Vulcans looked down on us poor humans, even bullied Spock, a half-human who had to work twice as hard to conceal his depraved emotional side. Their path to peaceful coexistence was simple submission to the dictates of logic. The price was utter repression of feeling. Spock embodied the promise and the price. His was a tortured soul paddling logically across the surface, sporadically aware of the seditious undertow of friendship, loyalty, and love.

Leonard Nimoy transmitted that inner conflict exquisitely. In an early Star Trek episode he assumes command of the Enterprise and is befuddled that his perfectly rational decisions are ultimately rejected by a crew of humans who require infusions of human feeling from their leaders, even at the cost of the most efficient course of action.

Great leaders in their greatest moments marry clear thinking and deep feeling in ways that stir us, unite us, and carry us through unimagined moments of crisis. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address confronts a civil war’s field of blood; Roosevelt’s First Inaugural confronts a Great Depression; King’s Dream Speech confronts a history of injustice; Reagan’s Challenger Disaster Speech confronts a day of shock and mourning.

Without Spock’s clear, calm logic, all those speeches would have been howls of rage, sorrow, despair, or desolation. Spock’s logic marshals emotion, gives it purpose, and confers nobility and hope.

Through his singular portrayal of a singular character, Leonard Nimoy has left us this legacy, a road to purpose, nobility, and hope. They give his famous salutation its ultimate meaning.

Live long and prosper.

Brian Williams the Hero

Here is an article I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20150215_When_our_embellishments_go_too_far.html

The Pope in Manilla

Here is an Inquirer article I wrote, appearing in the January 21, 2015, Philadephia Inquirer. You might like it.

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20150121_In_Manila__a_papal_audience_unlike_any_other.html