The City of God and the City of Man

Today's topic is religion so we're going to start off with a joke.

Four men, a Muslim, a Jew and 2 Southern Baptists, survive a ship wreck, swimming ashore to a deserted island.

All four men are devoted men of faith and thank God for their deliverance from death on this island.

Each of them decide to establish as a show of faith and devotion a place of prayer and worship.

Using rocks, branches and straw, the Muslim makes the island's first mosque.

Also using rocks, branches and straw, the Jew constructs the island's first synagogue.

And likewise employing rocks, branches and straw, the 2 Southern Baptists build the island's 1st and 2nd Baptist churches.

Anyone who has ever driven through any small southern town knows where I'm coming from. 

I grew up in a small town that you think could barely sustain one Baptist church and we had three! (Or four if you count the black Baptist church but we didn't count it because of, you know, racism.) 

The thing is there are a lot of different people with different ideas of faith and God.  And those ideas are important to each person who believes in them.  

But even within a particular segment of faith, however, there is not always unity about those ideas of faith and God.

Which brings me to the non-joke part of this post.

(And I know there may be a smartass thinking "Wait! Did I miss the joke part?" Well, I know I'm thinking it and I'm writing this.) 

Last week, a rather official sounding government group called the Religious Liberty Commission issued a report.  

The commission was created at Donald Trump's request but I feel assured to say he will not read the report. It has 14 chapters.

Li'l Donnie's lack of reading comprehension as well as the lack of any substantial attention span will forestall any reading of the report. 

He may read the page one summary, especially if there is a color coded graph or chart.  

"Americans must know their rights and stand with courage when those rights are challenged. To preserve this freedom, we must build bridges, not walls, between the City of God and the City of Man. If we do so, we will pass on a free and prosperous nation to the next generation"

To clarify and summarize, the Commission is recommending eliminating the seperation of church and state.

The report tries to put some distance between it's recommendations and the concept of the seperation of church and state:  “To be clear, this does not involve or require advocating ‘theocracy’ or even the total elimination of any separation between church and state."

The report goes on to "clarify" that we need to acknowledge there is a “tension between the relevant clauses of the First Amendment” the guarantee religious freedom but forbidding any government-established church.

What I think this boils down to is this.

If my religion says that...

• I don't want a black person in my neighborhood.
• I don't want a gay  person in my neighborhood.
• I don't want a woman having an abortion in my neighborhood.

But if the law says....

• I can't say NO to a black person in my neighborhood.
• I can't say NO to a gay  person in my neighborhood.
• I can't say NO to a woman having an abortion in my neighborhood.

Well, we have a problem and the government should not get in the way of my religion.

If your rights as an American citizen run counter to the tenets of my religion, I should not have to make compromises to allow you to live your life your way.

If your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are diametrically opposed to my right to practice my religion as I choose, well, one of us needs to step aside.

And it won't be me because I have God on my side. 

Which is (and I might be quoting Pope Leo or Mother Theresa) "a pretty fucked up way of thinking".   

The commission's report provides a series of recommendations, to increase the role of religion in government, schools and public life.

Okay, fine but whose religion will have an increased role in government, schools and public life?   

Given that the commission is made up of people who have asserted that the United States is a Christian nation, we can have a good guess on which religion wins that lottery.

And even within the context of a Christian focus, which version of Christianity? 

Baptists think Methodists are on par with Sapphic druids. 

Let's break the tension with another joke.

How can you tell the difference between a Baptist and a Methodist? Unlike a Baptist, a Methodist will say "hi" to you in the liquor store.

On the same day the Religious Liberty Commission was delivering it's report, the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education added parts of the Bible to a list of required reading for millions of students.

Starting in 2030, all public school students in Texas will be required to read passages from the Bible in class.

• Hey, what if you're Jewish and your faith doesn't include the New Testament parts of the Bible?
• What if you're Muslim?
• Or Hindu?
• Or atheist?

I believe the answer from the good Christian people of Texas is "Fuck them! They're going to hell anyway!"  

Or to put it in more professional terms, I'll turn the blog over to Rachel Laser, the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State:  “Today’s vote by the Texas State Board of Education is yet another example of Texas politicians pushing Christianity on public schoolchildren. Public schools should not force children to read Bible stories. This policy is part of a broader movement ... to misuse public schools to impose one narrow set of religious beliefs and indoctrinate a new generation of Americans in the lie that America is a Christian country.”

Let me take a moment to comment on what a freakin' cool last name "Laser" is! 

Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, a right-wing organization that pushes for Christianity in public schools, begs to differ with Ms. Laser:   “We need to focus on what our nation was founded on and not apologize for that. It is the truth, and we should not be afraid.”

I'm always wary of alleged Christians who conflate faith with truth.

• Truth is objective, factual, some other 3rd thing.  
• Faith is subjective, spiritual, yet another 3rd thing.  

One time while driving in the countryside, my son and I saw a church sign that said "I don't just believe I'm going to heaven. I know it!"  

So there's this ONE guy who has this all figured out. Absolutely sure he's getting in. Have you considered everything?

St. Peter: "Let's see, it says here you went to church on Sunday, gave a 10% tithe to the church and said prayers everyday. Uh oh! What's this? You had the endless shrimp at Red Lobster? You know that thing in Leviticus against eating shellfish? Yeah, turns out THAT, not the gay thing, is the deal breaker. 'Bye!"

We have NO idea!  Assuming there is an afterlife and there is criteria for getting in, it could be anything. 

St. Peter: "So Dave-El, you remember that one time you fondled yourself watching Daisy Duke in Dukes of Hazzard?

St. Peter:  One time and the 22,437,513 times after that? NEXT!"

OK, so I might not be getting in. 

This is getting silly. 

Houston resident Joshua Fixler, you may have the microphone:  “This list is full of Christian texts that are inappropriate for public school classrooms. As a rabbi and a parent of Jewish kids, I think it is vital that this board make a distinction between teaching about religion and teaching religion. This list will force teachers to cross that line.”

As the United States approaches it's 250th birthday in a few days, in what shoud be a time of unified celebration, the nation is fundementally divided on the subject of religion.  

My faith matters more than your faith.

This perspective is wrong and dangerous. 

Despite assertions by Donald Trump and right wing pundits, Christianity is NOT under attack.

I would say that NO ONE is telling you what you can or cannot believe.

I would say that NO ONE is telling you what church is the right one to go to.

I would say that except....

The Religious Liberty Commission and the Texas State Board of Education are telling us what to believe and what church to go to. 

They want to make THEIR faith a component of OUR laws.  

And that is not a joke.

Not NOW, Gary! 

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Invincible

So I finally finished the 4th season of Invincible.

My delay in finishing this season should not be construed as me no longer being enthused by or interested in this season.

Invincible remains one my of favorite comic book adaptions.

When the eight-episode fourth season dropped between March and April, my time was consumed with shows that were heading for series finales that I needed to stay on top of in real time: Outlander, The Boys and Hacks.  

Necessitating me having to back burner Invincible whenever I was in a TV viewing time crunch.

Which is remarkable to me that as a person with no friends or a social life, I can actually have something called a "TV  viewing time crunch".   

Enough of that.  What about season 4 of Invincible?

After a mid-season side quest to Hell to actually help Satan (who is voiced by Bruce Campell so he can't be all bad), Mark Grayson is looking for some down time with Eve.  Eve is looking for the right moment to tell Mark she's pregnant.  

She thinks she's found it...and NOPE! Moment lost.

Nolan has returned. 

The erstwhile Omni-Man, Earth's greatest super hero turned Earth's greatest traitor and destroyer, has come back to Earth along with Allen the Alien to recruit Mark for war.

Nolan has changed quite a bit since he left Earth and is looking to atone for the evil things he did for his Viltrumite masters.  

The Coalition of Planets led by Thaddeus, another Viltrumite who turned against his people, are ready to go to war and end the Viltrumite threat once and for all.  

Mark relunctantly agrees to join the war effort and is accompanied by his young brother Oliver.  Allen also recruits Zoe Thompson aka Tech Jacket.  Her alien tech armor and weaponry is strong enough to take on Viltrumites.   

(We meet Zoe's dad Ed who is voiced by Bobby Moynihan. not Patton Oswalt as I originally suspected. This mix up will occur again.  See this Saturday's Movie Time.)  

Over the course of the next episodes, the battle is joined and it ain't pretty. Invincible gets into a knock down drag out beat down with Conquest.  Mark manages to kill Conquest but not before the psycopathic Viltrumite has beaten the unholy crap out of Invincible including pulling out his intestines. 

Instestine pulling happens a lot. Usually that's a good sign someone is dead but Mark does get better. Over time.  

Working on this show must be kind of weird.

Producer: So you want to be an animator on Invincible?

Artist: Oh yeah! I really love the comic and the show!

Producer: It says on your resume you worked on Spongebob Squarepants?

Artist: That's correct.

Producer: Have you ever had to animate someone punching another person really hard in the gut and pulling out their intestines?

Artist: Well, there was this one time Squidward really had it up to here with Mr. Krabs and...

Producer: Really?

Artist: Yeah, but (sigh!) it didn't make the final cut.

Producer: Those bastards at Nickelodeon?  

Artist: Damn right those bastards at Nickelodeon never let us have any fun.

Producer: Jeff Bezos really likes the intestine pulling scenes.

Artist: Wow! 

Producer: Welcome to Amazon and the Invincible animation team. I think you'll like it here. 

So the war goes on and on until Invincible, Omini-Man and Thaddeus lead a triple prong strike on the planet Viltrum and shatter the damn planet to pieces.

The 37 Viltrumites who are left are really pissed off and despite being small in number still have a significant edge in raw super power.

Oliver gets badly hurt. A Viltrumite tears... OUT his INTESTINES?! Nope, his arm gets torn off! (Don't worry, the Coalition will grow him another one.)  

Thaddeus gets killed! 

Tharrg, the Viltrumite leader, has Mark dead to rights and is own the verge of killing him....

But Tharrg and the Viltrumites choose to vanish.

Where did they go? 

Marks susses out they've gone to Earth.

A planet for a planet, eh?

Which brings us back to the season finale.  

Mark, Nolan and Zoe return to Earth to find the Viltrumites do not appear to be there. But that doesn't stop Mark from having hallucinations of Tharrg showing up out of nowhere to engage in some good ol' fashioned intesting pulling on his mom, Debbie, his girlfriend Eve, even on that detestable bastard Cecil.   

Mark has been off world for a year and he finally connects with Eve who finally tells Mark she was pregnant.

Was?

Eve says she had an abortion.  

With Mark gone for who knew how long (he was gone almost a year) and with her father being a judgemental prick, Eve felt alone and desperate and made a choice to end her pregnancy.  

Which just means more angst for Mark Grayson.  My God, this show never lets up on this poor guy, do they? 

Artist: Can we put in an intestine pull here?

Producer: Settle down! Now is not the time.

Artist: Damn it! 

Jeff Bezos (watching at home): No intestines? Damn it!  

Flying around to clear his head, Mark sees Tharrg. Fuck it! He ain't in the mood for another hallucination.

Problem: it's not an hallucination.

Well.. fuck! The Viltrumites are on Earth.

But Tharrg isn't there to fight. (Sorry, no intestine pulling.)

Artist:  Fuck! 

Jeff Bezos: Fuck! 

Tharrg wants to make a deal.  He and his Viltrumites will live on Earth, do nothing to hurt anyone and live their lives.

Which will include mating with Earth women. Which they know from the existence of Mark Grayson will produce Viltrumite powered offspring to replenis their diminished numbers.

And Mark will let them do that.

After everything they've done to hurt, terrorize and kill people across the galaxy and Mark thinks they can't get away with that.

Then he remembers everything they've done to hurt, terrorize and kill people across the galaxy and his own hallucinations of how they could do that to Earth....

And...

He acccepts the deal.

I can imagine that will not sit well with Nolan or the Coalition of Planets.

But that's a problem for season 5.

And that is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Celebrating America's 250th anniversary, today's blog post is brought to you by...

The GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR!

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No pushing and shoving, folks! There's room enough for everybody! 

And food for everybody! Like Deep Fried Turkey Legs! 

For.... how much?

Yes, home equity financing IS available for Deep Fried Turkey Legs! 

Also we have...

Corn dogs?  No, we don't.

Funnel cake? Nope, no funnel cake.

Ice cream? Yes, folks, we have ice cream! 

No folks, we don' have ice cream! It melted! 

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Last week, Congress did something that was actually close to doing their fershlugginer jobs.  Both Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.  Among the provisions of the bill: 

• restrictions on large institutional investors from buying up homes, thus driving up costs
• unlock federal funds for modular homes 
• start a pilot program to convert vacant commercial buildings into affordable housing

And other things designed to make having a place to freaking live not be so damned expensive.  

What with the cost of everything being so goddam high, Congress persons, especially Republicans, running for re-election this fall, want to point to at least ONE thing they accomplished to bring down the cost of something. 

There was a lot of fanfare around having a signing ceremony where Donald Trump, who took a moment from his vital work on the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and actually supported the legislation, would sign the bill into law. 

Then Li'l Donnie at the last minute decided he wasn't gonna do that.  

But....  But....  it was going to be a thing. This whole thing.

• There was a table!
• There was red, white and blue bunting on everything!!
• And a fresh new Sharpie just like Li'l Donnie likes!!! 
• A bright red arrow on the the document that said "SIGN HERE"!!!
• A nice ice cold Diet Coke to enjoy afterwards!!!!

Well, whazzup with that?  

Der Führer refused to sign the housing bill unless Congress passed the so-called SAVE America Act first.

The SAVE Act is a comprehensive bill that checks off a lot of boxes on Trump's wish list to restrict, curtail or even prevent voting that he perceives would be detrimental to his interests. Such as stopping mail-in voting and requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.   

So to sum up, Trump refused to sign legislation that could help a lot of Americans and demands passage of other legislation that could hurt a lot of Americans and benefit him personally.

Well, that's pretty much on brand for Donald J. Trump, ain't it?

Which is why we can't have nice things.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act can still become law without Donald Trump.  If legislation is passed and sent to the President and is not signed, it will become law anyway after 10 days.   

So Li'l Donnie cost himself a photo op of actually doing something to help people to throw a temper tantrum over something that will not help people and for what? So Democrats can run campaign ads that the housing bill passed DESPITE Donald Trump.  

Of course der Führer does not give a single fuck about what might help the American people when his only imperative is holding on to power for his personal benefit.

An imperative important to Trump's supplicating syncophants.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference on Friday, had this to say:  “If we were to lose the midterms, heaven forbid, these Democrats, y’all impeachment’s not even the big concern. They will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they’ll go after the president’s family, the cabinet, his donors and friends, half of you in this room will be targeted. I run the protection program. I’ll take care of you. We’re going to win the midterms."  

Wait a minute! Did Mike really say "I run the protection program. I’ll take care of you"?  What is this, a protection racket? Why does Mike Johnson sound like a mob boss? 

Because his lord and savior Donald Trump talks in the parlance of a common street thug somehow elevated in a criminal organization? Li'l Mikey just trying to be like his daddy, ain't that sweet.

People shouldn't try to talk like Trump.

Trump shouldn't talk like Trump.

Last week when asked about negotiations with Iran, Trump said he was pleased because, adding with a big shit eating grin, "Iran is doing what I want!" 

Two hours later, Iran bombed a ship in the Strait of Hormuz with a bunch of drones.  

Trump's mob boss schtick does NOT play well in Iran. 

But Trump, lacking in intelligence or wisdom or empathy or any kind of nuanced thinking, only knows how to bluster, threaten and boast like a movie cliche of a tough guy.

By the way, the United States launched strikes against Iran to get back at Iran.

And Iran launched strikes back at us and....

You know the drill.  

Which is why we can't have nice things.

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Happy 250th birthday, America!  This blog post is being brought to you by...

The GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR!

The GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR!

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Enjoy all the rides!

• The Ferris Wheel! 
• That old dude's scooter! 
• Did I mention the Ferris Wheel?
• The "roll around on the grass lawn" ride!
• Seriously, there's a Ferris Wheel! 
• Dude, stop hogging the scooter! 
• Sorry folks: the Ferris Wheel is not working right now!

It's NON STOP FUN at....

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SIDE NOTE: In case you're wondering about something from the start of the blog post about the Great American State Fair:

Deep Fried Turkey Legs cost $23.

Now on with the program.   

Meanwhile, what about the terrible crisis of our time, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool?

Trump still sticks by his version of reality where the massive algae blooms and the shredding blue sealant paint are caused by VANDALS! 

And Trump loyalists have gone to the trouble of arresting VANDALS!  

OK, the acts of vandalism include reaching into the water to retrieve a piece of the shredding blue sealant paint floating to the surface of the puke green Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.

Then the National Park Service and other government entities compromized by der Führer's minions make big annoucements that "WE HAVE ARRESTED VANDALS!" to appease Li'l Donnie's fragile ego inside his make believe world where handing a no-bid contract to an unvetted company to paint the pool dark blue was a PERFECT idea! 

Which is why we can't have nice things.

And we're not done.  So much fuckery I have NOT commented on.

But yes, we are done.  Trying to keep track of all the stupid, illegal, immoral, unethical things being done by Trump and his cultists take up so much time, so much energy.

It all just plain wears me out.

Which is why we can't have nice things.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Celebrating 250 years of the United States of America, this blog post has been brought to you by...

The GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR!

The GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR!

The GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR!

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Good night everybody and God bless the USA! 

Star Trekking: Star Trek - The Original Series - Season One - Part Three

 

Welcome back to Star Trekking, my regular blog berth for my Star Trek fandom.  

This week I am concluding my look back at season 1 of the original Star Trek. I'm not posting about every episode but just certain shows that have resonated with me over time.

This week, I'm starting with "This Side of Paradise" which first aired on NBC March 2, 1967.   The Enterprise has arrived at Omicron Ceti Three where human life can't possible exist.

I'll let Capt Kirk and Mr. Spock explain.

KIRK: Mister Spock, there were one hundred and fifty men, women, and children in that colony. What are the chances of survivors?

SPOCK: Absolutely none, Captain. Berthold rays are such a recent discovery. We do not yet have full knowledge of their nature. It is known, however, that living animal tissue disintegrates under exposure. Sandoval's group could not have survived after three years.

KIRK: Are you saying that those people built a future in a place knowing they might not survive?

SPOCK: I am saying they knew there was a risk.

KIRK: And what about us? Can we afford to send people to the planet's surface?

SPOCK: The breakdown of tissue does not develop immediately. We can risk a limited exposure.

Everybody got that? I do so love a Star Trek plot exposition.

Kirk leads a party down to the colony which looks like a standard issue farm so that saves money on building an alien planet set.

Expecting the colonists to be dead, the party is surprised to be greeted by Elias Sandoval, the leader of the colony mission.

MCCOY: On pure speculation, just an educated guess, I'd say that man is alive.

Boy, Bones didn't go to medical school for nothing, did he?

So the colonists are alive and well.

Including Leila.

Who is Leila?

She's an attractive blonde woman who knew Spock way back when. Let's listen in to Elias and Leila have a chat about that.

ELIAS: You've known the Vulcanian?

LEILA: On Earth, six years ago.

ELIAS: Did you love him?

LEILA: If I did, it was important only to myself.

ELIAS: How did he feel?

LEILA: Mister Spock's feelings were never expressed to me. It is said he has none to give.

ELIAS: Would you like him to stay with us now, to be as one of us?

LEILA: There is no choice, Elias. He will stay.

Uh oh! The colonists are up to shit.

Meanwhile the Enterprise crew realizes there are no animals, no cows, chickens, pigs or even dogs.

And what are these weird alien plants that...

PFFT! 

Shoot out spores in your face and...

And...

Life is kinda groovy, ain't it? 

An opinion shared by none other than Spock when Leila gets him alone for some unrequited canoodling when...

PFFT!! 

The canoodling is very much requited.  

We've seen Spock's much vaunted logic and self control take a beating earlier in the season in "The Naked Time" but here, it's all gone.  

Spock is smiling?

Yes. Spock is smiling.

So. Much. Smiling.

Please make it stop!

So the alien plant spores protect humans from Berthold rays but leaves humans as blissed out hippies.  

Dang hippies! 

Slowly the Enterprise crew on the planet and on the ship in orbit are overcome by the spores. The ship is abandoned except for one last man. 

Of course Capt. Kirk is the final hold out from the alien spores but one of the plants on the Enterprise bridge....

PFFT!!!

It's all groovy, man! 

But Kirk's dedication to his duty, to his ship is too strong. As he gets ready to beam down...

KIRK: No. No! I can't leave! (he's very relieved) Emotions. Violent emotions. Needs. Anger. Captain's log, supplemental. I think I've discovered the answer, but to carry out my plan entails considerable risk. Mister Spock is much stronger than the ordinary human being. Aroused, his great physical strength could kill. But it's a risk I'll have to take.

So Kirk cons Spock into leaving Leila for a minute and beam back to the ship where Kirk starts insulting Spock, striking him.

And Spock loses his shit and starts beating the crap out of Kirk.

Until...

Spock shakes off the influence of the spores.  

Together, Kirk and Spock technobabble a subsonic signal designed to irritate the crap out of people. 

Tempers flare and slugfests ensue but eventually all the people on Omicron Ceti Three are shaken out of their zombie stupor.

But not without a price.

Leila beams up to the Enterprise where Spock awaits.

LEILA: You're no longer with us, are you? I felt something was wrong.

SPOCK: It was necessary.

LEILA: Come back to the planet with me. You can belong again. Come back with me, please.

SPOCK: I can't.

LEILA: I love you. I said that six years ago, and I can't seem to stop repeating myself. On Earth, you couldn't give anything of yourself. You couldn't even put your arms around me. We couldn't have anything together there. We couldn't have anything together anyplace else. We're happy here. (crying) I can't lose you now, Mister Spock. I can't.

SPOCK: I have a responsibility to this ship, to that man on the Bridge. I am what I am, Leila, and if there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them. Mine can be no worse than someone else's.

LEILA: I have lost you, haven't I? And not only you, I've lost all of it. The spores. I've lost them, too.

KIRK: The Captain discovered that strong emotions and needs destroy the spore influence.

LEILA: And this is for my good? Do you mind if I say I still love you? You never told me if you had another name, Mister Spock.

SPOCK: (wiping away her tears) You couldn't pronounce it.

OK, you Kirk/Spock shippers caught that?

"I have a responsibility to this ship, to that man on the Bridge."

Go on and write your gay fan fiction. 

One last thing to say.

MCCOY: Well, that's the second time man's been thrown out of paradise.

KIRK: No, no, Bones. This time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren't meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through. Struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can't stroll to the music of the lute. We must march to the sound of drums.

This does seem to be a recurring theme in Star Trek. Positing a future of advance technology in a world of progressive values and peace, it's important to remember even with all of that,  human acheivement is something to be worked for, strived for.

Covering "This Side of Paradise" took me longer than I expected and I have three more episodes to cover. 

"The Devil in the Dark" brings the Enterprise to Janus Six where a mining operation has ground to a halt. Why?

Because of all the murder.

An alien critter is attacking the miners,buring them to a crisp.

So let's see if we got this.

• Problem: Humans miners - killed!
• Cause: Alien critter - kills! 
• Solution: Alien critter needs to be killed.

Well, that seems simple.

But Kirk has questions.   

• Why is the alien critter killing miners now?
• What's with all these metallic spheres all over the place?

Kirk susses out what's going on and with a mind meld from Spock, he gets the deets.

• The alien critter is a Horta. a silicon based life form.
• The Horta is a mother.  
• The metallic sphere are her eggs.
• The miners had breached into new caverns where the eggs were stored and began destroying them.
• As the Horta is the last of her kind, that is a major problem.
• Also the Horta is mortally injured. 

Kirk summons McCoy who is very crumpy.

MCCOY: You can't be serious. That thing is virtually made out of stone!

KIRK: Help it. Treat it.

MCCOY: I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer.

KIRK: You're a healer. There's a patient. That's an order.

Gotta love a classic "I'm a doctor, not a ______!"  

And dang if good ol' Bones don't go and done did a medical miracle on our alien critter.  

MCCOY: By golly, Jim, I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day. Well, I had the ship beam down a hundred pounds of that thermoconcrete. You know, the kind we use to build emergency shelters out of. It's mostly silicone. So I just trowelled it into the wound, and it'll act like a bandage until it heals. Take a look. It's as good as new.

Boy, Bones didn't go to medical school for nothing, did he?

Sometimes people will make fun of the alien critter for looking like a crawling carpet. 

Those people should be ashamed of themselves.

You hear a lot of trolls who dare call themselves Star Trek fans bitching and whining that modern Trek series are "too woke" or some bullshit like that. And why can't Trek go back to the way it was in the old days?

"Devil in the Dark" decidedly puts to the lie that idea. Consider the situation that greets Kirk when he arrives. Humans killed! Alien is killer! Kill alien! 

But Kirk takes time to think about what he sees and actually sees the point of view of our erstwhile antagonist, much as he did with the Gorn in "Arena".  

Fuck you, trolls! Star Trek has always been "woke" even when Kirk was in the Captain's chair.

Kirk's prediliction for empathy and mercy are seriously challenged in the aptly named "Errand of Mercy".   

Let's get some plot exposition from Kirk and Spock.

KIRK: Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a surprise attack. We are to proceed to Organia and take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base.

SPOCK: Strategically sound. Organia is the only Class M planet in the disputed area, ideally located for use by either side.

KIRK: Organia's description, Mister Spock.

SPOCK: Inhabited by humanoids. A very peaceful, friendly people living on a primitive level. Little of intrinsic value. Approximately Class D minus on Richter's scale of cultures.

Once more, did everybody get that? Gotta love Star Trek plot exposition!

So Kirk and Spock beam down to Organia and...

Let me take a minute to rant about something. Because William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are in the opening credits, then Kirk and Spock need to damn well be seen doing stuff. 

Even if it makes NO sense for both the Captain and his second in command to leave the ship during a time of heightened tensions with a powerful and threatening enemy. 

And this shit happened all the time in original Star Trek.

End of rant! 

So Kirk and Spock beam down to Organia and find a populace that is peaceful, calm, docile and seemingly not bothered that the Klingons are on the way to do bad stuff.

And damn it! The Klingons arrive, barking orders, snarling, being assholes and what not.

And the Organians don't care.

Kirk and Spock are like, what the hell, guys? 

Our heroes attempt some guerrilla war tactics against the invading Klingons.  Their commander Kor orders whole bunches of Organians to be rounded up and killed.

In space, the Enterprise is facing a Klingon vessel ready for battle. 

Well, enough is enough!  

On the planet and in space, all the weapons of the Enterprise crew and the Klingons become too hot to touch.

Kor thinks this is some form of trickery as he, Kirk and Spock confront the Organians. But....

AYELBORNE: It is no trick, Commander. We have simply put an end to your war. All your military forces, wherever they are, are now completely paralysed.

CLAYMARE: We find interference in other people's affairs most disgusting, but you gentlemen have given us no choice.

KIRK: You should be the first to be on our side. Two hundred hostages killed.

AYELBORNE: No one has been killed, Captain.

CLAYMARE: No one has died here in uncounted thousands of years.

KOR: You are liars. You are meddling in things that are none of your business.

KIRK: Even if you have some power that we don't understand, you have no right to dictate to our Federation...

KOR: Or our Empire!

KIRK: How to handle their interstellar relations! We have the right...

AYELBORNE: To wage war, Captain? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?

KIRK: Well, no one wants war. But there are proper channels. People have a right to handle their own affairs. Eventually, we will have...

AYELBORNE: Oh, eventually you will have peace, but only after millions of people have died.

Then the Organians began to glow, their physical forms morphing into pure light.

SPOCK: Fascinating. Pure energy. Pure thought. Totally incorporeal. Not life as we know it at all.

KOR: But is all of this possible?

SPOCK: We have seen it with our own eyes. I should say the Organians are as far above us on the evolutionary scale as we are above the amoeba.

KIRK: Well, Commander, I guess that takes care of the war. Obviously, the Organians aren't going to let us fight.

KOR: A shame, Captain. It would have been glorious.

Props to John Colicos who did such an outstanding job as Kor. Colicos would reprise the role for an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  

Back on the Enterprise, Kirk confides in Spock.

KIRK: I'm embarrassed. I was furious with the Organians for stopping a war I didn't want. We think of ourselves as the most powerful beings in the universe. It's unsettling to discover that we're wrong.

Whatever some people have made of Kirk being a cocky swaggering adventurer, it's important to remember these moments where Kirk understands the limits of humankind's abilities, even in an age of technological advancement.  

Wrapping up this overlong post is perhaps Star Trek's most famous, most well regarded episode, "The City On the Edge of Forever".  There really isn't much I can add about this classic episode written by sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison that hasn't been written about hundreds of times before.

I think even people with only a cursory knowledge of Star Trek know about this episode.   

Kirk and Spock go back in time to Depression era New York to stop McCoy from mucking about with history, causing a technologically advanced space faring planet Earth to no longer exist in the 23rd century.  

Some really big stakes going on and it hinges on the life of one person, a woman who must die in order to protect the future.

Damn it! Kirk has fallen in love with her!  

Often Kirk gets mocked for his perceived propensity for getting busy with the space babe of the week. And yeah, it does happen a lot.  But the development of the relationship between Jim Kirk and Edith Keeler has a genuine, heartfelt progression that feels more real than Kirk's other dalliances. Time is taken to show Jim and Edith growing incrementally closer to each other.  

When Kirk has to stop McCoy from saving her, we know the price Kirk pays. We can feel it. 

I'm not going into a lot of detail here in this post but "The City On the Edge of Forever" does earn and deserve the plaudits it has received over the years. 

KIRK: Let's get the hell out of here.

OK, that finishes my once-over of the first season of Star Trek

Thanks again to Chrissie's Transcripts Site  for the script exerpts.

Coming up on future installments of Star Trekking:

It's all go-go boots and mini-skirts for a Star Trek fashion show.

A brief return to looking back at Star Trek: The Next Generation.

And July marks the return of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for season 4.

Live long and prosper, y'all.