The Search for Spock Movie Laughs at Superior Science

***Spoilers Alert!*** Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ironically puts down progress in science and technology and lifts up simple, mortal ways.

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/102537907@N03/13313565214/sizes/l

First, the Genesis science project goes to hell (quite literally). The USS Excelsior's new warp drive goes kaput. The USS Enterprise is blown up. The heroes are transported in the end by a flying tin-can warship. Were the writers laughing at superior science and technology?

It took an unethical scientist to use banned proto-matter. It took the removal of only a few computer chips to disable the state-of-the-art trans-warp drive of the Excelsior. It took three people to destroy the Enterprise. Reading Klingon, getting back to basics was required to leave the self-destructing Genesis Planet.

For what? To get the movie's namesake to his home-planet in able to get their quasi-witchdoctors to put him back together. How back-of-the-woods?

Why are they doing this? I think it's because no matter how much science discoveries and technology inventions are revealed, mortals still have a desire to relate to mortal matters.

What do you think?

Sunday Snippets -- A Catholic Carnival Post VI

This is for the weekly Catholic Carnival!

Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?

Question of the week:
Question of the Week:  How often do you go to confession?  Do you have a regular confessor or do you go to different priests?
I try to go at least every 3 months. I do not have a regular confessor.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/101030402@N03/12422054853/sizes/m/

For the week of March sixteenth:

March 17-18 and 21
Commentaries on The Lego Movie
The Lego Movie Bad Cop Singing Danny Boy on Saint Patrick's Day
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-lego-movie-bad-cop-singing-danny.html
The Lego Movie's Prophesying by Vitruvius
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-lego-movies-prophesying-by-vitruvius.html
The Lego Movie and Tolerant Unikitty
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-lego-movie-and-tolerant-unikitty.html

March 20
The Search for Spock and the gods of Genesis
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-search-for-spock-and-gods-of-genesis.html

March 19
Wacky Wednesday Limericks on Silencing Pro-life and Pro-marriage views on Sanford University Campus
Silencing Debate at Stanford Wacky Wednesday
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/silencing-debate-at-stanford-wacky.html

The Search for Spock and the gods of Genesis

***Spoilers Alert!*** Between Star Trek II and III, there were really three main people who wanted the Genesis device and its "secrets": Dr. David Marcus (Kirk's son), Khan, and Klingon Captain Kruge.

Image source: http://cdn.filmschoolrejects.com/images/startrek2_commentary3.jpg

The Genesis device was capable of bringing to life a dead planet or killing a live one for its "new matrix" (or creating a new planet all by itself from nebula matter some how). In either case, already existing matter had to be present to reorganize matter at the subatomic level.

Dr. David Marcus, Khan, and Captain Kruge wanted the power to create or destroy for themselves (for honor and/or "ultimate power"). It was like the battle of the Roman or Greek gods once again, except now, the mortals used science.

The battle raged between them until they were all dead.

On the other hand, God created the universe (or multiverse, etc.) out of nothing. He (not male, just subject placeholder) created all time, matter, and dimensions. The Book of Genesis describes this in a poetic manner, where the point is that God created it out of love, not domination.

For more on this see this video by Fr. Barron.

Sunday Snippets -- A Catholic Carnival Post V

This is for the weekly Catholic Carnival!

Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?

Do you have any suggested resources for those trying to kickstart these last weeks of Lent?
Learning more about the faith is a very important thing to do and Lent is a good time to kickstart the process. A good resource online from Fr. Barron is his secondary YouTube channel playlist "Faith Seeks Understanding" (a phrase from one of the Christian Fathers) here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL01F8772094235EC2

For the week of March ninth:

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lpachuta/5642063277/meta/

March 10-11 and 13-14
Commentaries on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
The Good Shepherd
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/star-trek-iii-search-for-spock-part-i.html
Search for Spock to Godforsakeness
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-search-for-spock-to-godforsakeness.html
Search for Spock and the Fall Guy
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-search-for-spock-and-fall-guy.html
Search for Spock and the Other Vulcan
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-search-for-spock-and-other-vulcan.html
The Search for Spock and the Secrets of Genesis
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-search-for-spock-and-secrets-of.html

March 12
Wacky Wednesday Pro-life Limericks on Martin Luther King, Jr. and Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC)
Wacky Wednesday Prolifers Go Beyond MLK's Dream
http://wonderingzygoteemeritus.blogspot.com/2014/03/wacky-wednesday-prolifers-go-beyond.html

The Search for Spock and the Secrets of Genesis

***Spoilers Alert!*** The Klingon Kruge had his mind sent on "ultimate power" in his pursuit of Genesis. He destroyed two vessels with their crew (including his love interest on a cargo vessel; the other one was the science vessel Grissom pictured below) and Kirk's son for its secrets for use as a planet-civilization-destroying weapon.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calsidyrose/5421361985/meta/

Just like the devil in the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis, Captain Kruge wanted ultimate power and destruction of his enemies. He was jealous of what others had, here the Genesis device. The devil was jealous of the relationship humans had with God.

May we not turn into Klingons.

The Search for Spock and the Other Vulcan

***Spoilers Alert!*** What and who was the entity that the Genesis Planet regenerated in The Search for Spock and then was found by Saavik and David? What was taken to Mount Saleya?

Who (or what?) is the person that is in the picture below after the mind meld on Mount Saleya?

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14531705@N00/4021512392/meta/

The really interesting question is what was the entity who saved the Enterprise in the last movie (The Wrath of Khan) after Spock mind melded with McCoy, giving away his Katra?

It can make your mind spin.

My opinion is that the movies are inconsistent. I won't go into why (that would take a while and I'm tired tonight).

Let's just say that the movies do not follow the Christian idea of the soul.

The Search for Spock and The Fall Guy

***Spoilers Alert!*** Why did David die in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock? The short answer is that he sacrificed himself as the fall guy in order that Spock and Saavik could live.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40346087@N02/5314148058/meta/

When the Klingon Captain Kruge ordered that someone be executed on the planet for Project Genesis' secrets, Saavik was the soon-to-be target. Instead, David was executed when he chose to attack the Klingon that was carrying out the execution. David seemed to do it in order to save Saavik, at least temporarily.

I think an alternative explanation below is more interesting and even more relevant to David's motive.

In the scientific-research stage of Project Genesis, it was revealed in this movie that Dr. David Marcus (at least) used proto-matter. Saavik was stunned when David revealed this fact to her in the movie since proto-matter was banned by the scientific community as being too unpredictable. Kirk's son made the excuse that using the contra-banned substance helped solve certain problems in the project.

God made creation for us to prosper in, to love and to be loved. There are almost an infinite number of things that we could legitimately do, with relatively fewer things that God forbids us to do. The main forbidden fruit is to decide for oneself the criteria for good and for bad apart from God. That's God's domain.

In the Genesis story of the Judea-Christian Bible, the forbidden fruit tree in the Garden of Eden represents this knowledge. God said of it, "The LORD God gave the man [Adam] this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die." (Genesis 2:16-17)

In The Genesis Device's development, when David took the shortcut in using proto-matter, he took to himself the prerogative to decide what was acceptable and unacceptable, or perhaps decided that there is neither criteria for good nor for ill.

Just like when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Book of Genesis, in what Christians call "The Fall", they did not die right away, it took some time before David took the fall for his actions in Project Genesis. In a similar way that Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden for eating the forbidden fruit, once the forbidden proto-matter did its dirty work, the Genesis Planet creation essentially threw David out of paradise to his death.

David realized that none of the events on the Genesis planet would be happening at all if he had not eaten the proto-matter forbidden fruit. He must have thought that it was a just act to volunteer for the execution. He was the Fall Guy.

The Search for Spock to Godforsakeness

In the last post, Kirk was likened to a Good Shepherd. He can also be seen as someone who went into godforsakeness for the benefit of his friend Spock.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14531705@N00/4472722984/meta/

The Genesis planet on which Spock was left by Kirk (in TWOK) was self-destructing. It was burning up. The images in the movie looked like the planet was turning into hell, with the Klingon Kruge as the substitute Satan. In the image above, Kirk is fighting Kruge in order to commandeer his ship which has Spock and his other friends on board.

Kirk went to hell to rescue his friend from the brink using violence and deception. In his world, violence and deception brings down more of the same. On the other hand, Jesus rescued and rescues his friends using peace and truth and the cross. In his world, peace and truth gives rise to more of the same.

Jesus said, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13) His way of doing things is indeed strange and otherworldly. It leads those who follow him, who love him to heaven.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. (John 14:15-17)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Part I The Good Shepherd

***Spoilers Alert!*** In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kkan (TWOK), Spock sacrificed his life for the lives of the entire crew of the Enterprise. By contrast, in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (TSFS), Kirk sacrificed his career, other friends, and possibly his life to save his friend and colleague Spock.

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31428610@N05/3350673287/meta/

Before he went on his mission to save Spock, Kirk asked permission of the commanding Admiral of space dock, Admiral Morrow, to use the Enterprise that was being decommissioned. He also mentioned that he had to take the Enterprise to the quarantined planet Genesis (from TWOK). He was denied permission.

After being denied permission, Kirk passionately said that he would find a way to get to Genesis and save Spock. Admiral Morrow warned Kirk not to disobey his orders and ruin his career that always exemplified rationality.

Was Kirk being irrational or illogical?

The same could be asked about Jesus in the parable of the Good Shepherd.

[Jesus said,] “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’" Luke 15:4-6

This parable is about a sinner, a "lost one" who repents. When the lost one is found, he is said to have repented and returned to the path toward heaven with Jesus.

This act of finding the lost sinner meant that Jesus the Good Shepherd would have to sit and eat with sinners. This act itself could potentially ruin His reputation among his community.

However, in the Gospel of John, it says, "I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14-15)

It is more important to get the one sheep than to save one's own life or stay with the safe people, the in-crowd. The Good Shepherd made that choice with the full knowledge that the search for the lost sheep would end His own life on the cross and His reputation.

Jesus the Good Shepherd and Kirk were indeed being rational and free in their choices to save the one that they loved. They knew the risks. Since they were free, they had the liberty to make the hard choice even though it may end their lives and potentially ruin their future reputations.

To be continued ...