Episode title

[nothingbutsky]

Stranger in a Strange Land is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1961. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human raised by Martians on Mars, as he returns to Earth in early adulthood. The novel explores his interaction with — and eventual transformation of — Earth culture. The title of the book is from the Biblical Book of Exodus. - from Wikipedia

Exodus is the second book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. The major events of the book concern the Exodus, a departure of Hebrew slaves from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. - from Wikipedia

FYI

[sledgeweb]

The actual title for the book comes from Exodus chapter 2 in the King James Version:

1: And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2: And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3: And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4: And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5: And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6: And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7: Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8: And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9: And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
10: And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
11: And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12: And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13: And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
14: And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
15: Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
16: Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17: And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18: And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19: And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20: And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21: And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22: And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
23: And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24: And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25: And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

[jugdish]

That fits more than the martians.

[AmazonMonkey]

That fits more than the martians.

Unless you factor in he was  raised by Martians, returned to Earth and now trying to fit in... much like you might try to fit in after crash landing on an island and are faced against a people with a entirely unique sense of moral values.   

But I think the biblical reference, since they seem to always want to tie it back to religion now and again, will be more fitting.

I still think its all about the Iron Maiden song. da da dadada dadada da dadada

[nothingbutsky]

That fits more than the martians.

Actually, the Martians aren't really a big part of the book at. It's more about this naive, peaceful guy with all this mystical power, and everyone around him wants to exploit him. I think he sacrifices himself to save the world at the end.

[uofapiglet]

That fits more than the martians.

Actually, the Martians aren't really a big part of the book at. It's more about this naive, peaceful guy with all this mystical power, and everyone around him wants to exploit him. I think he sacrifices himself to save the world at the end.

Now that could very much fit in... IF it actually pertains to Desmond and the failsafe key...

Either way, both explanations are good potential tie-ins to the show... Religion always has some sort of influence, and so do oddball sci-fi based theories... We'll just have to watch the show to find out exactly how the title plays out...

[apriori]

That fits more than the martians.

Actually, the Martians aren't really a big part of the book at. It's more about this naive, peaceful guy with all this mystical power, and everyone around him wants to exploit him. I think he sacrifices himself to save the world at the end.

You're off the mark a little there...
I read the book once but don't remember a lot of it.
Basically there's a guy, who, as has been previously mentioned, was raised by Martians. As a result he has all kinds of special powers, but that's not entirely important. Anyways, he's like being held in a hospital by the government, and he befriends a nurse there, and they escape...I've mostly forgotten the middle of the novel.
Anyways, he starts up this big religion/cult thing where he teaches members to do cool things with their minds (like telekinesis...I think), and as I recall two of the larger tenets of the religion/cult are sexual liberation, and the presence of God in everything. The novel ends with him being stoned to death by an angry mob while he kind of just stands there.
(Any of that is liable to be completely wrong)

A word that was invented by the book is "Grokk", which, put in really simple terms, means to understand something's very essence.

[E-Rich]

The actual title for the book comes from Exodus chapter 2 in the King James Version:

22: And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

Interesting - the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV - and the one I prefer due to inclusive language elsewhere...beside the point) says:

She bore him a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, "I have been an alien* residing in a foreign land." Ex 2:22

* the Hebrew word here is GeR   and is usually used in context as "stranger" but can also mean fear, or cast out (and a few other things).  Reference - my mother has a PhD in Hebrew Bible. 

[Pandora]

That fits more than the martians.

Actually, the Martians aren't really a big part of the book at. It's more about this naive, peaceful guy with all this mystical power, and everyone around him wants to exploit him. I think he sacrifices himself to save the world at the end.

You're off the mark a little there...
I read the book once but don't remember a lot of it.
Basically there's a guy, who, as has been previously mentioned, was raised by Martians. As a result he has all kinds of special powers, but that's not entirely important. Anyways, he's like being held in a hospital by the government, and he befriends a nurse there, and they escape...I've mostly forgotten the middle of the novel.
Anyways, he starts up this big religion/cult thing where he teaches members to do cool things with their minds (like telekinesis...I think), and as I recall two of the larger tenets of the religion/cult are sexual liberation, and the presence of God in everything. The novel ends with him being stoned to death by an angry mob while he kind of just stands there.
(Any of that is liable to be completely wrong)

A word that was invented by the book is "Grokk", which, put in really simple terms, means to understand something's very essence.

These references are all pretty cool.  Even though it's not about Desmond, but about Jack, now that the epi has aired (weird tat powers, saving others, etc)... it does seem to have some resonance...

[madmax22e]

wasnt the guy supposed to be Jesus like in that book?

I wonder how many things from we didnt start the fire are actually in lost.