episodes shouldn’t be assumed to be exploring the same moral or philosophical points… it’s very difficult to explore complex logical arguments through innuendo whilst also maintaining a consistent grounding for all of them

and also, the decision is left up to the viewer: by presenting situations that both (perhaps) cross, and do not cross the line it allows us to form our own opinions, rather than the shows writers convince us of their idea of what’s right and wrong

people are fallible: the shows writers, and the characters. in some of that inconsistency, we can form our own ideas of what we believe

It certainly shows that the federation doesnt need a weird shadowy organization to skirt the rules and make morally ambiguous decisions.