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Religion in Battlestar Galactica
So, having watched Battlestar Galactica through episode 2.9 ("Flight of the Phoenix")--and please, no one spoil me beyond that in the comments!--I've been thinking a little bit about religion in the series. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bop_radar, for your sake, there are no spoilers behind the cut past 2.6 ("Home, part 1")--that's where you're at right now, right?
EDITED TO ADD: There are now spoilers in the comments through 2.9, so beware if you're avoiding spoilers for season 2.
I know the original BSG was supposedly inspired by Mormon theology, but I was way too young to get that at the time, and I doubt I would have recognized it, anyway. (For those wondering--I think this can be seen mainly in the whole "wagon train in space" idea--both recapitulating the journey of the LDS from Nauvoo to Deseret after Smith's assassination *and* the migration of the lost tribe of Israel to the Americas. There was also an episode I vaguely recall--I think I was 8 or 9 when the show aired--where Apollo and Starbuck encounter some angelic being who tells them something like "What you are now, we once were. What we are, you may some day become.")
Clearly that's not what is driving the religious underpinnings of *this* version of BSG, except perhaps in the idea of Earth as a lost holy land. I'm almost tempted to buy the original series to see if the original colonists were also polytheists or not--I absolutely can't remember. But I'm really struck by the way that the "good guys" in this series are the polytheists, because that is really playing against the evolutionary model of religion that has dominated anthropology of religion since the late nineteenth century. Basically, since the time of Edward Tylor, at least, it has been assumed that in all societies religion follows a "natural" progression from animism to polytheism to monotheism (to Christianity, most 19th century theorists would have added). Biblical scholars, for example, trace the origin of "true" monotheism in Judaism to around the time of Ezra, after the Babylonian exile. Prior to that, the Israelites weren't monotheists in the modern sense, they were actually kathenotheists: that is, they believed that there were many gods, they simply had covenanted to worship only YHWH. ("You shall have no other gods before me " does not, actually, deny the existence of other gods.) Later, however, those other gods were dismissed as "false idols"--just as the Cylons dismiss the colonial pantheon (which seems to be the Greco-Roman pantheon) as false idols.
Making the Cylons the monotheists, then, is a kind of ironic commentary on the evolutionary theory of religion. The Cylons themselves would buy into the theory that their religion--just like them--was actually the apex of evolution, but of course the humans would disagree. It's actually hard to tell, from the show itself, if we're supposed to privilege one religion after another. After all, every time so far that a cylon has made a religious prediction (Six about the baby being born in that cell; that Cylon played by Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben, or something like that) predicting that Starbuck would play a key role in the quest to find earth--and there are probably some others I'm forgetting)it has come true. On the other hand, anytime anyone has prayed (ok, anytime Starbuck has prayed) her prayers seem to have been answered, and many of the prophecies in the Colonial scriptures do seem to be coming true via Laura Roslin.
I am intrigued by some of the things Home part II seemed to reveal, religiously speaking, but I'll save that untilbop_radar has seen that episode to comment on it--I think I want to watch it again first anyway.
bop_radar, for your sake, there are no spoilers behind the cut past 2.6 ("Home, part 1")--that's where you're at right now, right?EDITED TO ADD: There are now spoilers in the comments through 2.9, so beware if you're avoiding spoilers for season 2.
I know the original BSG was supposedly inspired by Mormon theology, but I was way too young to get that at the time, and I doubt I would have recognized it, anyway. (For those wondering--I think this can be seen mainly in the whole "wagon train in space" idea--both recapitulating the journey of the LDS from Nauvoo to Deseret after Smith's assassination *and* the migration of the lost tribe of Israel to the Americas. There was also an episode I vaguely recall--I think I was 8 or 9 when the show aired--where Apollo and Starbuck encounter some angelic being who tells them something like "What you are now, we once were. What we are, you may some day become.")
Clearly that's not what is driving the religious underpinnings of *this* version of BSG, except perhaps in the idea of Earth as a lost holy land. I'm almost tempted to buy the original series to see if the original colonists were also polytheists or not--I absolutely can't remember. But I'm really struck by the way that the "good guys" in this series are the polytheists, because that is really playing against the evolutionary model of religion that has dominated anthropology of religion since the late nineteenth century. Basically, since the time of Edward Tylor, at least, it has been assumed that in all societies religion follows a "natural" progression from animism to polytheism to monotheism (to Christianity, most 19th century theorists would have added). Biblical scholars, for example, trace the origin of "true" monotheism in Judaism to around the time of Ezra, after the Babylonian exile. Prior to that, the Israelites weren't monotheists in the modern sense, they were actually kathenotheists: that is, they believed that there were many gods, they simply had covenanted to worship only YHWH. ("You shall have no other gods before me " does not, actually, deny the existence of other gods.) Later, however, those other gods were dismissed as "false idols"--just as the Cylons dismiss the colonial pantheon (which seems to be the Greco-Roman pantheon) as false idols.
Making the Cylons the monotheists, then, is a kind of ironic commentary on the evolutionary theory of religion. The Cylons themselves would buy into the theory that their religion--just like them--was actually the apex of evolution, but of course the humans would disagree. It's actually hard to tell, from the show itself, if we're supposed to privilege one religion after another. After all, every time so far that a cylon has made a religious prediction (Six about the baby being born in that cell; that Cylon played by Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben, or something like that) predicting that Starbuck would play a key role in the quest to find earth--and there are probably some others I'm forgetting)it has come true. On the other hand, anytime anyone has prayed (ok, anytime Starbuck has prayed) her prayers seem to have been answered, and many of the prophecies in the Colonial scriptures do seem to be coming true via Laura Roslin.
I am intrigued by some of the things Home part II seemed to reveal, religiously speaking, but I'll save that until
bop_radar has seen that episode to comment on it--I think I want to watch it again first anyway.
no subject
Whee! You are so nice to me. *hugs you*
Yes - I have watched Home part II now and we are at the SAME PLACE! I've just seen 'Flight of the Phoenix'.
Religious themes - thanks for the background on the old show. I know next to nothing about it so that's fascinating. Especially as it shows how radical the new show really is. I love the confidence with which the writers have crafted the new BSG.
Making the Cylons the monotheists, then, is a kind of ironic commentary on the evolutionary theory of religion.
Yes, that's fascinating. You could take it as another sign that the Cylons are in fact the more highly 'evolved'. A more radical reading could be that they are *one* form of evolution of human religion, but not the more constructive one. In fact, the extremism that comes with monotheism seems to be subtly damned in this show: the cylons go to grotesque lengths to please their one god, whereas the humans live harmoniously with many. Often the humans dismiss the cylon religion because they can't believe that something they created could have access to a higher form of enlightenment. Yet that's a simplistic dismissal. The cylons have evidently been programmed with some kind of fast-evolution setting. So maybe they have just evolved faster than humans? What would be *better* for the humans to look at is the results of monotheism and what the advantages or disadvantages for them would be.
Hard to tell which religion to privilege? Yes. And it's also confusing to tell who is 'god's instrument'. Gaius? Laura? Starbuck? All three? Someone else? What disturbs me most is that I have an overwhelming feeling that the cylons *want* the humans to find Earth. In Home Part II Sharon says that they know more about the humans' religion than they do. That was disturbing. It's also possible that Sharon leading them to Athena's tomb is in fact a deliberate plan to lead them into danger. Too often the cylon objectives (through Sharon or Gaius/Six) and human objectives (through Laura/Starbuck etc) coincide and that seems frightening. I fear for them.
Having said that I adored the epic quest nature of Home (Part II), in particular the tomb of Athena. Starbuck placing the arrow was such a beautiful quest moment and the scene on Earth was wonderful. I think it's wonderful that the four big characters have had that privileged access to Earth/the spiritual. Each of them contributed their own knowledge to unlocking the secret of Earth's position as well: that felt very epic quest/religious myth. But, um, how did they get back???
In other things Home-II-related, I loved Adama's speech to Laura, I loved his reunion with Apollo and I was delightfully surprised by the Sharon twist. Actually, that Sharon is winning my confidence despite myself. But there is part of me that wonders if she's not just the most effective cylon yet?
Oh I'm naughty. I must work!
no subject
I was completely surprised that the quest in Home actually led somewhere, to be honest. I was half expecting it to fail --if for no other reason than to undermine Roslin's presidency, which would be an interesting polot twist, or for it to turn out to be a big Cylon trap (though as you suggest, it still might be!)And yes, I agree with you that it is *very* creepy and scary that the Cylons know so much about the human religion! (Why are the humans so sure that Earth is a haven, for example, if their religion says everything happens again? For all they know, their far distant ancestors fled earth just the way they fled Kobol and the Colonies, being pursued by an enemy force!)
I'm actually wondering if they're really leaving Kobol behind, too. There's something special about it that hasn't been explored--why did Six tell Baltar, in, umm, either the last episode of season 1 or the first episode of season 2, that people who die on Kobol are lost forever? Is that people, or Cylons? Is there something about the nature of Kobol that, for example, prevents Cylons from transmitting their memories when they are killed? Who were the gods who lived among humans, anyway--actual higher beings? Artificial intelligences? Are there really "angels," as Six suggests to Baltar in whichever episode he goes searching for the chip? What does that mean in BSG terms--actual spirit beings, or maybe just some sort of artificial intelligence that doesn't need a physical matrix to communicate? It's all very intriguing.
I loved Home 1 &2 a lot. Like you, I really loved Adama's reunion with Apollo and his speech to Laura. I also loved his interesting interactions with Sharon. It seemed so in character to me that he would try to kill her, and I think "and you asked me why" verifies that she *does* in fact have access to dead Sharon's memories--not just the ones from the past but all of them. It frankly boggles my mind that they're keeping her alive, from a strategic standpoint: the fact that she's pregnant, to me, makes her more dangerous, not less. I am, however, very glad that they're not just killing her off, because I love the insights we get into Cylon psychology through her.
I think my favorite momentin Home II is when Lee is actually sort of apologizing to his dad and Starbuck comes up and interrupts the moment with a joke and then says something like, "Oh, we're not at the joking about it stage yet?" and they both laugh. But I also really loved the Adama-Roslin scene, especially the way he thanks her for convincing him to make the decisions he did. I also really loved the cinematography of this episode, especially, for some reason, all the shots of Roslin in the rain. (For some reason I have this mental image of Lex watching BSG and being a huge Roslin fan--you know he would be, with his mother-figure complex and his admiration of shrewd political maneuvering, and Clark is watching the episode too and he's kind of freaking out because he kind of identifies with Sharon but the fact that she's programmed to be a traitor scares him because deep down he wonders to what extent he is actually subject to Jor-El's programming.)
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Re. Earth and what it means to humans: It seems like at the moment their blind need for some destination is overriding the logical analysis of whether it's a good idea to go there or not. Somehow I did expect something to come of the tomb of Athena, but not that... It was so mystical, it seems like there's no turning back now. One way or another they will take this path.
The notion of circularity and recurrence, eternal patterning, is fascinating. I can see why the cylons view the human religion as naive - it really offers humans no salvation as such, since everything that has happened will happen again. But the cylons have their own type of duplication and recurrence in the clones and in the degree to which the two religions seem linked.
I love all your Kobol questions - I don't have answers, of course! I want to know so much more about both religions! It's frustrating that way... it's a show that never 'tells', only 'shows', so we'll have to gather clues as they are dropped, but there are a lot of missing pieces at the moment. Six as angel is a fascinating concept, because she could be seen as working as a messenger of the gods... (Gaius was hysterical in the eps I watched last night - with his brain scan and 'You're just my fantasy woman--wait, you're *not* my fantasy woman any more' speech).
"Oh, we're not at the joking about it stage yet?"
Yeah! That rocked! I love the way she is 'family' to them, and these moments of intense intimacy with both Adamas delight me.
Last night
I am *in love* with your Lex and Clark watching BSG idea! You are so right about their responses. Lex would be Laura's ultimate devotee! (*imagines him and Lee alpha-ing over her in some alternate universe*) And Cylon-programming fear would definitely get to Clark! In fact, that would be a great way to explore the complexities and depths of Clark's fears in a way that the show does not. Also Sharon would work on Clark! He's so the Helo type that way (rather than the Gaius-getting-hooked-by-Six type). What would Lex make of Gaius and Six? (hmm... interesting) And I reckon Clark would have a kneejerk reaction against Starbuck because of Lois! Hee! Whereas Lex would just do a risk-analysis and view her as a liability!
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I think you're right about Earth: it's not really Earth they're looking for, anyway, it's hope, so I guess it's not surprising they haven't criticially analyzed it. (And I guess, in a way, "Flight of the Phoenix" is a coded examination of that--the ship is like their hope for Earth: something the realists all expect to fail, but they secretly hope for too). Though I do wonder in the end if they're going to actually somehow end up returning to the Colonies--they spent an amazing amount of time in Caprica, in season 1 & 2. Maybe that's just a symbol that they haven't abandoned it yet in their minds, or adjusted to the fact that it is really gone, but I do think that resistance movement was put there for a reason.
Your comments about the cylon critique of human religion are interesting, too. Are they critical of the eternal return? I got the sense, when Six and Baltar were talking about it, that she saw it as inevitable, but I really have to go back and rewatch all the episodes now, because most of them are a big blur in my mind. I guess the question is whether the divine plan of the Cylon god includes circularity or not.
The power of the 4 main characters idea is really, really interesting. I think you're right about Adama's decision to reunite the fleet being a family decision. It reminds me of that episode in which Kara was trapped on the planet, and they were exhausting all the fleet's resources to find her, and Lee asks his dad if he would have done the same for him, and his dad says something like he never would have quit looking.
And wow, are you ever right about the emotion v. logic thing. For one thing, what if Lee and Kara actually hook up (assuming it is not against regulations) and something breaks them up? Adama already sees Kara as a surrogate daughter, so losing her would be doubly hard. Also, it looks to me like they're going in the direction of Adama/Roslin, and since I'm just assuming they're not really going to kill of Roslin, at least right now--I'm expecting a miracle of Cylon tech, or a short-term remission, or something--how on earth can the Commander of the Fleet have a romantic relationship with the President?
I'm going to talk about the Clark/lex stuff in a separate comment.
Clark and Lex as BSG fans
I think how Lex would respond to Gaius & Six would depend on what season this was set in. Immediately post-Desiree or post-Helen, I think he might have a certain amount of sympathy for Baltar, but right now I think he'd mainly have contempt at Baltar for how thoroughly he is being manipulated. For the same reason, he'd also be scornful of Helo and Tyrol, and convinced that Sharon's motives are completely evil, which would make Clark extremely upset.
Chloe would refuse to watch the show at all, and would make pointed comments about people who have no lives, though in the one episode Clark made her watch she thought Apollo was really hot and she grudgingly liked Starbuck. It was actually Chloe that pointed out to Clark the Starbuck/Lois parallels, which now Clark can't get out of his head, and so while he liked Starbuck ok in the first couple episodes now he can't stand her.
Lana watches, not with Clark but with her new astronomy buddies at Met U, and while she's not a big fan she has a little bit of a crush on Billy, who she wishes got more screentime. She's also someone attracted to Baltar, but he also wigs her out, and she has creepy erotic dreams about him.
Ok, the Chloe and Lana bits are mostly projection, but I think the Clark & Lex parts work well.
Re: Clark and Lex as BSG fans
though in the one episode Clark made her watch she thought Apollo was really hot and she grudgingly liked Starbuck
Heee! Yeah I'd like to hear Chloe all scathing but secretly sucked in. I think she'd find the humans frustrating in their lack of intellectual curiosity about the Cylons (e.g. why oh why did they just blow them to pieces in 'Flight of the Phoenix' instead of capturing some for study?)
I love the idea of Lana's creepy erotic dreams about Gaius. That rings sooo true! I think she'd have some empathy for Sharon as well insofar as Sharon is 'trapped' by her identity. She'd have trouble with the bits where Sharon genuinely acts like a cylon though. I think Sharon would be a very confronting character for her: she'd probably blind herself to the fact that Sharon uses men and read her totally romantically, because to do anything else would be to admit to herself how much *she* uses men!
Lois would be a Starbuck girl all the way! I'd quite like to see the Clark-and-Lois-watch-BSG scene too, for different reasons than the Lex viewing. Lois would be all 'whee! yeah! punch them up Starbuck!' and Clark would be annoyed because he identifies more with Apollo (although most of all with Sharon). He'd keep telling Lois that Starbuck was dangerous and difficult and annoying. And she'd reply with saying that she was better than that stuck-up lily-livered CAG! Whereas I think Clark would understand some of Apollo's father-issues and some of the ways in which he mediates his identity with different people and plays roles. Oh and in the scene where Starbuck finds out about Sharon and Helo? Clark and Lois would have a huge fight about that one - hee! But Clark would have to grudgingly acknowledge that Starbuck ultimately is a loyal friend to Helo and Lois would be all 'yay! I win! *munches popcorn*'
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something the realists all expect to fail, but they secretly hope for too
That sums Lee up. He's not ever going to speak out as a believer. That would be too confronting for him. But he'll quietly support them all the way (and rag Starbuck about it for kicks!).
I do wonder in the end if they're going to actually somehow end up returning to the Colonies
I wouldn't be surprised either. I certainly don't think they've left for good. The resistance was introduced for a reason and I think they will go back (much as it breaks my Lee-attached heart to imagine a Kara-Anders reunion). It's interesting that Starbuck caught Laura at such a bad moment on the planet when she raised it. I worry that Starbuck will think Laura doesn't care and go and do something crazy on her own in that damned ship! Whereas Laura actually seemed very intrigued by the whole thing. What really freaks me out is that Starbuck doesn't seem to have told anyone about the farms...
I'm not sure about the Cylon god's plan... but it seems linear rather than circular, which would make sense with the way the two religions are being set up in opposition to one another. Like you, I feel a need to rewatch to get all the clues.
his dad says something like he never would have quit looking
That line totally teared me up when it happened! That was a wonderful episode. Both the Adamas were completely out of control in their behaviour and as such were unstoppable. I loved the scene just before Laura confronts them when Adama says something like 'she'll try and stop us' and Lee says 'I'm with you!' There unspoken acknowledgment that they were both out of line was great. But Adama has reconciled this ambiguity within himself and Lee hasn't. Lee was really challenged by the fact that his feelings for Kara made him act outside of logic and regulations. That scares him and when he asked his dad 'why did we do it?' and he replies 'because she's family' that's not much comfort to him. Thankfully then he got the wonderful balm from his dad in the form of that line--it totally took him by surprise because he honestly thought that Starbuck means more to his dad than he does.
Sad as I am to admit it, I don't think Lee and Kara will get together. Damn it! I think the show's writers are too clever to resolve that tension. And Adama/Laura is interesting but again they may shy away from a full relationship. On the other hand, I believe anything is possible in this show! I fear for Laura. I don't think she'll die soon, but I think she will die. The writers don't pull their punches so it could happen.
So... I started wondering last night if Gaius is a Cylon. I think he might be! It would be really chilling if he was. It would explain the Six in his head and his strangely accurate guesses and why Six tells him he's different from other humans and special - doesn't she say 'you were never really one of them'? If he was a Cylon, then the humans really are doomed and the path to Earth does seem like it will lead to destruction! *frets*
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You know, on any other show I'd say you didn't have to worry about a Starbuck/Anders reunion getting in the way of Starbuck/Lee, but this show has such continuity that you may be right. And I, too, fear that Starbuck is going to do something boneheaded and stupid like a solo rescue mission.
Why *hasn't* Starbuck told anyone on Galactica about the farms? It's crucial information, which to me means one of two things: (1) she has actually told someone, we just haven't seen it onscreen, or (2) she is still so freaked out about the removal of her ovaries (or maybe they just meant eggs, because that Cylon doc said ovaries plural and yet implied she still had some left. Unless they're just trying to tell us that Galactica humans are a little differently equipped than the standard model?) that she hasn't been able to talk about it yet.
I wonder if there are going to be little Starbuck babies popping up in some future episode, though.
"You can't go home again" was the episode where Adama and Lee went nuts over Starbuck , and wow do I ever agree they were out of control. Arguably they were putting the whole fleet at risk to save Starbuck, and it's kind of amazing no one called them on it before the president. I agree with you, I love that scene where they agree in advance not to be swayed by her arguments, and then of course they are. That was also the first episode where Starbuck's prayers are explicitly answered.
I agree with you that *something* bad is going to happen to Laura--either she'll die or she'll turn out to be a Cylon, somehow (can Cylons get cancer? I guess the organic part of them could), but if you think about it, they haven't actually permanently killed off any of the main characters yet. Helo survived; Sharon (sort of) survived; Adama survived. It's true that they might be due to kill someone, but it seems kind of early in the series to kill off Laura.
If Gaius is a Cylon...hmmm. I'm not sure they're really worse off if he is a Cylon, since he's already pretty Cylon-controlled. It's pretty terrifying already that he's vice-president, given how sick Laura is supposed to be right now. Damn that Zarek dude, anyway. If it weren't for him, it would be Chloe's dad as second-in-command, not crazy Gaius Baltar! And we all know we can trust Gabe Sullivan! (Hee. He's needed a job since Lionel made Lex fire him, but that commute must be hellish!)
Re: Clark and Lex as BSG fans
Oh, and I think you've absolutely nailed Lana's responses to Sharon, and how she'd have trouble admitting how Sharon uses men because it would hit too close to home.
Re: Clark and Lex as BSG fans
Re: Clark and Lex as BSG fans
no subject
Yes, the continuity is kind of frightening on this show. It makes everything that happens significant.
Why *hasn't* Starbuck told anyone on Galactica about the farms?
(1) possible, certainly (2) interesting! the ovaries thing is scary but fascinating--and, yes, I'm confused too. What were they implying with this? I hope the continuity follow-up on this one occurs soon.
The Adamas out of control--I think everyone loves them and/or Starbuck so much they kind of let it happen. But yes, they put everyone at risk and it was unacceptable (and apparently unnecessary!). What's fascinating is the way each of them reacted to it afterwards. Adama seemed able to live with himself quite comfortably--that is part of what makes him such a powerful leader.
Yes, it's terrifying that Gaius is VP. It scares me immensely! Without Laura... oh god! Gabe would be much better! Laura was great when she said 'first I have to do two very unpleasant things'.
It isn't so much that I think they would be worse off if Gaius were a Cylon--I just think it would be really interesting, because he could be a great vehicle for exploring their religion and their experience from the inside--essentially we would be seeing inside the head of a Cylon with him. Whereas with Sharon we get only the merest glimpses of what her experience is like.
Re: Clark and Lex as BSG fans