Musings on Battlestar Galactica and God
One of the things that most inspired me about the original Battlestar Galactica was that it portrayed a society that was openly and unashamedly religious. Well before 1978, mainline science fiction had pretty much accepted the notion that religion was only for the gullible and the stupid. Suddenly, BSG introduced the notion that an entire advanced society could live according to a guiding Faith. I thought it was wonderful, because I had come to realize that there is no necessary conflict between faith and technology, and it was good to see a work of science fiction that accepted this notion.
Oh, I know. . .people of faith are often obnoxious. But that’s a problem with people, not with faith itself. Major faiths tend to reflect the values of the people, rather than the people accepting the values of the faith. I find that unfortunate, but I accept it as true. What’s worse, I often find that I myself am not the best representative of my own Christian faith, which makes me really reluctant to grab anybody else by the throat and say, “You must become more like me!” God forbid! If the whole world were filled with people like me, I fear that mankind would become extinct within a generation! As one philosopher once said, “If only you knew me better, you would realize that I am even worse than you think I am.” Yet for all that, I believe that I would be even worse (hard as that is to believe!) if it weren’t for the faith that I have.
Too often, people of faith are denied permission to speak of their faith merely because some adherents cannot do so in a civil manner. Hence the unwritten rule of politeness that decent people do not speak of religion or politics in friendly social gatherings, a rule that I am hereby breaking in the quixotic belief that faith can be talked about in a civil manner if the rules of civility are followed. I believe that it is possible to be a member of one political party without hating those in the other. I believe it is possible to be a vegetarian without hating those who eat meat. I believe it is possible to believe in God without hating those who do not, or who believe in a different version. And vice versa. I also believe that it is permissible to give reasons why one believes the way one does, so long as one does not try to forcibly require others to go along, but rather remain content to let others agree or disagree as they see fit.
In other words, I am free to state why I thought it was so great that TOS incorporated God into the very fabric of the story, and so unfortunate that God has been removed from the new one (or at least relegated to Cylon territory, stimulating speculation either that the Cylons may really be better than the Colonials, or else that faith is something that only bad people adhere to. But let’s not digress in that direction just now.)
Anybody else up for a good theological discussion? Agreement, disagreement, strenuous argument, and skeptical questions are all welcome. . .
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