Let us not talk falesly now: BSG and God
One the things that I most admire about Battlestar Galactica is how it handles humankind’s relationship with God. Heck, the fact that a show could even mention God in this politically correct day and age is incredible, let alone in such a direct and pivotal way. In fact, the show was originally pitched as a series of Bible stores set in space called “Adam’s Ark” in the late ’60s.
Warning: This post contains spoilers for the series finale of Battlestar Galactica, ‘Daybreak’. If you don’t want to know what happens, then you should stop reading now.
Though I am not religious today, I was raised Catholic and the topic of religion interests me. After 16 years of Catholic school (that’s right), I feel I’m qualified to comment on the subject. There’s so much that’s ripe for comment here. For example, the humans are polytheists while the cylons belive in one God. The humans tend to keep their religious beliefs to themselves, while the cylons are missionaries.
However, I’m going to talk about how the show depicts God’s relationship with both human and cylon. Today, there are many people who subscribe to the belief that God is a hands-on kind of guy, directly affecting the lives of we humans. “God will provide,” you might hear some say, or even “Why would God do this?” In this scenario, God himself* makes things happen in our lives, and does things to people. He’s active.
Others feel that God is passive. Consider a child playing with a top. He gets it spinning good and fast, then lets go. The top turns and spins, traveling across the floor, powered by nothing but its own momentum.
In much the same manner, some say God “sets us down” and lets us go. This seems to be the notion adopted by the writers of BSG (me, too). Over and over humanity is set down and given a chance to get it right. Angelic Six and Giaus watch the top spin from a distance, hoping that it’ll travel in the right direction. When the whole thing falls apart, they then step into a more active role, pushing humanity towards their next opportunity to try again (Kobol, Earth I, Caprica, Earth II).
Others have commented on the religious aspects of BSG more elloquently than me, and I suggest you check those articles out. The best TV shows are thought-provoking and leave a legacy that extends beyond their run on television. BSG stands proudly among them.
*I use “himself” as a gender-neutral pronoun in this instance.
One of the only parts I liked about Six & Baltar in NYC at the end was the line when Giaus said “You know it doesn’t like to be called that.” in reference to “God”. Kinda a throw-a-way bit of dialog, but telling none-the-less.
Yeah, that was funny. Not necessarily mythical, more the man in charge.