Battlestar Galactica and the Power of Faith

I won't spoil the final moments of Ron D. Moore's masterpiece series, Battlestar Galactica. If you haven't watched the show from beginning to end, many story elements may not make sense, especially the effect that the faiths of both Colonials and Cylons have on their destinies. I advise you to rent or buy the available DVDs. They're meant to be watched from end to end. You'll need a friend with recorded latter season 4 episodes to complete things.

The final episode, which aired last night, March 20, confirmed in part what I was hoping--about Kara Thrace and the virtual images of Caprica-Six and Gaius Baltar, which (up to this episode) could only be seen and heard by the ones they "haunted."

In Battlestar, faith was used to guide, to advise, to ridicule, to change, to deny. Faith was a shield and a bludgeon, a way to comfort and an oracle to foresee. Battlestar showed that the Higher Powers portrayed in the show not only cared for the individual, but also allowed it to follow its own path, utilize its own free will--if they so dared. While often free will was exactly what the characters did not need, in a few instances, the right choices at the moment made the difference between life and death (take Gaius's speech to Cavil as an example).

On television at least, I can't think of a better example of blending the notions of faith with science fiction that attempts to portray both individual and believer and diety(s) with a sense of the genuine, of what we'd all hope that our paths in life and our hope and belief will do to aid us.

And if some of us get a battlestar to aid us in our journey, I'm cool with that.

Is deity-bashing the rage in SF?

(Facebook readers note: This is a cross-post from my blog at http://cxmachina.blogspot.com.)

Yes, after having a lively conversation with friends in the cross-post of this blog on my Facebook account, I'm still studying the nature of SF and its treatment of theology.

Perhaps the irreverence in SF is less a matter of faithlessness or even science/theology segregation (as if religion were water and science were oil and thus can't mix). Perhaps deities and (as in the case of Stargate and Star Trek) pseudo-deities just make better antagonists in a storyline.

I can buy that. Villains such as an evil guy in a trench coat with chemicals and atomic bombs, or evil emperors and his legions are milquetoast compared to some multidimensional being swallowing planets or subjugating whole populations in terms of drama. And it doesn't hurt to outfit the humans with offsetting technology.

I just wonder what powers the powers of characters that vanquish the "evil" deities in the SF stories. If we examine the comics we see that alien ancestry leads to fantastic powers (Superman), or incredible wealth and strength of will can do wonders (Batman).

Wonder Woman keeps things more terrestrial and theological but embracing the Greek pantheon: Princess Diana's powers are, through her apparel and ancestry, boons from the gods.

Diana is more akin to Greek heroes like Perseus, who are nothing without the support of their gods. I guess that's out of fashion, as mankind is doing now in reality what the Goa'uld and Sargon do in fiction: to dare consider themselves equal to gods.

Which does bring up the concept of where religion ends and mythology begins in SF...a topic for another time.

Arthur C. Clarke makes God "work"

(A point of order: Since I'm Catholic, my posts argue on the nature of God in science fiction. You could easily add your beliefs in substitute and the results would likely be the same.)

After my last post on how God seemed like a niche player at best in Star Trek, I immediately recalled two short stories, both written by Arthur C. Clarke, that co-starred the nature of God as part of a significant story element in two wonderful SF tales I'd read years ago.

The first, "The Nine Billion Names of God", tells the story of Tibetan monks who have a computer constructed to print out the many, many names of God, with, shall we say, interesting results. The second, "The Star", involves a Jesuit priest who suffers in his faith after he returns from a historic space mission that found a destroyed ancient civilization, killed off by their star going supernova.

Both stories totally avoid the deus ex machina problem that the supposedly-omnipotent and omniscient "Q" brought to episodes Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. In these stories, God has actually acted, but in a way we as people are used to: behind the scenes or after the fact, where our minds have to question, interpret, even fear.

Both stories illustrate a way to add God to a fictional universe as a potent force, without dogma or fire and brimstone.

Star Trek and the lack of God

I've loved the original Star Trek series since I was very young. Now, being older and Catholic, I find myself looking into the nature of Captain Kirk's perception of the universe more critically.

The nature of God (specifically as part a monotheistic faith) is hinted at very briefly in only a handful of episodes. In one episode, "Who Mourns for Adonis?", Kirk and company are forced to give worship to an ancient Greek god, Apollo. In the end, Kirk vanquishes the god, telling him, "We've outgrown you." Apollo, virtually powerless as a result of the Enterprise's destruction of his power source, literally fades away, saddened that mankind no longer needs gods.

Gene Roddenberry was big on the concept of humanism...the philosophy that man can discern their own morality, self-worth and respect for others without supernatural or transcendental means. For Star Trek, it's a powerful philosophy that works only because of a strong captain, crew, and immensely powerful starship that could devastate a planet's surface all by itself if the captain willed it.

But we're not Captain Kirk. We don't have incredibly intelligent first officers to explain the otherwise unexplainable, or powerful technologies to pierce through the guises of god-like creatures to explain their true nature and intentions.

And while Kirk's universe appeared to write off the preternatural, explain it away to evil aliens or other beings that once posed as mythical beings of Earth's past, followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity in the real world know, through faith, that evil does exist.

Star Trek is not alone in the use of humanism, of course. Pick your finest science fiction story and you will likely find how God is, at the least, minimized there as the human (or humanoid) characters take point to solve a problem.

I realize that asking God to step in to solve problems in most stories would result in terrible fiction. (It's an ancient plot device for which this blog's name is based.) It's just something I'm throwing out there to think more about.

What stories could be improved with more than a terse mention of faith and not a synthesis of humanism? Can you think of any examples where faith is mentioned positively and affects the storyline without turning the tale into a deus ex machina situation?

I can think of one show at the moment.

Christianity, infighting, and charitability

As I listen and read questions and answers on the nature of Catholicism, it never escapes my mind how adversarial the Christian community can be against the original Christian Church. The Catholic's claim on this isn't just a matter of faith; it's a clear historical record, not just from the earliest Church leaders, but from non-Christians alike.

But the larger point is that, frankly, to consider yourself a Christian in good stature, all sides must remember to hold to charitable questions and inquiry.

As John Martignoni has recommended, when someone from another Christian tradition comes to you with questions, perhaps charitably or not, remember that people who discuss their viewpoint on why their faith tradition is more important than what they believe your faith implies is giving you a compliment. People who rationally criticize what you believe are likely genuinely concerned with you and your soul.

The arguments that such debaters give you may not be correct in Catholic (or even dominant Christian) doctrine, but if you thank them first for their concern while also making a firm, rational defense of Catholic doctrine, both sides may take away something that guides them closer to the true nature of Christ and his truth. And as many other apologetics remind their patrons, the purpose of discussing faith is not to convert or to "win the argument" for your own self-aggrandizement, but for truth to have it's say.

Despite what the secular world may want you to believe, it is quite possible to keep a logical debate on the nature of faith. Catholics have been doing this far longer than any other Christian tradition, supported by sacred Scripture (the Bible), traditions passed down from the Twelve Apostles and St. Peter and the earliest Church fathers (long before the New Testament was fully put to paper), as well as a magisterium, the teaching body of the Church that aids all Catholics in the final interpretations of Scripture and tradition when its needed.

It's not that Catholics can't or don't read the Bible--of course we do. The slight downside of being Catholic is that we don't have to debate the reasoning behind one Scripture passage or not...that's been done for us for thousands of years, and the serious questions settled. So quite of a few of us Catholics, as a result, are a bit lazy when understanding the doctrines of Catholic faith (if not its practices), especially when non-Catholic Christians (most of whom are sola Scriptora advocates) launch their questions based solely on Biblical passages.

But what should you do when people present attacks, not logical arguments or genuine concerns? How do you handle not just the occasional door visit by Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, but what do you do when you meet up with friends in SF fandom (where diversity in thinking and belief seem gravely confused with the prudence of worshipping in pagan ideals or mucking about in powers that can't be mastered)?

I'll dig more into my understanding about this in later posts. Just look for the labels "rant" or "soapbox" in posts to know when I'm trying to speak from the position of a neophyte Catholic apologetic.

To add a twist, I plan on exploring the nature of Christianity in the sci-fi community. How does Hollywood and New Age practices shape things? Does the Internet give people a false sense of self-authority in spiritual and technicial matters? What percentage of SF convention goers are Catholic, Christian, or something else?

And why is it so uncool in fandom to not pick a side spiritually, preferring to say that you're spiritual, but don't subscribe to any "organized religion"?

(I'm guilty of such thinking, too. Anyone who loves The Matrix is dabbling about in Gnosticism dangerously unless you set yourself right.)

Entertainment, Catholicism and Violence

It's hard to find entertainment with a Catholic message, I've learned. Harder still to find games that reflect Catholic values. As time goes on, I'll relate some research I've done on how to handle what is available, determine its suitability for yourself or your friends or family, and what messages you can take from it, in my opinion.

Since I'm still a neophyte in explorations of faith, don't take my word as the complete story. I'm interested in your own research on the subject as well. Sites such as decentfilms.com will play a lot in my movie discussions, and my own study in one of my favorite (but violent) movie series, The Matrix trilogy, will often come to the forefront. I admit to a lack of breadth in recent reading, so I'll catch up with the rest of you as fast as I can.

Basic Tool for the TechnoCatholic #1

I'll periodically make note of some interesting, ingenious (or infamous) bit of technology that Catholics and others in the Christian community should consider or avoid.

One is iBreviary (link to Apple opens in iTunes), a brilliant iPod touch/iPhone app from a brilliant young developer that provides anyone with daily readings from the Roman missal, as well as prayers for everything from confession to the Rosary, as well as lauds and other offices of prayer for non-ordained religious. Great when you'd like the readings but the parish's run plum clean out of missals. And, iBreviary costs just $.99.