Jan 25 2012

#BSG and #Religion: Bastille Day

“Bastille Day”

Bastille Day picks up shortly after the events in “Water“. The collection of the planet water has not yet begun and Commander Adama and President Roslin discuss the option of using the prisoners on the Astral Queen as labor. We find out that there are 1500 prisoners onboard the prison transport ship. “Apollo” heads over to the Astral Queen to enlist prisoners as laborers and presents them the chance to earn their freedom. When given the opportunity to help, only one prisoner comes forward, Tom Zarek, and that is to inform Apollo that prisoners decline the offer.

Zarek is a political activist who was imprisoned for terrorist activities, including blowing up a government building on the colony of Sagittaron. Sagittaron is one of the poorer colonies, due to centuries of exploitation by the other eleven colonies. This makes Zarek a freedom fighter to some. The decision is made by Apollo to go through Zarek to get to the other prisoners.

Meanwhile, on Caprica, Karl “Helo” Agathon and another copy of the Sharon model (Number Eight) are in search of an unknown radio transmission that they picked up. (Note: The Caprica version of Sharon and the Galactica version take on totally different personalities as the series progresses.)  A Number Five (Doral) and a Number Six monitor their progress from a distance.

Back on the Astral Queen, all hell breaks loose as the prisoners orchestrate a jail break while Apollo and Zarek are talking. Dee, Billy, Callie, and Apollo, along with the crew of the Astral Queen are taken prisoner. Zarek’s conditions for the release of the hostages are 1) the resignation of Laura Roslin and 2) free and open elections.

Zarek: The crew are my prisoners. They will not be harmed. But I have two conditions before I release my captives. First, the government which controls our fate…is illegal and illegitimate…and it must submit to the will of the people. I demand the immediate resignation…of Laura Roslin and her ministers. Second, I demand free and open elections to chose a new leadership. And a new government that represents all of the people. These demands are made not for me…or the former slaves held on this ship…but for you, the people, the survivors of the holocaust…and the children of humanity’s future.

A little later, there is an exchange between Zarek and Apollo.

Zarek: Who voted for Laura Roslin? You? Did you vote for her?

Lee: She was sworn in under the law.

Zarek: The answer is, no one voted for her. And yet she’s making decisions for all of who, deciding who lives…and who dies. Is that democracy? Is that a free society?

Lee: What is it you want from me? You want me to say she shouldn’t be president? We need a government. We need rules, we need a leader.

Zarek: We need to be free men and women. If we’re not free, then we’re no different than Cylons.

Zarek’s message resounds with a lot of people today, especially in American politics. However, what they fail to acknowledge is all authority, even the authority to rule comes from God alone.

Every person should place themselves under the authority of the government. There isn’t any authority unless it comes from God, and the authorities that are there have been put in place by God. So anyone who opposes the authority is standing against what God has established. People who take this kind of stand will get punished. The authorities don’t frighten people who are doing the right thing. Rather, they frighten people who are doing wrong. Would you rather not be afraid of authority? Do what’s right, and you will receive its approval. It is God’s servant given for your benefit. But if you do what’s wrong, be afraid because it doesn’t have weapons to enforce the law for nothing. It is God’s servant put in place to carry out his punishment on those who do what is wrong. That is why it is necessary to place yourself under the government’s authority, not only to avoid God’s punishment but also for the sake of your conscience. You should also pay taxes for the same reason, because the authorities are God’s assistants, concerned with this very thing.

So pay everyone what you owe them. Pay the taxes you owe, pay the duties you are charged, give respect to those you should respect, and honor those you should honor. Don’t be in debt to anyone, except for the obligation to love each other. Whoever loves another person has fulfilled the Law. The commandments, Don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t desire what others have, t and any other commandments, are all summed up in one word: You must love your neighbor as yourself. 

Love doesn’t do anything wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is what fulfills the Law. (Romans 13:1-10)

It’s like this was ripped from today’s headlines and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Zarek is the Tea Party. Yeah, I went there!

But as we see, freedom is not Zarek’s true intention. He wants the military to storm the Astral Queen on Roslin’s orders which would, in Zarek’s mind, cause the government to collapse. In the end, Apollo convinces Zarek to free the hostages in exchange for turning control of the Astral Queen over to the prisoners and elections.

Zarek talks a lot about freedom, but what is true freedom? We tend to associate freedom with being able to do whatever we want whenever we want. But true freedom isn’t being able to do whatever we want.  That leads to anarchy. And as Christians, we recognize that true freedom comes from God, not from the government!

Of course, Roslin and Commander Adama don’t like this.

Roslin: I don’t believe this.

Adama: It’s unacceptable.

Lee: It’s done. Prisoners have full control of the Astral Queen. We evac’ed all the guards and support personnel. It’s their ship.

Adama: They’re a threat to the entire fleet.

Lee: They’ve been disarmed. The ship itself has no weapons.

Adama: The ship itself is a weapon.

Lee: They’re totally dependent on us for food, fuel…and they’ve agreed to organize the workforce for the water detail on the moon.

Roslin: You’ve committed me to holding elections within a year.

Lee: Madam President, with respect…you’re serving out the remainder of President Adar’s term. When that term is up in seven months, the law says there’s an election. I’ve only committed you to obeying the law.

Roslin: You were not authorized–

Adama: You sound like a lawyer.

Lee: I swore an oath to defend the articles. The articles say there’s an election in seven months. If you’re telling me, we’re throwing out the law…then I’m not a captain, you’re not a commander…and you’re not the president. And I don’t owe either of you a damned explanation for anything.

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Jan 23 2012

#BSG and #Religion: Water

‘Water”

This episode opens with Sharon “Boomer” Valerii dripping wet in an equipment room on the flight deck of the Galactica. As she starts to take off her flight suit and empty the contents of a duffel bag, she comes across a shocking discovery, an explosive device is also tucked away in the duffel bag. After changing into her duty uniform, she takes the detonator to a weapons locker, where she makes another shocking discover, 6 other detonators are missing. Now, we all know that Sharon is a Cylon (Number 8), but, at this point, she does not know. This split personality in Sharon, at least early on in the first season, illustrates an important theme in Protestant Christianity, more specifically in Lutheranism: simul iustus et peccator. That is we are at the same time saint and sinner. We too have a kind of split personality and there are time that we aren’t conscious to the fact that we are living in our sinful nature.

Elsewhere, other Galactica officers are getting ready for a visit from President Laura Roslin. In the process of getting ready, Lee “Apollo” Adama has a flashback to the incident involving the Olympic Carrier, a civilian ship that he and Starbuck destroyed in the episode ’33′.  Lee is having a hard time living with the fact that he, while acting on orders, fired on a civilian ship. Commander William Adama, in an effort to console his son, says,

A man takes responsibility for his actions, right or wrong, He accepts the consequences and lives with them…every day.

Commander Adama is correct in this respect, we do have to live with the consequences of or actions every day. That is, we have to live with the consequences of our sin. But, we are confident in the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

While the Galactica is supplying a ship with water, the other explosives planted by Sharon explode and vent most of the Galactica’s water supply into space. The rest of the episode focuses on the search for water. And of course, Boomer finds the water that the fleet desperately needs, but not without some internal conflict with her Cylon programming. It’s the same with our sinful nature. Sometimes, we know the correct thing, but chose to do anything but the right thing. Sometimes, we struggle with our sinful nature, and, by the grace of God, are able to overcome it and do the right thing.

Jan 10 2012

#BSG and #Religion: 33

’33′

The episode ’33′ picks up the story shortly after the end of the mini-series.  The human fleet has been performing faster than light jumps every 33 minutes for 236 jumps.  The episode begins one minute before the 237th jump.

One thing that jumps out right away happens after the end of the Viper pilot briefing between the 237th and 238th jump.  As the pilots emerge from the ready room, they touch a picture and you can hear some say, “Never forget.”  Also, there is the scene with Anastasia Dualla as she visits the team of officers that are cataloging survivors.  As she leaves, the walls of the corridor are covered with pictures and shrines have been erected in various spots.  This, of course, brings back memories of post 9-11.

We also find out that the number of humans in the fleet is 49,998.

The interactions between Gaius Baltar and Six turn towards God’s plan.  The Cylons are monotheistic, believing in the “One True God“, while the Colonials are polytheistic, worshipping the Lords of Kobol.  We find out that a Dr. Amarak used to work with Dr. Baltar at the Ministry of Defense and that Dr. Amarak has discovered how the Cylons were able to disable Colonial defenses, which, would expose Dr. Baltar as the traitor.  Since there was no time before the jump for President Roslin to see Dr. Amarak, it was decided she would meet with him after.  After jump 238, the Olympic Carrier, the ship Dr. Amarak was on, was left behind during the previous jump.  This prompts an interesting discussion between Baltar and Six.

Six: God is Watching out for you, Gaius.

Baltar: The universe is a vast and complex system.  Coincidental, serendipitous events…are bound to occur.  Indeed they are to be expected.  It’s part of the pattern, part of the plan.

Six: Dr. Amarak posed a threat to you.  Now he’s gone.  Logic says there’s a connection.

Baltar: A connection, maybe.  But not God.  There is no God or gods, singular or plural.  There are no large invisible men, or women for that matter…in the sky taking a personal interest in the fortunes of Gaius Baltar.

Six: Be careful.  That which God give, he can also take away.

The loss of the Olympic Carrier brings the fleet’s head count down to 47,972. This time, 33 minutes come and go, with no sign of the Cylons.  After more than 45 minutes without a Cylon attack, the Olympic Carrier “miraculously” to the fleet’s current position.  Commander Adama puts the fleet back onto alert. The conversation between Baltar and Six continues.

Baltar: No.  It’s all wrong.  If they were left behind, why didn’t the Cylons destroy them?  And why are they showing up now?

Six: It’s God’s punishment for your lack of faith.

Baltar: That’s just great, that is.  A more logical and useful explanation, please.

Six: All right.  The Olympic Carrier has been infiltrated by Cylon agents.  They’ve been tracking the ship all along.

Baltar: No.  Then that means… Six: Logically, in order for you to survive…the Olympic Carrier should be destroyed.

In a tense exchange that follows, Baltar admits that he doesn’t think Roslin will destroy the Olympic Carrier.  Six implores Baltar to repent and he will be saved.  Baltar, of course, repents and Roslin authorizes the destruction of the Olympic Carrier.

At the close of the episode, we are given an updated head count of the survivors: 47,973.

As Christians, we do talk a lot about God’s plan or God’s will.  However, there is much debate about what that means.  For me, God’s will means that God does in fact have a plan for me.  But God does allow free will.  Repenting, as Six puts it, does not always lead to salvation as one might think of it.  Ultimate, God is in control, but God doesn’t dictate our actions because God gave us free will.  God is not a puppeteer.  God might will something, but because of free will, we are allowed to act contrary to God’s will.

Jan 6 2012

#BSG and #Religion: The Pilot

250

Image via Wikipedia

The Cylons were created by man.

They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.

And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kille their masters.

After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.

The Cylons left for another world to call their own.

A remote space station was built…

…where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.

Every year, the Colonials send an officer,

the Cylons send no one.

No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years.

In the short opening to the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica, we are provided with a few details that are of profound significance.  First, the Cylons are created.  Second, they rebelled against their masters.  Creation and fall.  This, of course, is a significant theme for Christianity as well.  Creation-God created all there is, including humankind.  Fall-humans rebelled against God and broke God’s command.  (See Genesis 1-3)  In the Christian context, the story of redemption begins with the fall.

But, in BSG, the story of redemption doesn’t begin at this point as the Cylons further rebel with a surprise attack on the Twelve Colonies that all but annihilates the humans.  Although, this too rings of biblical overtones, and calls up images of the flood narrative.  God decided to wipe out humankind for their sin, but found one man and his family to be righteous and spared them.

During his speech, Commander Adama speaks to the human condition and the human propensity to sin in his speech during the decommissioning ceremony aboard the Galactica, and seems to be speaking directly about original sin.

The Cylon War is long over, yet me must not forget the reasons why so many sacrificed so much…in the cause of freedom.  The cost of wearing the uniform can be high…but–  Sometimes it’s too high.  You know, when we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction.  But we never answered the question, why?  Why are we as a people worth saving?  We still commit murder because of greed, spite, jealousy.  And we still visit all of our sins upon our children.  We refuse to accept the responsibility for anything that we’ve done.  Like we did with the Cylons.  We decided to play God, create life.  When that life turned against us, we comforted ourselves in the knowledge…that it really wasn’t our fault, not really.  You cannot play God then wash your hands of the tings that you’ve created.  Sooner or later, the day comes…when you can’t hide from the tings you’ve don anymore.

In the garden, Adam and Eve wanted to be like God and were tempted by the serpent.  They ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and, as a result, were expelled from the Garden.   As we see, a very similar event is unfolding on the Colonies as the Cylons mount a surprise attack.

In the exchange that follows between Baltar and Six, we learn a few interesting things.  The first reference to the Cylon resurrection is made by Six, as well as the fact that there are 12 models of the human form Cylons (skinjobs).  The question then becomes, if there are 12 models, then who is the Christ figure?

Jan 2 2012

My Goals for 2012

Here’s a list of my goals for this coming year:

  1. Lose 25 pounds!
  2. Complete my 2012 Reading Challenge.  Last year I came close to reading 52 books in a year.  I ended up reading 48…4 short of my goal.
  3. Write more.  Since I started my new job, I’ve been pretty lax about blogging.  So, I want to write more, both here and at Unsettled Christianity.  I also hope to be more active on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
  4. My big project for the year is the blog series around my re-watch of Battlestar Galactica.  I plan on exploring the religious themes that appear throughout the series.

Last year was kind of a mild year for me.  I plan on joining Rod and Joel in misbehaving in 2012.

2012 is going to be a great year!

Dec 28 2011

The Christmas Book Haul

Here’s a list of the books I received for Christmas:

Once we throw in the four fiction books I received, that’s a fairly descent haul and a lot of reading to be done.