timeimmortal

James McGrath writes in to provide some alternative commentary on the issue of Battlestar Galactica’s Theology, which I discussed in this article.

I thought I’d draw attention to some of the posts on my blog about BSG and theology (I’m a religion professor who is also a fan), such as :

http://exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com/2008/05/gospel- according-to-gaius.html

http://exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com/2008/04/bartlestar- theodica.html

I’d welcome your comments!

While I could say more for Professor McGrath’s opinions regarding Bart Ehrman (my own views on the “problem” of evil and theodicy are well known; I don’t see the existence of evil and/or suffering in the world as any kind of challenge to the Christian conception of God, and regard those who use said issue(s) as an objection to Religion as being, shall we say, rather deluded themselves), some of his views on BSG and the theology of Gaius Baltar’s new religious movement (itself a derivation of the Cylon religion) are rather interesting.

For example, McGrath remarks thusly concerning the first episode of the latest, and final, season of BSG:

In the BSG Season 4 premiere, entitled “He That Believeth In Me“, a more relevant verse would seem to be “Whosoever seeks to save his life will lose it…” Gaius Baltar moves from an unwilling Messiah disgusted by the gaudy Hindu-style flashing votive lights surrounding his picture, to one who seems genuinely willing to give up his life to save another. The “one true God” has yet to be explored fully as a concept on the show, but in the mean time, interesting questions continue to be asked about how we live our lives and what matters most to us.

I observed to my wife, while we were watching the latest episode of the series to date, that Baltar seems unable to avoid some manner of beating in each and every episode he has been in this season. I’d have to go over all the episodes again (we have them on tape), but I can’t recall yet a time when Baltar has not been pistol-whipped, choked, or punched during the course of an episode since the fleet departed the Ionian Nebula

And in each and every case, Baltar’s personal sufferings have been intimately relevant to the narrative of the show. Indeed, through examples as varied as the knife attack on Baltar in the head to Galen Tyrol attempting to choke him, the series has demonstrated in almost every episode this season that the God whom Baltar is preaching effects His plan for humanity in part through human suffering.
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It always amazes me, and often alarms me, what one can find when cruising this great big Web of ours in the late hours of the evening. Most of the Canadian bloggers seem to be in bed now, which is sensible — as an Albertan, I’m at least one (if not two or more) hours behind most of the really good bloggers, who are all central-east in location. And while the B.C. bloggers might still be awake and cruising, I don’t read many blogs out of B.C., so I couldn’t tell you if that was the case.

You know, I’ve struggled with whether I support the U.S. invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and even now I haven’t come to a clear determination as to what I believe. But every so often, even in these conflicts, a funny anecdote crops up.

Sometimes you have to dig for them. Tonight it was easy. From the website of Red Vs. Blue, the -based web cartoon series:

Any movie producer will tell you that foreign distribution is key to the success of any project these days. And Red vs Blue is no exception — but our markets are a little different than most. In terms of DVD shipments overseas, England is number one, Australia is second and running a very close third are Iraq & Afghanistan, thanks to all the men and women that are serving over there. That’s right. Apparently, nothing says “newfound democracy” better than a Red vs Blue Season 3 DVD.

Trackback Link: http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/viewEntry.php?id=133

This has had me in stitches on an otherwise rather sad evening. I suppose the next thing we’ll hear is of Strong Bad being used at Gitmo?