Battlestar Eschatology

I am currently in a class called Eschatology which is a fancy word for the study of end times. In this class we are required to do a book review, that our teacher also extended to movies  I decided to write about Battlestar Galactica and it’s view of end times events. It’s a nerdy combination of two interests of mine Biblical studies and Science fiction. Anyways it’s not too insightful, but it allowed me to justify watching episodes of Battlestar as “research.” I’d love to hear any comments or insights or discussion of the show. I tried not to include any spoilers.

Eschatology of Battlestar Galactica

This paper is a book review of the Eschatology of the Science Fiction Television series Battlestar Galactica (2004-2008). [1] This paper will discuss points of congruence between this series and the Bible in their general perception of end times events. The paper will not attempt to be exhaustive but will serve to summarize how one perspective in popular science fiction relates to the bible in terms of it’s eschatalogical implications.

Show Summary

The show begins on the premise that there is a conflict between humanity and a group of man-made sentient machines called Cylons. This conflict resulted in a truce between the two civilizations (human and Cylon) where each stayed in separate parts of the galaxy. After 40 years of peace the Cylons attack the twelve planets hosting human life destroying all but a few humans. The remaining humans are left to search for a new place to call home, as they are continually pursued by bent on destroying them. Cylons were aided by the fact that they have now created and program biological bodies almost identical humans.

Points of Commonality

There are a surprisingly high number of congruent themes betweeen Battlestar Galactica and Biblical eschatology. While the show certainly doesn’t present a Christian or Biblical viewpoint, it does develop many points of commonality in its depiction of end times events.

Immanency of End Times Events

The near destruction of the human race in Battlestar Galactica is preceded by no discernible warning signs. Taking advantage of human optimism and complacency the Cylons were able to disable all defense mechanisms that were supposed to warn about the oncoming attack. In part because of human pride in their own brilliant defense system, and in part because of their complacency after 40 years of peace, the human race was unprepared for their near extinction until it was already upon them.

Human Culpability

The near destruction of the human race is brought on by an entity that they created. In practical sense the human race is responsible for it’s own destruction. Commander Adama best illustrates this idea in a speech,

…you can’t outrun the sins of your family and as a species we refuse to accept 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. But like Ensign Wallace says, it was our fault…no one else to blame…You cannot play god then wash your hands of the things that you’ve created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can’t hide, from the things that you’ve done, anymore.[2]

This speech implicates humanity for its own destruction. The speech is given before the initial Cylon attack essentially making it prophetic. The near destruction of the human race is also viewed as a form of judgment. Humanity is morally responsible for their own destruction. Cylons in the show often imply that humanity does not deserve to be saved. What is surprising is that this sentiment is sometimes echoed by humans as well. Adama’s speech not only condemns man for making the instrument of it’s own destruction, but questions whether humanity deserves to survive. Earlier in the speech he says, “when we fought the Cylon’s; we did it to save ourselves from extinction. But we never answered the question of Why? A young Ensign once asks me, ‘Why are we as a people worth saving?’ I could not answer him then and I can’t answer him now. As a people we still commit murder because of greed, spite, jealousy…We still visit all of our sins upon our children..”[3] This again foreshadows humanity’s near extinction, and raises one of the show’s great themes; Is humanity really worthy of being saved? This question and Adama’s speech implicitly condemn humanity for the evil it has committed and serves to show that the horrors visited upon mankind were acts of judgment. Although the destruction is brought upon mankind from without, mankind was culpable in bringing the destruction upon itself.

The salvation of a remnant.

While almost the whole of humanity is destroyed there is a remnant that escapes the destruction. The show demonstrates that these survivors are merely a fraction of the worlds population. The show often implies that those who have survived have a special purpose, although they are not entirely clear as to what that purpose may be. In the broader sense the show often describes survival for survival’s sake. However often there are abnormal occurrences and references to prophecies, that seems to indicate that some sort of “higher power” is directing this remnant.

Historical Pattern.

Later on in Battlestar Galactica it is revealed that this pattern of destruction has happened before and will happen again. A prophet-like machine called the hybrid utters the phrase “All of this has happened before and it will happen again.” Later it is revealed that another civilization was nearly destroyed by machines they had created. This pattern of destruction followed by the escape of a remnant then prosperity then corruption then back to destruction, seems to be the something humanity is bound to repeat. This parallels the Biblical theme of judgment with the salvation and restoration of a remnant as seen in the flood narrative, desert wanderings, judges, in the nation of Israel, and culminating in the Apocalypse of John.

Conclusion

In terms of a popular work with eschatalogical significance, Battlestar Galactica provies interesting and thoughtful perspective on end times events. It is useful as a depiction of what popular culture finds to be the relevant, important, and interesting in relation to the end of the world, and the survival of mankind. While certainly not Christian the Television Series raises similar questions and establishes similar themes to the Biblical text, perhaps providing a launching ground for eschatalogical discussion amongst Christians and fans of science fiction.

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[1] This refers to the Battlestar Galactica Reimagined Series & Miniseries (2003-2009), not the Original Series or other reboots.

[2] Battlestar Galactica Miniseries, “Battlestar Galactica” episode 1, [originally aired December 8, 2003]

[3] Ibid.

Lips on Fire

Isaiah 6 recounts the vision of Isaiah where he sees the Lord high and lifted up. In his presence are angels covering themselves with their wings and singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The earth is full of his Glory.” Isaiah’s response to this scene is to recognize his own unworthiness and sinfulness as well as the sinfulness of the nation. He says, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” These are verses most Christians are quite familiar with, Isaiah is one of the most popular prophets for us to read from in the old testament and this is one of the favorite passages from the book bearing his name. However G.K. Chesterton wrote, “If you look at a thing 999 times, you are perfectly safe. If you look at it the 1,000th time, you are in frightful danger of seeing it for the first time.” I noticed two things I had never noticed before.

The first thing that struck me was the the Angels were not singing of God’s glory in heaven or in and of himself, but his glory on earth. This reveals the truth that the earth is a stage for the glory of the Lord to be displayed. And on that stage there are certain players who have been given roles to carry out, small acts which appear for a short time upon the stage that give others a glimpse of the wonder and marvel of God. This is the role of the Christian in the world. To declare God’s glory in word, in their actions towards the poor and downtrodden, in their forgiveness towards those who harm them, in their lives characterized by love and obedience towards God and kindness and service towards their neighbors. Some Christians think that this world matters very little, but this is a lie. This world matters because in it the glory of God has, is, and will be displayed.

The realized the second new thing while I was meditating on a truth I heard from a preacher. He spoke about how Isaiah was convicted about something that we rarely feel any guilt about, the things we say. His point was that in the presence of God, even the slightest of sins becomes an unbearable and condemning offense. We excuse ourselves for cursing in traffic, gossiping about our friends, demeaning others, without even thinking about it. We have no remorse, no guilt, no shame about the ways we misuse our lips. But once in the presence of God and his purity, the revulsion of the sin becomes unbearable. While thinking of this, I tried to figure out why the particular sin of the lips bothered Isaiah so much. He may have been a very good man, but I doubt his only failings were in the things he said. I think the answer lies in what Isaiah witnessed. He witnessed the angels in heaven declaring the attributes of God. He saw worship as it was intended to be. He saw lips performing their proper function of praise. When he came in contact with that, the conviction of how he had misused his own lips, his own words, his own voice, became apparent. The lips that were intended to praise God had been used to slander other, they had uttered lies, they had been misused and abused.

So this leads us to the question, “when we come into the presence of God, What will convict us?” When we see how we should have used our hands, our eyes, our ears, our lips, how will they condemn us? Are we seeking to glorify in our bodies the God who entrusted us with our bodies? But before we can answer these questions we must do something, to realize our failings, to realize our purpose… we must first draw into the presence of God. It is there that all things come to light. It is in his presence that the desire for Holiness grows, it is in His presence that we worship, it is in His presence that our sins are exposed. Seek His presence.

Yawn

Well, I’m tired and sleepy… Seems like the past couple days all I’ve wanted to do is lie around and do nothing. I’m tired when I wake up & when I go to sleep. And the times inbetween. Other then those times I’m active and energetic, I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m going to try sleeping a whole lot and see if that helps. If that doesn’t work… I’m not sure what I’ll do.

Rick Moranis Where Art Thou?

Rick Moranis used to be quite the star. He was in several major films such as Strange Brew, Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, Honey I Shrunk the Kids,  He started out his TV career with SCTV a Canadian sketch comedy show. He eventually worked his way into film. In a lot of his early movies such as Ghostbusters or Spaceballs he actually was able to rewrite his lines and had a sense of comedic creativity that Moranis enjoyed. As he got larger and larger roles, he felt that he lost that freedom and was dictated what to do. In his personal life tragedy and difficulty weighed him down. He lost his wife to liver cancer. Six years later retired from show business to work on being a single parent in 1997. Since then he’s released folk style comedy album. “The Agoraphobic Cowboy” was released in 2005. Is it any good? I was kinda surprised but you can decide for yourself..

I think we can all agree this is far better work than his “Impanema Rap” which I couldn’t even watch all the way through.

My Modern Madness

“Madness is doing the same thing in the same way repeatedly while expecting different results.” Someone far more original than me said that once, and while the particular person who said it has faded from my memory their words found a way to stick. I was thinking about this because I realized that by this definition I have compulsions that exhibit this form of madness. I check my email and facebook with a frequency that borders on obsession. It is as though the moment boredom or a lull comes into my life I simply sign on. The odd thing is that I am looking for the same thing there repeatedly that I never find. On the surface level this compulsive behavior stems from curiosity and boredom. I want to see what other people are doing. I want to be amused and entertained by voyeurism into the trivialities of others’ lives. But underneath the compulsion is a hope and desire far deeper than that. I’m actually looking to these sources for relationships, affirmation, and validation. I want to feel connected and involved in other people’s lives. I want other people to reach out to me. I want people to find me significant or interesting. I want people to encourage me. It’s as if I’m looking to my email and to facebook to fulfill the deep relational desires that I have. This presents two serious problems. The first is quite simply that there is almost no relational satisfaction in those areas. I’ve never had a wall post that made me feel significant. There are some emails that have been significant to me, but it is usually months between these emails, not minutes. Looking to these sources for meaning, significance, or relationships is like drinking water one drop at a time. It isn’t enough to satisfy. The second problem it presents is that compulsion feeds desire and desire feeds compulsion. The more I check my email the more I want an email, the more I want an email the more I check my email. This becomes a vicious cycle of narcissism and neediness. I want validation constantly and continuously. Even when I receive it, it isn’t as good as I expected and hoped. But instead of placing my hope in something different, something more meaningful, I return to the comfort and disappointment of my compulsion. It’s comfortable be cause I know it, and there’s no real risk of pain or disappointment, because it’s passive behavior. I sit back and wait for the world to come to me, instead of taking bigger risks and facing larger disappointments. That’s my madness.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Somewhere in my misguided life I picked up the notion that if I do the right thing, good things will happen to me. Not only will good things happen to me, but I will deserve for good things. If I am patient searching for a job I will be rewarded by getting an amazing one. If I give money to the homeless, I wont get pulled over for speeding. If I am kind to strangers, I will be rewarded with a beautiful wife. If I call my grandparents on their birthdays, I’ll get straight As. I bought into the silly little notion that the universe will balance out and if you put good into the world it’ll come back to you with interest. But the truth is far from that…  good deeds often fail to bring any reward in fact many times they bring suffering. You pet a dog and it bites your hand. You pay all your taxes and it tanks your business. You give money to the homeless and he follows you for an hour yelling. You workout, exercise and eat right, but you still get cancer. You patiently wait and diligently search for a job you never get. You tell the truth and it destroys a friendship. You do volunteer work and get injured. Not only do you seem to get punished for your good deeds but others seem to be rewarded for their bad deeds. The manipulator always seem to get the girl. The thief’s business always seems to prosper. The jerk always gets promoted. Despite My Name is Earl’s attempt to prove otherwise, Karma just doesn’t seem to correspond with reality. Now its true that the villain doesn’t always win, the hero sometimes gets the girl, but there’s a reason why we think of those type of stories as fairy tales or stories for naive children. Its because the harsh reality of life is that my good deeds don’t earn or entitle me to any reward. If I do a good deed, it should be because I think I value morality and virtue over reward. In fact I must willing to put myself at risk in doing what is right, because it is often accompanied by pain. The true test of character is not then the willingness to the right thing, but rather how much I’m willing to suffer for doing the right thing. To be a man of virtue I have to care more about character than consequences.

Self Improvement

So I’ve been thinking about change lately. Can we change ourselves and if so is there a limit to the extent we can change ourselves? Or does it take something outside of us to change? If so, is the is our ability to change contingent upon our ability to change our circumstances?

Extreme Sports

For a while I thought that it would be extremely difficult to get any riskier than buzzing the side of a mountain in a wingsuit.

I mean wouldn’t it be impossible to beat the danger of flying that fast and close to a mountain? However I think this speed flying video of Antoine Montant might be crazier. I know he’s not as fast, but to me it seems riskier intentionally hitting objects once your parachute is already out. Anyways this video has perhaps the most creative grind of all time

Robots and Death

It’s time I give the people what they want… assuming the people want more blog posts.

There is a strange phenomena which basically boils down to this if there are really realistic portrayals of humans can be really creepy. The odd thing is if it is either not realistic at all it can be cute or if it is convincingly realistic it doesn’t bother us as much. The area of realism that seems to creep us out which is not fake enough to be cute and not realistic enough to be convincing, is called the uncanny valley. Supposedly the reason why these robots give us the heebie jeebies is that they remind us of our own mortality. I guess inanimate objects that look human remind people that eventually there will come a day when they will be inanimate objects that look human. So, what do you think of the uncanny valley?

Finals

Ladies and Gents, it’s finals week. I’m tired. My brain is friend. I’ve finished three exams so far. I have a huge paper looming over me. On top of that my car needs to be taken in for repairs. I’m hoping to drive to Memphis on Saturday. Sometimes I wish I could just go to sleep and all my problems would fade away… but they’re not going to. Then again things could be worse, my leg could be on fire.