Caprica’s Commentary

The Battlestar Galactica commentary on religion and belief continues on in the new series Caprica (you know you want to watch it!) set 50 years before the Cylon attack that opens the traditional story-line. Ronald Moore has been on record that his treatment of religious motifs is entirely on purpose, meaningful, and meant to be entirely serious. I happpened to run across a scholarly article (Rejecting Monotheism? Polytheism, Pluralism, and Battlestar Galactica, though I’ve misplaced the author) on the topic – so people are taking this seriously.

I’ve only seen the pilot so far, but the investigation in the plot (no spoilers) is hell bent on portraying monotheism as a minority movement creating radical, even, fundamentalist ethics. The abstract of the previously mentioned article purports to argue that polytheistic religion tends to create societies with greater degrees of toleration. I’m not sure how they’d argue such a case or Hinduism in India, but, there it is.

By the end of the 90 minute pilot they’ve also shown engagement with philosophical thoughts, namely, what makes us human, or which parts of us hold our humanity. Not exactly light topics, but topics that religions have fought tirelessly with. This series is not to be missed!