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Everyone on BSG is so... religious
It's a nice change from Star Trek, where religion is a sign of backwardness, and the only people with warp drive and religion are either Klingons (where they used to be evil, and anyway that's not really a religion, it lacks a god) or Bajorans (who aren't exactly doing well in the galaxy, and anyway their gods happen to actually exist, and are affectionately named "wormhole aliens" by everyone else).
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I think a case can be made that Worf is "religious" rather than merely "cultural" -- look at his attitude toward and veneration of Kahless -- although perhaps some of it is a psychological defense mechanism: he's "more Klingon than thou" (just as Spock was "more Vulcan than thou") in part to make up for the fact that he was raised by Humans and joined the Federation Starfleet as his adopted father had.
Worf reminds me of the child of assimilated Jews who reverts back to the orthodox traditions of his grandparents in rebellion against the assimilation of his parents. It's the same desperate attempt to find an anchoring cultural/religious identity in a confusing sea of multiple alternatives.
Like Spock before him, Worf is caught between two radically different cultures, although for different reasons than Spock, of course.
As for the reimagined BSG, I think that only Kara is truly religious in the sense that she really believes in the Greek Pantheon/Lords of Kobol (to the point of praying to them, which I agree is unusual for a television series character), although Roslyn and Richard Hatch's character would seem to run her a close second and third with their comments about Apollo.
(I should note that Kira was shown as praying to the Prophets in a couple of episodes of DS9, despite first-hand testimony from Sisko that they were not Gods but instead a form of incorporeal alien life. She really had faith of the heart....)
Interesting, is it not, that the two most religious women in television science fiction have such similar names, are career military officers, have similarly crappy love lives, and are such otherwise powerful women, right down to the ability to hold their own -- and then some -- in fistfights with men?
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BSG
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I am not Christian and not religious (in fact, I'm more of a philosophical Buddhist), but I really appreciated how they portrayed this profoundly religious character and the role that religion played in her life, how it interacted with events and people she encountered, etc. I was deeply disappointed when they later completely abandoned the character's religion as if it had never existed. Sigh.
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Frequent references are made to "Vulcan mysticism" and we have some evidence that the Vulcans, despite their proclamations of logic, are indeed a very mystical and faith-driven people.
The Ancient Bajorans actually achieved interstellar FTL flight (by accident) long before the Cardassians; the main reason they aren't doing so well is because of the long Cardassian occupation.
As for Worf, as has been mentioned, he does appear to be religious, and has even been seen meditating/praying in front of a shrine to Kahless which he keeps in his quarters, complete with a little Kahless figurine no less. As for the Klingon faith itself, it should be noted that it really didn't exist in the days that the Klingons were "evil" as the original Star Trek was most notably void of religion. This is because Gene Roddenberry was a very outspoken atheist, who insisted that 20th century religions had no place in our future, and wanted to make sure that this was reflected in the Star Trek universe. Despite all of this, however, the original series was still full of implications that Christian beliefs and practices survive among 22nd century Starfleet officers. Blame the writers. Star Trek is very USA-centric, anyway. :)
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I think a case can be made that Worf is "religious" rather than merely "cultural" -- look at his attitude toward and veneration of Kahless -- although perhaps some of it is a psychological defense mechanism: he's "more Klingon than thou" (just as Spock was "more Vulcan than thou") in part to make up for the fact that he was raised by Humans and joined the Federation Starfleet as his adopted father had.
Worf reminds me of the child of assimilated Jews who reverts back to the orthodox traditions of his grandparents in rebellion against the assimilation of his parents. It's the same desperate attempt to find an anchoring cultural/religious identity in a confusing sea of multiple alternatives.
Like Spock before him, Worf is caught between two radically different cultures, although for different reasons than Spock, of course.
As for the reimagined BSG, I think that only Kara is truly religious in the sense that she really believes in the Greek Pantheon/Lords of Kobol (to the point of praying to them, which I agree is unusual for a television series character), although Roslyn and Richard Hatch's character would seem to run her a close second and third with their comments about Apollo.
(I should note that Kira was shown as praying to the Prophets in a couple of episodes of DS9, despite first-hand testimony from Sisko that they were not Gods but instead a form of incorporeal alien life. She really had faith of the heart....)
Interesting, is it not, that the two most religious women in television science fiction have such similar names, are career military officers, have similarly crappy love lives, and are such otherwise powerful women, right down to the ability to hold their own -- and then some -- in fistfights with men?
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BSG
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I am not Christian and not religious (in fact, I'm more of a philosophical Buddhist), but I really appreciated how they portrayed this profoundly religious character and the role that religion played in her life, how it interacted with events and people she encountered, etc. I was deeply disappointed when they later completely abandoned the character's religion as if it had never existed. Sigh.
no subject
Frequent references are made to "Vulcan mysticism" and we have some evidence that the Vulcans, despite their proclamations of logic, are indeed a very mystical and faith-driven people.
The Ancient Bajorans actually achieved interstellar FTL flight (by accident) long before the Cardassians; the main reason they aren't doing so well is because of the long Cardassian occupation.
As for Worf, as has been mentioned, he does appear to be religious, and has even been seen meditating/praying in front of a shrine to Kahless which he keeps in his quarters, complete with a little Kahless figurine no less. As for the Klingon faith itself, it should be noted that it really didn't exist in the days that the Klingons were "evil" as the original Star Trek was most notably void of religion. This is because Gene Roddenberry was a very outspoken atheist, who insisted that 20th century religions had no place in our future, and wanted to make sure that this was reflected in the Star Trek universe. Despite all of this, however, the original series was still full of implications that Christian beliefs and practices survive among 22nd century Starfleet officers. Blame the writers. Star Trek is very USA-centric, anyway. :)