Sci Fi verses Christian

I was asked a question whether a Christian should watch Battlestar Galactica or any science fiction TV or Movie. Their position is if the show has a lack of morality a believer should not watch it. And for the most part they are correct. But allow me to indulge as a BSG apologist: the answer is….

YES! I unashamedly admit I am a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica (BSG), my favorite TV show and I am a Sci-Fi fan! I was when the original show ran in the late 70’s I had discussions then with my mentor and uncle Francis Schaeffer, as we booth wrested with these issues, I in HS and he a renowned philosopher and thinker of Christian precepts (and he loved art, including TV and move production-most people do not know that about him. His proposition is art can and does point to truth, the question is what is the truth, is it? As the Christians who hold the real true-Truth, how can we express it in today’s would?). We saw Star Trek and Star Was together and a taping of “HR Puffinstuff” as a youngster, and contemplated can a Christ follower seeking “true-Truth” see them and be true to the faith? The answer was yes and no. It depended on the maturity and faith of the believer and the ability to see through the writers point and what the agenda of the produces were. They have a clear worldview, Star Trek and its main writer DC Fontana, (she goes or went to Holly Wood Press near my home and have known her for years, I had the incredible opportunity as a Junior Higher to sit and her and Schaeffer dialog as she was writing Star Trek II in the mid seventies, that show never sold and became the first movie, I got to see the sketches and her the secrete plot and had to keep silent for a few years about it- tough for my age then and now) is a committed Christian and you can see some Christian themes in all the original Star Trek and most of its franchises, hidden, but there nonetheless. Star Wars was a Hindu worldview and BSG is an atheistic / Mormonism. And don’t get me started on my other favorite “Star Gate”, currently I am writing some scripts and story arcs for its newest incarnation, “Star gate Universe”). The original BG series had Mormon writers and actors (now it is an English production from the folks who brought us fish and chips); just compare the themes to the Book of Mormon…. And Schaeffer saw these shows, then as “campy” and predicted as time went on they will get more and more dark and depraved because that is the sate of our soul without a Savior. Anyway, each of these shows, show a depraved society in need of hope and a Savior. The BG characters clearly show even a more state of hopelessness than any other TV show I have ever seen, but they are in epic search of hope. They have led immoral and self destructive lives that led to their down fall, while the Cylon villains show more and more a supplementary spiritual centered lives and morality, although misguided, while the BG characters for the most part are living life without taking responsibility for it, although the main Character Adama does.

BTW, I think “Touchwood” on the BBC may even be a better show…

I personally think the BSG and any show would be much better if the swearing/sex/violence (except space ships fighting, that is just good stuff!) were cut, as I think the Sopranos would be great too if the same, depravity in New Jersey-lol

Bottom line, yes it is a depraved show and it should not be seen by young people or those with “unthinking faith,” but, it shows the world as it is, the state we are in and all headed too, we can also see it as a warning of what it could be. Now as a Christian how do we address these issues, how do we show the Real Hope and how to “journey to Earth” or in our case faith in Christ? As Schaeffer pointed out, it is our nature is to seek the depravity without the Savior, how do you show the Savior as a Christian to a depraved mind?