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Ronald D. Moore Says Religion Was Not Part of Star Trek, Talks Final Cylon and Caprica 

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By GustavoLeao / 04:58, 27 December 2008 / General Genre/SciFi

Sci Fi Scanner posted a new interview with Battlestar Galactica producer Ronald D. Moore and here are few excerpts (beware of minor spoilers).

Q: You admitted recently that Battlestar's themes of faith and religion were something the network requested after reading a line in the miniseries. How did it evolve?


A: It was very natural. At Trek I was always trying to work in those angles and blur peoples' religions, but it was very much not a part of what Trek was about -- it just wasn't part of Gene's vision. It appealed to me because science fiction shows just didn't go there. I thought the idea of robots who believe in God was just a fascinating concept. And then I really liked the idea of the polytheists versus the monotheists, and that the monotheists were actually the "bad guys" because there's certain repetition in Western society of the one God driving out the many. There were just layers and layers to play with.

Q: The build-up to the final Cylon has been unprecedented. How is the revelation not going to be a letdown?


A: It will never be as powerful as the build-up. I resigned myself to that a long time ago. The "Who Shot JR" of it all is an instructive lesson: No matter who it is, it's still going to be a bit of a letdown. But I decided that precisely because of that, it wasn't going to be in the final episode. I didn't want that to become the entire series. I'm sure there will be a variety of reactions. Some people will love it, some people will hate it. But I think when you see how the revelation fits into the overall mythology of the show, when all the questions are answered by the end, then it'll make sense and you'll think, "Oh, well it kind of had to be that person."


Q: Next you've got Caprica. Are you surprised it took so long for SciFi to greenlight it?


A: I'd literally given up. You hear that a lot from studios and networks: "Well it's not really dead, we're not saying no." But they're saying no. It's never coming back, and I just thought we were in that spot. It's a gamble: We're making a character drama in a science fiction universe that has nothing to do with action/adventure each week. Nobody's been able to pull that one off, and it would be great to do that. It would be another way to validate the genre as supporting interesting and good programming.
 
The full interview is here.



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RE: Religion | Report this post to moderator
By: GustavoLeao (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 14:01:46 on Dec 27, 2008

Well, dont forget the Christmas scene with Picard family in the Nexus in Star Trek Generations, a scene probably scripted by Mr Moore.

Gustavo

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RE: Religion | Report this post to moderator
By: DIGINON (Odo's file, contact) @ 17:39:50 on Dec 27, 2008

Quote:
You would think that our religions that have lasted thousands of years would last around a few hundred more in Trek timeline, at least in some fashion.

That's the big question. Like I said down below, I'm not an expert in theology or anything, but to me it seems that a big part of most religions is to make sense of things that apparently don't make sense.
At least in the past, there were a lot of phenomena that couldn't be explained. So people kinda invented a higher being to "explain" the things they didn't understand.
As our scientific understanding of the universe grows, that part of religion loses it's importance. We can now scientifically explain things that our ancestors believed to be caused by gods.

The second part of religion is the belief that everything happens for a reason. People want to believe that there is a "plan" behind everything, that the progression of the universe is controlled by someone and follows a purpose, as opposed to being a series of random events or accidents if you will.
Especially when bad things happen to us, a lot of people seem to find consolation in the belief that it's all "God's plan" (working towards a greater good that we just may not be able to see) instead of being just "bad luck".
I guess, that part of religion could live on to the 23rd or 24th century.

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RE: Religion | Report this post to moderator
By: captainkoloth (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 14:13:45 on Dec 27, 2008

Quote:
The only mention of Earth religion I can think of was in the original series when Kirk refrenced a Christmas party, I can't remember which episode. That's pretty much it.

That is something that always bothered me about Star Trek. You would think that our religions that have lasted thousands of years would last around a few hundred more in Trek timeline, at least in some fashion. I wish RDM could have pushed Christmas or something more on Trek.


And in "Who Mourns for Adonais" Kirk says to Apollo, "One god is enough for us.". An interesting comment to be sure, considering Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future.

As for the Christmas mentions, that's not necessarily "religious". Christmas/Hannukah/etc. are really just based from pagan rituals (i.e. the winter solstice). I celebrate Christmas, but I'm not celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. : )



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RE: Religion by Sam Cogley @ 16:27:50 on Dec 27
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