Battlestar Galactica: "The Hand of God"

The episode “The Hand of God” really helps to illustrate some of the various feelings a person can feel when they are thrust into a leadership position they were not seeking or had no intention of accepting. The three main characters we’ve seen thrust into leadership positions during this episode are Laura Roslin, Starbuck, and Baltar (whose storyline is really an extension of previous episodes).

We saw Roslin nervously accept the role of President of the Twelve Colonies at the beginning of the Battlestar Galactica series and now we see her having to be educated about another role she has been thrust into—that of a religious leader. This new calling came to a head during a press conference when she hallucinated some twelve snakes wrapped around the podium and her hands. Following the press conference, she met with the Priestess Elosha. “I’ve been taking chamalla for a medical condition,” she tells her and she explains that she had dreams of Leoben, before they captured him:

Roslin: The images were…
Elosha: Prescient?
Roslin: Uncanny. And now I’m seeing things while I’m awake….There were snakes crawling all over my podium during the press conference.
Elosha: How many?
Roslin: About a dozen.
Elosha: You’re kidding me, right? You read Pythia and now you’re having me on?
Roslin: No. Who is Pythia?
Elosha: One of the oracles in the sacred scrolls 3600 years ago, Pythia wrote about the exile and rebirth of the human race: ‘and the Lords anointed a leader to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland, and unto the leader they have a vision of serpents numbering two and ten as a sign of things to come.’ She also wrote the new leader suffered a wasting disease and would not live to enter the new land. But you’re not dying, are you?

Of course, we all know the answer to that question and we now know that not only was Roslin thrown into the political role of President leading her people to safety, she has been thrown into the theological role of leading her people to the Promised Land. It seems just as she has become fairly comfortable with the political role, a role she at least has observed President Adar filling in Caprica, she has a completely new role thrown onto her shoulders, one that she does not seem to be at all familiar with, as she was unfamiliar with the Pythian prophecies, literature we find out later that was apparently common enough that Baltar read while in the sixth grade.

Similarly, Starbuck is thrown into a new role as a military strategist, coming up with a new, fresh, “out-of-the-box” perspective on battlefield tactics as they decide to do a surprise attack on the Cylon controlled tylium enriched asteroid, a resource that would give them fuel and ammunition for the next couple of years. The Galactica launches their strike force heading towards the base. Starbuck all along has struggled with wanting to be in the cockpit, rather than working behind the scenes with the Commander. However, her knee injury prevents her from flying a viper. During the strike, she still wishes she were with the other viper pilots in the field. Adama tells her, “I had to go through the same transition. When you’re in the cockpit, you’re in control. It’s hard to give it up.” She replied, “I never wanted this kind of responsibility.” “The Cylons never asked what we wanted. Welcome to the big leagues,” is Adama’s consolation. Starbuck’s struggle is with releasing control. While she admits that she “lives outside of the box,” she also wants to be the one fulfilling the orders. She stands with one foot in leadership and one foot in being a follower—it’s up to her to decide where to put her weight and right now it seems that she is trying to shift it to being a follower, being in the cockpit, instead of calling the shots for the fleet.

Baltar, on the other hand, seems to seek leadership; rather, he seems to seek the fame and prosperity that can come with leadership. In his seeking, he has been thrown into a religious position, a new recruit in the Church of the Cylon God, a position that holds certain responsibilities to the Cylon God. Once again, Baltar has interesting conversations throughout the episode with Six about God. He questions why the Cylon God would help him destroy the Cylon base. Six explains that “God doesn’t take sides. He only wants your love. Open your heart to him and he will show you the way….You must remember to surrender your ego. Remain humble.” As discussed in previous episodes, these divine attributes of the Cylon God sound very similar to those described about the Christian God in the Gospels. It seems that Six understands Baltar’s hubris and warns him that it can/will get in the way of a relationship with God, a trap that some hypocritical religious leaders in the Second Testament got in trouble for.

At the end of the episode, Baltar imagines he’s back on Caprica and the Pythian prophecy is further discussed:

Six: Have you read the Pythian prophecy, Gaius?
Baltar: Not since the sixth grad. I can’t say ancient history was my favorite subject.
Six: Six: You should have paid closer attention....”All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.’
Baltar: Everyone knows that verse. What are you getting at?
Six: Remember this one? “Led by serpents numbering two and ten.”
Baltar: The Vipers! They’re the serpents.
Six: There’s a later verse, Gaius. You should read it. “Though the outcome favored the few, it led to a confrontation at the home of the gods.”
Baltar: Are you telling me that God guided my finger to that target for some arcane scriptural purpose?
Six: You did well. You gave yourself over to him.
Baltar: Yes, I suppose I did. Yes, there’s really no other logical explanation for I was…
Six: Am…
Baltar: …I am an instrument of God.

Baltar and Six discuss the same passage Roslin and Elosha discussed toward the beginning of the episode. However, each couple comes to a different interpretation of the same passage, each thinking s/he is the leader described in the passage. Sometimes Scripture can be interpreted in various ways to suit the situation or interpretation the reader wants. This is why Scripture should be read in context of itself—try to let Scripture interpret itself. How do certain images play out throughout Scripture and how can those other instances inform the passage in question. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the series. The part of the passage that Six does not mention that we did hear earlier in the episode is that this “instrument of God” is supposedly dying of a wasting disease. Roslin is dying of terminal breast cancer; we do not know of anything Baltar is afflicted with (other than hallucinations).

Battlestar Galactica: "Flesh and Bone"

The theme of evangelism continues in “Flesh and Bone,” as Leoben Conoy and Starbuck discuss the nature of God(s) and what it means to be human. While in the previous episode, “Six Degrees of Separation,” we see bedroom evangelism, the tactics of evangelism change in this episode by taking place in an interrogation room. At base level, however, the Cylons’ attempts at evangelism are the same—meet the humans where they are, meet them where they feel comfortable. Baltar’s comfortable place is in his bedroom; Starbuck’s comfortable place is in a military setting where she feels more in control. The Cylons demonstrate that in order to evangelize, we should know the other person, have a relationship with that person. Six knows that Baltar responds to physical relationship and it seems that Six is almost desperate for physical contact and relationship. Leoben knows Starbuck’s past and knows that she is faithful to the human polytheistic religion. Both Six and Leoben are able to evangelize by appealing to the growing relationships with their human counterparts.

After hiding for some time, Leoben Conoy, a duplicate Cylon of the one Adama encountered and fought on Ragnar Anchorage, is caught. Starbuck is called to interrogate him. After observing how human Leoben seems at first glance, Starbuck enters the interrogation chamber:

Starbuck: Sleeping?
Leoben: Praying.
Starbuck: I don’t think the gods
answer the prayers of toaster.
Leoben: God answers everyone’s prayers.

Leoben begins his relationship with Starbuck through a discussion of faith. Their discussions further show that the Cylons believe in a monotheistic religion, while the humans believe in a pantheon. An all-loving, all encompassing God seems very much like how God is described of the Gospels.

Later, Leoben tries to play mind games with Starbuck, and she is unsuccessful in getting information from him, he gives more information about the Cylon God:

Leoben: It’s funny, isn’t it? We’re all God, Starbuck. I see love that bonds
everything together.
Starbuck: Love? You don’t even know that the word
means.
Leoben: I know that God loved you more than all other living
creatures and you repaid his divine love with sin, with hate, corruption, evil,
so then he decided to create the Cylons.
Starbuck: The gods had nothing to
do with it. We created you. Us. It was a stupid and fracked up decision, and we
are paying for it. You destroyed my entire race! That is sin! That is what you
are.

Leoben wants to not only educate Starbuck about the god he believes in, but wants to convert her to believe in his god, as well. Interestingly, it seems that the Cylon race is very similar to paths that some Christian groups have taken. While Christians have read the Gospels, have read some of the Pauline letters, have heard that God loves humanity, that God forgives, that God is compassionate, there are still some Christians that attempt genocide through brute mob mentality and force, while other Christians will harm on a more personal level through one-on-one violence, gestures, and words. In this view, it seems that the Cylons are allegoric for the Nazis and other Christian groups, even the historic Church, who sought to destroy others who did not believe the way they did.

Leoben continues to compare his monotheistic faith to Starbuck’s polytheistic faith:

Leoben: See, our faiths are similar but I look to one god, not to many.
Starbuck: I don’t give a damn what you believe.
Leoben: To know the face
of god is to know madness. I see the universe. I see the patterns. I see the
foreshadowing that precedes every moment of every day. It’s all there. I see it
and you don’t. And I have a surprise for you. I have something to tell you about
the future.
Starbuck: Is that so?
Leoben: It is. But we have to see this
through to the end. What is the most basic article of faith? This is not all
that we are. See, the difference between you and me is, I know what that means
and you don’t. I know that I’m more than this body, more than this
consciousness. A part of me swims in the stream but in truth, I’m standing on
the shore. The current never takes me downstream.

Moses’ encounter with Yahweh on Mount Sinai reveals that God will not show humanity God’s face. Moses asks God: “Show me your glory, I beg you.” God replies, among other things: “You shall see the back of me, but my face is not to be seen.” Interestingly, studies have been done of epileptic and schizophrenic patients and it seems that God appears to them face to face, and the patient describes God, Jesus, or the Virgin Mary in intimate detail, inevitably in an everyday setting. Such studies track with Leoben’s understanding of God.

Just before President Roslin comes to interrupt the interrogation, Leoben gives Starbuck a “gift.” He tells her that “each of us plays a role; each time a different role. Maybe the last time I was the interrogator and you were the prisoner. The players change, the story remains the same. And this time—this time—your role is to deliver my soul unto God. Do it for me. It’s your destiny. And mine.” He continues to tell her that she will find Kobol, birthplace of the Gods and the map to Earth. It is interesting that he, a Cylon android, believes that he not only has a soul, but that he will go to God, though he has admitted that when his body is destroyed, his consciousness will simply be uploaded into another body someplace else. The Cylons have added a mystical, faithful layer on top of the logical hard wiring of their make-up, deifying their upload and download processes.

Battlestar Galactica: "You Can't Go Home Again"

Starbuck is shot down by a Cylon Raider and abandons ship on a hostile planet. She seeks shelter in the downed raider and discovers that it is a living organism. She figures out how to fly it and makes her way back to Galactica. Meanwhile, a father-son drama unfolds on Galactica as Adama and Apollo have launched a dangerous rescue mission and are trying to find Starbuck. When Roslin finds out that they are risking the rest of the fleet and the survival of humanity, she takes them to task guiding to realize that they are obsessed with clinging onto the last connection they may have to Zak Adama.

After this conversation with Roslin, on their way to CIC, Apollo continues his thoughts with his father:

Apollo: I want you to know, I think she’s wrong. I think we have
some to terms with what happened to Zak.
Adama: I
haven’t.
Apollo: I need to know something: Why did you do
this? Why did we do this? Is it for Kara? For Zak? For
what?
Adama: Kara was family. You do whatever you have to
do. Sometimes you break the rules.
Apollo: And if it was me down
there instead?
Adama: You don’t have to ask that.
Apollo: Are
you sure?
Adama: If it were you…we’d never leave.

While this conversation, in fact this entire episode, doesn’t have an overt religious references, this scene is a good one for sermon illustration of God never leaving us alone, never abandoning us. At times we may feel abandoned, but actually we may have been the one doing the abandoning. God will not leave us, but will keep searching for us.

What Adama seems to be doing in this continuation of the previous episode is an Act of Contrition. His last conversation with Starbuck did not end well, as she admitted putting his unqualified son in the cockpit of a viper that ultimately killed him. Understandably, Adama was angry…furious. He basically kicked Starbuck out of his quarters. Now, seemingly sorry for how he left things with this sort of adoptive daughter, he looks for her, risking everything and everyone to find her.

As the fleet is about to leave, a lone raider appears. Lee tries to engage it but it outmaneuvers him until he is able to see its underbelly—Starbuck has written her name on it. Adama and Starbuck reconcile.

Battlestar Galactica: "Act of Contrition"

When I go on vacations, especially when I am in Europe, I have a habit of visiting churches. I picked up a card in one cathedral (I don’t know which one). On one side is a copy of a painting of Jesus holding a lamb on his lap with one hand and holding a staff with his other hand. On the other side, it is printed:

Act of Contrition—O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I
detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving
of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess
my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

The Act of Contrition is a prayer, recited by the penitent during the Latin Rite Roman Catholic sacrament of Confession. This prayer (and various forms of this prayer) is used throughout not only the Catholic Church, but in some Protestant churches and denominations, as well.

The title of the fourth episode of Battlestar Galactica is appropriately “Act of Contrition” and largely deals with Starbuck’s grappling with the accidental death of her fiancé, who also happened to be Commander Adama’s son and Lee Adama’s brother. She is left in charge of training some new “nuggets,” recruits to become sort of replacement pilots after a terrible accident killed a dozen or so on the flight deck. This training task surfaces painful memories of Zak Adama’s death, for which Starbuck feels responsible since she had passed him for Basic Flight despite knowing he didn’t have the chops to be a Viper pilot. She is overly harsh and critical of the nuggets’ first day performance and flunks them all. A mix-up in communication between Commander Adama and Apollo leads to the Commander to calling Starbuck to his cabin to discuss Zak’s death and ultimately finding out what she did for Zak, resulting in a seriously strained relationship.

Adama’s cabin becomes a confession booth and this conversation becomes one of confession:

Adama: He said something else. That you might have been feeling
guilty about something you did for Zak. What did you do for
him?
Starbuck: I don’t know. You’d have to ask
Lee.
Adama: I’m asking you.
Starbuck: Well I don’t kn-…I, ah…I
don’t really know what he was talking about, so…
Adama: Don’t fence
with me, Kara. I love you like a daughter. I don’t deserve
that.
Starbuck: Ummm…Zak…failed…Basic Flight. He wasn’t a bad
pilot; he just had no feel for flying…and, um, when it came to his final check
ride he…busted…three of the test maneuvers, and I should have flunked him, but I
didn’t. The bottom line is your…son…didn’t have the chops to fly a
Viper…and it killed him.
Adam: (following a flashback) You did it
because you were engaged.
Starbuck: (breaking down) Because I made a
mistake…because I was just…I was so in love with him…and I let that get in the
way of doing my job…and um, and he um, he just wanted it so much, and I…I didn’t
want to be the one who crushed him…
Adama: Reinstate the trainees to
flight status.
Starbuck: I will…but I just want you to understand…that
I…
Adama: Do your job.
Starbuck: Yes sir…
Adama: And
walk out of this cabin…while you still can…

Adama receives her confession with clear anger in his eyes, but pushes her forward, forcing her to reinstate the nuggets and train them for flight status, forcing her to move past her deep feelings of guilt into penance. When Starbuck is dismissed, her reaction is as that of one who has lost heaven, who has offended her father figure. It seems that she needs to forgive herself in order to move on in her life and what she does to forgive herself, what she does to move on in her life, is her job correctly—be a good teacher for the new recruits. It’s an opportunity to start new as their teacher.

During a training exercise with the nuggets, a Cylon Raider shows up and attacks Starbuck and the nuggets. She orders everyone back to Galactica, while she stays to face the entire patrol by herself. However, one of the nuggets, “Hot Dog,” stays to help her. Starbuck’s viper is damaged during the dog fight and sent hurtling towards a nearby planet out of power and out of control, along with the last surviving raider that was damaged.

Another interesting theological point during this episode happens when Roslin consults with Dr. Cottle about her cancer. He tells her that her cancer has advanced beyond surgery and suggests a traditional treatment that is similar to our chemotherapy and radiation. She asks him if he has heard of an alternative treatment. “You mean prayer?” he asks rather sarcastically. She suggests an herbal treatment. When he acquiesces, he still suggests to her as he leaves her partition that she consider prayer as part of her treatment. I find it interesting and very real that the doctor/scientist is the one who suggests a faith avenue.