I'm not sure about SG-1, but I think Elizabeth kinda sums up how they viewed religion in "Tao of Rodney" when she's talking to him about finding peace with himself. She sort of implies that everyone has their own kind of religion or spirituality, which made me think 'okay--they're not addressing it, just like they're not addressing sexuality (or at least didn't until SGU.)' But there you can see that the implication is not that religion is right or wrong, but your own choice.
Religion is a very tricky subject. Supernatural just did an entire apocalypse arc based on Revelations without bringing Jesus into the mix, which seems impossible, but apparently can be done in Kripke-verse. It's general policy, I think, to avoid getting specific with religion in shows, just because it is a hot button topic. Plus, you can never get it right--everyone has different opinions.
I'm quite religious and I prefer my TV anesthetized just because no one ever seems to get it comfortably right. Plus--and here's a flip side view--many times when TV attempts to address those issues, they get it way wrong and make it sound preachy and judgmental and provide a very incorrect perception of what life is like for a devout person. As with other groups, there are some who fit the stereotype but there are some who do not. And it's very frustrating to see cookie cutter presentations looking like they speak for all and giving the wrong impression. One of the things that really gets my goat is people automatically assuming I am biased and closed-minded because I believe in God or Christ.
I think SG just avoided the subject for the same reason many shows do, to avoid the controversy. They toed the line with Ascension, but I noticed they never really got into the finer details of how that worked exactly. And most of their 'religious' icons were mythologies more than working religious models, as Kris points out.
It's interesting you bring up the TOR convo. At the time, I found it to be one of the best pieces of two-way dialogue they'd written, although as you say, it skirted around the issue of religion.
I'd never thought about it from your point of view. As in, don't do it at all because you (TPTB) will make a complete hash of it. I've always had a problem with American tv being preachy, be it religious or otherwise. And yet they have other shows (Boston Legal was good at this, even though I enjoyed it) which swing the other way. No middle ground it seems.
The close-mindedness thing is quite unfair, and it's a shame that people get portrayed that way. Religion isn't a one-size-fits-all thing, there's a wide variance of opinions and beliefs.
It's aa shame they never really delved into Ascension, as we ended up with a very limited idea of how it worked.
SG-1 had a minor reference in s1 that sticks in my mind - Senator Kinsey talked about God & Country, which O'Neill scoffed at. I was quite surprised they put that in, although it was more a jibe at the false gods, rather than ours.
Religion is a very tricky subject. Supernatural just did an entire apocalypse arc based on Revelations without bringing Jesus into the mix, which seems impossible, but apparently can be done in Kripke-verse. It's general policy, I think, to avoid getting specific with religion in shows, just because it is a hot button topic. Plus, you can never get it right--everyone has different opinions.
I'm quite religious and I prefer my TV anesthetized just because no one ever seems to get it comfortably right. Plus--and here's a flip side view--many times when TV attempts to address those issues, they get it way wrong and make it sound preachy and judgmental and provide a very incorrect perception of what life is like for a devout person. As with other groups, there are some who fit the stereotype but there are some who do not. And it's very frustrating to see cookie cutter presentations looking like they speak for all and giving the wrong impression. One of the things that really gets my goat is people automatically assuming I am biased and closed-minded because I believe in God or Christ.
I think SG just avoided the subject for the same reason many shows do, to avoid the controversy. They toed the line with Ascension, but I noticed they never really got into the finer details of how that worked exactly. And most of their 'religious' icons were mythologies more than working religious models, as Kris points out.
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I'd never thought about it from your point of view. As in, don't do it at all because you (TPTB) will make a complete hash of it. I've always had a problem with American tv being preachy, be it religious or otherwise. And yet they have other shows (Boston Legal was good at this, even though I enjoyed it) which swing the other way. No middle ground it seems.
The close-mindedness thing is quite unfair, and it's a shame that people get portrayed that way. Religion isn't a one-size-fits-all thing, there's a wide variance of opinions and beliefs.
It's aa shame they never really delved into Ascension, as we ended up with a very limited idea of how it worked.
SG-1 had a minor reference in s1 that sticks in my mind - Senator Kinsey talked about God & Country, which O'Neill scoffed at. I was quite surprised they put that in, although it was more a jibe at the false gods, rather than ours.
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