Out of the frying pan, into the fire (SG-1)
Regular Xander's report on the latest episode of SG-1, "Babylon." Military Xander and Magic Box Anya watched with him this week.
R Xander: Well, it was kind of predictable and boring again unless you like shirtless men--
MB Anya: It was the best episode yet.
R Xander: --or you like Jaffa culture.
Military Xander: It was pretty interesting. And you're not lying about the shirtless men. Mitchell, um...
MB Anya: How about that Jaffa in the Army basement hospital thingy place? He had even prettier boobs than Cordy.
Willow: Xander, can't you at least get her to call them 'pectoral muscles'?
Giles: Yes yes, well, this is all... appalling, and I'd like to hear more about Jaffa culture later, but let's get to the point. Was there mention of this, ah, 'Origin' religion?
R Xander: That's what I was trying to say if my pervy girlfriend would shut up--
MB Anya: You're just sulking because Vala isn't on anymore.
R Xander: (ignoring her) --that the Priors have been wiping out more planets of people who refuse to worship the Ori. But these super-secret special Jaffa on this one planet, they escaped the Goa'uld and they've been isolated for hundreds of years worshipping, get this, the Ancients.
Giles: Are these Goa'uld important?
R Xander: Uh... I guess you just need to know they made slaves out of the Jaffa and forced everybody to worship them as gods.
Oz: And they held power by...
R Xander: Being mean bastards.
Giles: Power.
R Xander: Yeah, basically. Stolen technology, lies. Nothing supernatural about them. So anyway, these special Jaffa rejected the Goa'uld as false gods and decided the Ancients were the real deal. But after all this time their leader, the one Mitchell met, starts getting antsy because they pray to the Ancients but the Ancients never reveal themselves. And of course then a Prior shows up in the flesh, does all his hocus pocus with the healing and the crops, and the Jaffa leader really likes all this. He knows the Ori aren't Ancients, but they're *right there*. And they're powerful. They're some kind of god.
Oz: But not the right kind of god.
R Xander: Right, that's what Mitchell said. He said they're not worthy because of how they *use* their power, force people to worship them by doing bad stuff. He says people shouldn't suffer for their faith.
Giles: So this fellow defines "god" as one who has a certain amount of a certain kind of power, but believes that only benevolent gods should be worshipped.
Oz: Or at least that malevolent ones shouldn't be.
R Xander: Mitchell wanted those guys to go back to worshipping the Ancients even though the Ancients don't talk back.
Giles: Things unseen. Fascinating. These Jaffa fellows reject one god as a mortal trickster, embrace another on faith, only to abandon that one for a god who is less distant but more cruel.
R Xander: Yup.
Oz: The religion vacuum. It gets filled one way or another.
Willow: But some people don't believe in any gods, right?
Giles: Individuals, yes. But I believe Oz is right: whole societies, cultures with a habit of religion, I doubt they can survive without worshipping *something*, even if it's not a god per se.
Willow: And something you can see is better than something you can't see, even if it's a mean something?
Giles: Well, I suppose that's the question. Xander, you mentioned that your "Stargate" program said something about faith?
R Xander: Oh, right. Yup. Mitchell went on about it to the Jaffa leader guy. He said Earth people never needed proof of their gods' existence in order to believe in them.
Giles: Ah.
AF Willow, AF Cordelia, and the Anyas have had a tough couple of weeks, what with their research assignments covering the internet, non-sci fi television, and radio. Willow is worried about all the action figures in New Orleans who may be covered with toxic muck. She's convinced (rightly so, though I didn't say it) that nobody's going to take care of the stranded action figures, and she wanted to start doing science experiments with polluted water to see how it reacts with plastic and paint, but Giles and Military Xander stepped in. It was a little tense for awhile, though.
R Xander: Well, it was kind of predictable and boring again unless you like shirtless men--
MB Anya: It was the best episode yet.
R Xander: --or you like Jaffa culture.
Military Xander: It was pretty interesting. And you're not lying about the shirtless men. Mitchell, um...
MB Anya: How about that Jaffa in the Army basement hospital thingy place? He had even prettier boobs than Cordy.
Willow: Xander, can't you at least get her to call them 'pectoral muscles'?
Giles: Yes yes, well, this is all... appalling, and I'd like to hear more about Jaffa culture later, but let's get to the point. Was there mention of this, ah, 'Origin' religion?
R Xander: That's what I was trying to say if my pervy girlfriend would shut up--
MB Anya: You're just sulking because Vala isn't on anymore.
R Xander: (ignoring her) --that the Priors have been wiping out more planets of people who refuse to worship the Ori. But these super-secret special Jaffa on this one planet, they escaped the Goa'uld and they've been isolated for hundreds of years worshipping, get this, the Ancients.
Giles: Are these Goa'uld important?
R Xander: Uh... I guess you just need to know they made slaves out of the Jaffa and forced everybody to worship them as gods.
Oz: And they held power by...
R Xander: Being mean bastards.
Giles: Power.
R Xander: Yeah, basically. Stolen technology, lies. Nothing supernatural about them. So anyway, these special Jaffa rejected the Goa'uld as false gods and decided the Ancients were the real deal. But after all this time their leader, the one Mitchell met, starts getting antsy because they pray to the Ancients but the Ancients never reveal themselves. And of course then a Prior shows up in the flesh, does all his hocus pocus with the healing and the crops, and the Jaffa leader really likes all this. He knows the Ori aren't Ancients, but they're *right there*. And they're powerful. They're some kind of god.
Oz: But not the right kind of god.
R Xander: Right, that's what Mitchell said. He said they're not worthy because of how they *use* their power, force people to worship them by doing bad stuff. He says people shouldn't suffer for their faith.
Giles: So this fellow defines "god" as one who has a certain amount of a certain kind of power, but believes that only benevolent gods should be worshipped.
Oz: Or at least that malevolent ones shouldn't be.
R Xander: Mitchell wanted those guys to go back to worshipping the Ancients even though the Ancients don't talk back.
Giles: Things unseen. Fascinating. These Jaffa fellows reject one god as a mortal trickster, embrace another on faith, only to abandon that one for a god who is less distant but more cruel.
R Xander: Yup.
Oz: The religion vacuum. It gets filled one way or another.
Willow: But some people don't believe in any gods, right?
Giles: Individuals, yes. But I believe Oz is right: whole societies, cultures with a habit of religion, I doubt they can survive without worshipping *something*, even if it's not a god per se.
Willow: And something you can see is better than something you can't see, even if it's a mean something?
Giles: Well, I suppose that's the question. Xander, you mentioned that your "Stargate" program said something about faith?
R Xander: Oh, right. Yup. Mitchell went on about it to the Jaffa leader guy. He said Earth people never needed proof of their gods' existence in order to believe in them.
Giles: Ah.
AF Willow, AF Cordelia, and the Anyas have had a tough couple of weeks, what with their research assignments covering the internet, non-sci fi television, and radio. Willow is worried about all the action figures in New Orleans who may be covered with toxic muck. She's convinced (rightly so, though I didn't say it) that nobody's going to take care of the stranded action figures, and she wanted to start doing science experiments with polluted water to see how it reacts with plastic and paint, but Giles and Military Xander stepped in. It was a little tense for awhile, though.