religion+scifi

[jukeboxhound_backup]

Can anyone think of any movie or show that crosses religion and science fiction?  (E.g. how one issue influences the other in positive or negative ways, something like that.)  The only one I can think of is that episode of Cowboy Bebop called "Brain Scratch" that had the digitalization of 'souls.'

(There was also one movie that I believe was Dracula 3000 that had the concept of Christianity being banned in the future; one character mentioned it and all the others were like CHRISTIANITY?  WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?  Which could've been an interesting premise in itself if the movie hadn't been so crap.)

EDIT: YOU GUYS ARE SO FREAKING AWESOME I KIND OF WANT TO BEAR ALL OF YOUR BABIES.

Comments

[tricksterschild.livejournal.com]

Babylon 5 and Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. Both have different emphasis. From what I remember of Babylon 5, the first human captain was supposed to be an alien race's reborn religious icon equivalent to Jesus. Then there was the whole light side/dark side aliens and a war against the "Shadows" (aka dark side aliens). But that one I vaguely remember since I was a lot younger. Deep Space Nine was based around a space station set in front of a stable wormhole, which the Bajorans (the population living on the planet right next to the wormhole) considered the home of the "Prophets," aka their gods. Quite a few episodes deal with how the humans deal with the religious authorities of Bajor. I also remember one episode where a teacher was talking about the wormhole "aliens" and was sharply rebuked in front of the children by a visiting Priestess for doubting the sanctity of the Prophets. There was quite a fuss over what to teach the children, similar along the lines of Darwinism/Creationism of today. The story eventually unfolded that the Commander of the station was the "chosen one" of the Prophets and multiple episodes dealt with him dealing with that role. The series ended with him going and staying the wormhole to learn from the Prophets (yeah I loved that show). Hope that helped you out a little.

[jukeboxhound.livejournal.com]

I regret that I was too young to remember much of DSN (though my father was always more of a TNG fan anyway).

Thank you, I'll look into both series. <3

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

Erm. There was a new movie called Legion, but I don't know if that counts... you could try watching the trailer? >.>

The only other thing I can think of is Hellsing. O__O

[jukeboxhound.livejournal.com]

Ha, when I heard about Legion I was all OMG MICHAEL AND GABRIEL AND APOCALYPSE FFUUUUUU but then I read the synopsis and saw how much it was likely to suck. So I'll pirate it sometime instead.

Hellsing...I remember the whole Church of England hating on the Vatican and there was a Catholic priest who fought with Alucard. Hmm, I may have to rewatch it. OH NO WHAT A CHORE.

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

I sort of just want to see legion because I love Paul Bettany. >.>;

[dracontia.livejournal.com]

You know I saw Legion for just that reason? Bettany's performance was quite good. The movie however, just sucked.

A lot.

The scenes between Michael and Gabriel almost made up for all the useless dialogue. The zombie/angel apocalypse part was good, it just wasn't emphasized enough.

The movie did however leave me with a buring desire to see some Michael/Gabriel fic out there. Hell, I'd pay to read that. *grumbles*

Overall I'd say that it'd be better to see it on a small screen instead of a big one. Then you can at least bypass the really damn useless dialogue scenes.

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

*finds it online*

[dracontia.livejournal.com]

*grins*

If it's the copy I'm thinking of then whoever made it managed to cut out a good scene at the end.

Good luck though.

[jukeboxhound.livejournal.com]

...Does it have to be Legion!Michael and Gabriel, or would Christian apocryphal canon be all right? <3

(And there's an angel slash comm on LJ, btw.)

[dracontia.livejournal.com]

I'd really like it to be Legion!Michael and Gabriel but I have the feeling that it won't be happening. I just want a bit of back history, or to know what happens next. I can't say I cared about the rest of the charecters but those two were quite good.

I'll have to go look up the angel comm now, thank you for telling be of it. :D

Also, I was thinking about your request for religion/sci-fi. Would Fullmetal Alchemist count? There's a good bit of religion vs. alchemy in there after all. And the gate being all kinds of interesting from a theological perspective.

[pyrotechnik.livejournal.com]

Possibly Ghost in the Shell?

[jukeboxhound.livejournal.com]

...I admit that I'm a horrible fangirl and never saw more than an episode of this series. Do you remember any specific instances of religion vs science, or combining the two, or anything like that?

[pyrotechnik.livejournal.com]

I am also a horrible fan girl. I saw a few episodes, and I think (because it has been years since I saw it) that the whole point is that the souls or conscious minds of people were somehow put into enhanced bodies. The whole thing may have been more along the lines of "what makes a human" than anything else. I think the anime shows may have more to do with spiritualism and Eastern religion than Christianity. But I'd have to rewatch the show, and I didn't think it was that good.

[aisling-dreamer.livejournal.com]

The original movie went into it more than the series which deviated from the movie a fair bit.
It was about the soul or the 'ghost' being what made a person real when they had so many cybernetic upgrades there was very little or none of their original body left, and whether an AI could come to possess a 'ghost'.
That of course being a very simplistic summary ^_^;;, it really is a great movie.

[canopywalker.livejournal.com]

what about DUNE? I vaguely remember crazy, future-seeing nuns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28film%29

[jukeboxhound.livejournal.com]

HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT. Thank you, darling.

[canopywalker.livejournal.com]

:B

[arin-rowan.livejournal.com]

Definitely pops up in the anime Serial Experiment Lain. The concept of there being a 'God' of the Wired or internet is an arc theme, as well as worshipers to this God or even prophets.

Also, Neon Gensis Evangelion, though good luck figuring out how *any* of it relates.

Oddly enough, Dragonball touched on it in a way that most non-Japanese speakers will miss- the person who threatens the world on multiple occasions is literally called 'Evil', and to be able to defeat him, the hero has to go up to a person who's the Guardian of the Earth that has a name that literally translates as 'God' to receive training. We're not meant to see it as a blending of religion and sci-fi, I'm pretty sure, but you could make a case for it if you were really bored and had an academic paper to write.

Also, if you want it in written form, look up anything by John Varley. He writes surprisingly well-planned and thought-out sci fi short stories, several of which deal with the concept of gods and religion in a post-modern sci-fi-esque world. For example, there's the cult that has their bodies altered so they all look exactly alike - everyone calls them Barbies. Or the cult that believes it is their sacred duty to paint the rings of Jupiter red.

[aikonamika.livejournal.com]

I'll second Ghost in the Shell, but I'm going to reccomend that you check out the movie as opposed to the show. I haven't seen much of the show, but the movie comes a lot closer to the sort of theory you're talking about. It's gorgeous, and thought-provoking, and just...yum. ^_^ I think you'd like it quite a lot.

[mya-in-ab.livejournal.com]

I've got two:

1) The last few seasons of Stargate SG-1 (which weren't as awesome because OMG! No Richard Dean Anderson! FAIL!). This is mostly the "Or-I" going head-to-head bringing their creepy-scary religion that has mad effects on peoples and technology to the world. And there are stargates.

2) GHOST HUNT! The manga didn't thrill me as much as the anime did, but this was such a fun series! The first few episodes in particular hang heavier on the science but the later stuff much less so; you get characters from different walks of life- a shinto miko, a buddist monk, a catholic priest, a chinese...something, and a scientist debunking and exorcizing various creepies. And there's a high school girl who just might be developing latent psychic powers of her own...? ^_^ But a totally fun 26 or so episodes. (There's one or two in the middle that I can't watch when I'm alone though...)

[merytsetesh.livejournal.com]

The original Planet of the Apes had a science vs. Creationism element to the story. Their government said they were created by the Great Ape, not evolved from humans.

[generalpoeticus.livejournal.com]

There is a new show on Syfy every Friday that I was quite dubious about but it pretty much covers both aspects of religion, science fiction, and if you delve deeper to it there are mythology parallels too as well as pagan worship. But from what I saw the main theme of it is: Whether it's alright to play god and create life artificially, the first episode was so good it made me crave more. I believe it's called Caprica.

You really should look into that one. It's a plot bunny paradise. ^.-

[meowwl.livejournal.com]

Caprica and it's sequels, the new Battlestar Galactica series and Razor deal with religion too.

[pyrotechnik.livejournal.com]

Thought of another one. "2001: A Space Odyssey".

[(Anonymous)]

Mabye The Golden Compass?
The books weren't really scifi at all, but the movie has a kind of steampunk vibe that almost qualifies.

[amarissia.livejournal.com]

There was a TV movie I saw years and years ago called "The Lifeforce Experiment", about a doctor who was trying to capture the power of souls (from dying people, I believe) and harness it as usable energy. The details are a bit fuzzy, I'm afraid.