Caprica teaches kids how to skip school, universal hypocrisy, and no basement

Greetings.

Jewish date:  28 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holiday:  Friday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Save Martin Grossman - The Petition Site” and “Keep Children Safe: Train Child Care Workers - The Petition Site”.

Topic 1:  The latest episode of Caprica, “Reins of a Waterfall”.  We get scraps of religious ideas in this episode:

• A young Tauron skips school and is told to make false claim of a Tauron day of devotion to Mars to excuse his absence.  Capricans for the most part are presumed not to know enough to tell this is a lie.  (His uncle is a criminal who is trying to bring him up “right”.)
• Sister Clarice tries to get Lacy to accept her as her confessor.  (An apparent borrowing from Roman Catholicism.)
• A comic mentions “the God of the Underworld” (Hades?), who is inferred to be very unpopular.
• Zoe II, still in a Cylon body, is supposed to have some purpose on Geminon which God wants.  She elicits Lacy’s help to in an effort to get to Geminon.  Zoe II still does not let Zoe I’s parents know she is not a stupid Cylon.
• Sister Claire has secret superiors who communicate with her in a creepy electronic voice.
• There is some vague talk of service of the Lord through apotheosis(!) in accordance with a prophecy.  Zoe is supposed to be beloved of God.
• Taurons have idols of Mars and Jupiter.  They seem to prefer Mars.  Considering there are 12 Colonies and 12 Olympians, intuition suggests each Colony is associated with a different Olympian.

Also:  I have noted that among the imagery in the opening credits there is a statue of a Christian cliché of an angel (a beautiful human with wings).  I also find myself asking why Greek gods are being referenced at all; 150,000 years later and without an bridging written record, they would surely be forgotten.  Then again, the people who made this show and its predecessor made almost everything possible look like turn-of-the-millennium Earth (= Terra = Sol III, not the other Earth); the level of coincidence is so astronomical that I hope the writers devise an explanation.  (Influence of angels, perhaps?)

Topic 2:  “Going to the Pictures”:  This is an short reflection by a Christian noting that serious Christians often try to avoid sex in movies yet do not flinch at other things which are offensive, such as violence, gore, and revenge.  I get the impression that most humans, regardless of religion, are like this.  (I am most certainly self-inconsistent.)  Having high moral standards is easy.  Living up to high moral standards is an entirely different matter; since we are prone to error, it is extremely easy for any of us to be a hypocrite.  The only way out is to have low or no moral standards.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “diz howse”:


Peace and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron