D'Lenn's face
The command staff's uniforms.
Decompression from jumping into real space.
The wrong PPGs
The Vorlons considering executing the one who was.
It's a mirror universe.
Babylon 5
- Thread starter Kail
- Start date
D'Lenn's face
The command staff's uniforms.
Decompression from jumping into real space.
The wrong PPGs
The Vorlons considering executing the one who was.
It's a mirror universe.
The Shadows put Morden into C&C, he's there as a Honey pot to seduce Sinclair, and bring him home to meet the parents on Za'Ha'dum.
Of course, Morden really falls for Jeff, he switches sides at the last minute and goodiness prevails.
Of course, Morden really falls for Jeff, he switches sides at the last minute and goodiness prevails.
This article really captures my love for Babylon 5 in spite of its manifest deficiencies:
"Babylon 5 Is the Greatest, Most Terrible SF Series" by Jennifer Giesbrecht
"Babylon 5 Is the Greatest, Most Terrible SF Series" by Jennifer Giesbrecht
You speak truth
Nope.
Heh heh. That episode annoys the heck out of me, and it may have permanently damaged my opinion of Franklin.
He saved that kid’s life. He should’ve had Sinclair call Alien Child Protective Services to get the kid away from his nutjob parents! I’m fine if people are strongly religious but if it inflicts harm on someone than I am not fine.
Also yes, Signs and Portents is a great episode!
Also yes, Signs and Portents is a great episode!
Actually, I always liked "BELIEVERS". The dialogue at the end was ham-fisted, but I really enjoyed the episode.
When it comes to Babylon 5, "In the Beginning" is probably the best starting place for new viewers in spite of it being super-spoilery, but it and the other TV movies - including The Gathering - are hard to find.
It's also kind of a pain to watch the entire series in the most optimal order* using the DVDs because there are several deviations from how the episodes are presented.
* Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
It's also kind of a pain to watch the entire series in the most optimal order* using the DVDs because there are several deviations from how the episodes are presented.
* Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
In Sinclair's words "you better check the temperature in hell first." Franklyn was already on VERY thin ice after having performed surgery on a minor against explicit orders from his CO, without the consent of his legal guardians, or even his own informed consent. He's lucky he wasn't stripped of his medical licence, court martialed and sent home on the next transport. Indeed, had he pulled something like that with a race with actual political clout like the Narn, Centauri or heavens forbid the Minbari; that's exactly what would have happened (also, probably: gunfire.) So no way would Sinclair have reversed direction and backed Franklyn's play.
While the execution of the episode left something to be desired, the moral quandary presented is a valid one. Where does humanitarianism (a weirdly racist term in this context) end and moral imperialism begin? Who has the right to judge another species religion and culture as "wrong"? What's the point of saving a child's life if in the process, you make him a non-person in the eyes of his family any his entire species?
This is one of those situations where there's no clear answer and no right thing to do. Typically, Kosh was the only one that recognised this and tried to tell them; one way or another, the kid is already doomed.
The Children of Time, is probably one of those mistakes Lyta mentioned in Thirdspace, so Kosh was embarrassed, to be reminded of the good old days.
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It’s wrong to let anyone suffer just because their religion demands it. It’s complete negligence and even abuse. If a God values suffering and death over living and happiness then that God is not worth following. It just bothers me, especially because this type of situation is currently happening.
End of rant.
End of rant.
I'll second that. It's one of my least favorites.
What about when humans make contact with alien life and they determine that we're the nutjobs? For instance, by determining that our population growth is unsustainable, so they decide to "help" us?
By their standards, suffering would have been performing the procedure and destroying the child's soul, and they weren't interested in having their beliefs questioned...including the kid himself.
Given that Minbari also believe in souls, perhaps there's some legitimacy to their concerns about the state of one's soul.
Who would you have judge when suffering is occurring in this case?
I was thinking it's about surgical telepathic augmentation.
Yokel goes to sleep, then wakes up with a scar on the side of their skull and weird super powers.
Of course their friends and family will need to kill them.
Yokel goes to sleep, then wakes up with a scar on the side of their skull and weird super powers.
Of course their friends and family will need to kill them.
I don't disagree, but the question here is what right does an outsider have to judge and interfere? When does this stray into moral absolutism? Negligence and even abuse aren't objective concepts when applied to different species. For some species depending on their biology, evolutionary history and environmental pressures, it would be negligent NOT to eat the weaker of their progeny; it would be abusive NOT to beat and scar an adolescent until they are indifferent to pain.
Things that would be horrifying and intolerable in human society would be perfectly natural to others, and visa-versa. The Minbari for instance think humans are tempting death every time they go to sleep on a horizontal surface. The Centauri think the way we celebrate marriages and perform funerary rites are both in insanely poor taste.
There's a long history in a certain type of sci-fi (and Star Trek in particular) of humans un-ironically judging the morality of other cultures and "fixing their backward superstitions". I hope I don't need to draw a diagram to illustrate the real world allegory to this kind of high-handed, condescending behaviour. Down that road leads all kinds of horrors and abuses that history would often like us to forget about.
I'm generally fine with religion. People will generally believe what then want to believe, and to try and reason with a zealot is futile. My problem is usually when religion gets to be organised religion. Then it typically becomes metastasised, parasitic, and unworthy of respect, cultural differences or no....but that's a whole other discussion.
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