There are two concepts that seem related, but are not, that people struggle with. FAITH and Religion.
Ironically, the gist of SG-1 for 8 years had been the concept of what Teal'c refers to as "False Gods - Dead False Gods". The Goa'Uld had built themselves an idyllic infrastructure based on slavery and a false religion. Many episodes explored characters who had Faith - they find out that Faith itself is what's important, not really what god or religion it is being directed at.
Daniel and Vala stumble upon a whole galaxy of conservatives, who believe faith is not enough, but that the whole galaxy, universe even, ought to believe exactly what they believe. This sounds like my years growing up in the Catholic Church, where dissension was not allowed and I was required to believe bible passages as fact, even when proved scientifically impossible. In which case, science itself is Daemonized as being "evil"- Simply because it proves that particular verses cannot be taken at face value. But I have found that there is always room for both Faith and Science. Being a long time fan of science fiction and of science in general, "I want to believe" that Stargates can be made, along with Warp Drives and Transporters. And I would have no trouble using those devices while having Faith. But some hard-liners would deny me that - If they had the power to prevent it.
The frightening thing is that our new bad guys "The Ori" can enforce their conservatism with god-like powers. Think of what would happen if Tele-Evangelists were given this power, imagine it. The Ori punish everyone who does not follow a rigid creed.
Having Faith is one thing, rigidly adhering to a religion's creed is another, especially when it requires that you convert everyone you know and meet. True Faith does not require anything but the Faith itself, there are no additional tasks that need to be done. But a Religion is nothing but a set of beliefs you have to strictly adhere to, and anyone who does not agree with you is going to hell. But real Faith has shown that there is room for other belief-sets. And all that is required with Faith is that you have it. Ironically, most religions have passages that negate the need for works, yet those are ignored by most religions' followers.
This is what makes The Ori the most Frightening of all of SG-1's foes: Because they are given the power to kill everyone who does not agree with their rulebook. And the extent of that power is vast. Do we really need a religion like that? I don't.
SG-1 fearlessly explored militant religions in seasons 9 and 10 and I salute the courage it took to do those stories. But what I enjoyed most was that they never seemed to be able to beat a subject to death, the previous bad guys could always show up with a few more new twists.
Ironically, the gist of SG-1 for 8 years had been the concept of what Teal'c refers to as "False Gods - Dead False Gods". The Goa'Uld had built themselves an idyllic infrastructure based on slavery and a false religion. Many episodes explored characters who had Faith - they find out that Faith itself is what's important, not really what god or religion it is being directed at.
Daniel and Vala stumble upon a whole galaxy of conservatives, who believe faith is not enough, but that the whole galaxy, universe even, ought to believe exactly what they believe. This sounds like my years growing up in the Catholic Church, where dissension was not allowed and I was required to believe bible passages as fact, even when proved scientifically impossible. In which case, science itself is Daemonized as being "evil"- Simply because it proves that particular verses cannot be taken at face value. But I have found that there is always room for both Faith and Science. Being a long time fan of science fiction and of science in general, "I want to believe" that Stargates can be made, along with Warp Drives and Transporters. And I would have no trouble using those devices while having Faith. But some hard-liners would deny me that - If they had the power to prevent it.
The frightening thing is that our new bad guys "The Ori" can enforce their conservatism with god-like powers. Think of what would happen if Tele-Evangelists were given this power, imagine it. The Ori punish everyone who does not follow a rigid creed.
Having Faith is one thing, rigidly adhering to a religion's creed is another, especially when it requires that you convert everyone you know and meet. True Faith does not require anything but the Faith itself, there are no additional tasks that need to be done. But a Religion is nothing but a set of beliefs you have to strictly adhere to, and anyone who does not agree with you is going to hell. But real Faith has shown that there is room for other belief-sets. And all that is required with Faith is that you have it. Ironically, most religions have passages that negate the need for works, yet those are ignored by most religions' followers.
This is what makes The Ori the most Frightening of all of SG-1's foes: Because they are given the power to kill everyone who does not agree with their rulebook. And the extent of that power is vast. Do we really need a religion like that? I don't.
SG-1 fearlessly explored militant religions in seasons 9 and 10 and I salute the courage it took to do those stories. But what I enjoyed most was that they never seemed to be able to beat a subject to death, the previous bad guys could always show up with a few more new twists.