Life After Death?: Virtual Resurrection

Last updated on: March 30, 2010 at 12:08 pm by J. Ryan Parker

Life After Death?: Virtual Resurrection 2010-03-30T12:08:46+00:00 J. Ryan Parker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Nearly every episode of the five seasons of Battlestar Galactica offered fodder for theological, moral, or ethical discussion, while also providing an action-packed, engaging narrative. Building on the success of this series, the creators developed a prequel series, Caprica, which takes place on the titular planet and focuses on the Adama and Graystone families, both of whom suffer a devastating tragedy in the first episode.

Caprica is vastly different than its inter-stellar predecessors. Yet if viewers abandon any preconceived hopes based on Battlestar, they will be rewarded by this new series. First and foremost, Caprica establishes the monotheistic vs. polytheistic tension that was so integral to Battlestar. In the first episode, a Soldiers of the One (S.T.O., the underground monotheist group) terrorist bombing rocks Caprica as one of its members blows up a commuter train, claiming the life of Joseph Adama’s wife and daughter, Tamara, and Daniel and Amanda Graystone’s daughter Zoe, along with dozens of other citizens. Yet thanks to Graystone Industry’s virtual technology in the form of the Holoband (virtual reality glasses that allow for both game-play and social interaction), both of the girls live on through their avatars (virtual selves). Zoe, unbeknownst to her family, is a critical component to the S.T.O’s agenda given both her technical know-how and her dreams for the V-World (she hopes to extend real life through virtual life). In fact, Clarice, a religious leader in the S.T.O., views Zoe’s avatar as an extension of her soul into eternity. With the help of her friends, Zoe manages to have her avatar downloaded into one of her father’s robots, a precursor of Battlestar‘s Cylons. As the season progresses, Zoe attempts to get the robot, and her avatar, off Caprica and to Gemenon (apparently a more religiously diverse planet), which is where she and her friends were attempting to go when the train exploded (one of her colleagues was the bomber).

While there are many talking points to this series (faith, fundamentalism, grief, loss, etc.), what I find especially interesting is the relationship between the real and virtual worlds in Caprica. I find this especially interesting given our entry into Holy Week and our upcoming reflection on and celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In the virtual world of Caprica, two dead girls live on. The immediate debate, of course, is over whether or not their virtual selves are real, or as real as, their former real world selves. Frankly, this is not a debate that I necessarily want to entertain here, because, as in the series, I want to affirm the reality of their, and by extension our, virtual selves.

In Caprica, virtual Zoe Graystone and Tamara Adama have extensive effects on people and events in the real world. They both reach out to virtual and real family members and friends for help and consolation. Zoe uses both the virtual and real Lacy and Philomon (it shouldn’t take you too long to figure out the Biblical parallels to this one!) to aid her escape from Daniel’s lab and her departure to Gemanon. Tamara pleads with a virtual New Cap City participant to find her father in the real world to visit her in the virtual one and help explain what is happening to her. Again, these virtual selves have an impact on people still living in the real world, and, thankfully, Caprica shows that these effects are not all positive. In his quest to find his daughter, and his inability to fully let go of her, Joseph Adama becomes addicted to both the Holoband and the virtual “amp” drugs that heighten his performance within the V-World. In the process, he begins to neglect his son, the young William Adama, who will later become Battlestar‘s Admiral Adama, which explains the son’s disdain for his father in that series.

Lest you feel that the tension between the virtual and real worlds of Caprica is some sci-fi flight of fancy, consider the virtual worlds that you most likely daily inhabit. You probably have a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a MySpace account (that you’ve most likely abandoned), a blog, a website, a Linked-In account, a PlayStation or X-Box 360 account, a Wii Mii, and the list goes on and on. Theology and popular culture scholar Craig Detweiler writes, “Before my children reached second grade, they already had a second life and multiple projected selves” (Halos and Avatars, 2). What happens to these virtual selves when our real selves no longer exist? In talking about Caprica and this topic with my wife, she recalled a recent Facebook expeirence in which the social networking site suggested that she reconnect with a friend that she hadn’t interacted with in quite some time. The problem? That friend had been dead for almost three years. While this is not a unique experience to my wife, it does highlight the fact that her friend’s virtual self out-lived her real self. Facebook employees have even faced this tension and blogged about it, suggesting “memorialized” Facebook profiles.

We daily construct and maintain virtual selves that are just as real as our real selves (or more so than) in the eyes of countless friends and family members who we might only see once or twice a year or even less. How many Facebook or Twitter friends do you have that you haven’t even physically met yet? Needless to say, Caprica encourages us to seriously consider our virtual selves in whatever form they come and to recognize that they will exist long after we are gone. In what ways will we experience virtual resurrection and how might they be a gift to those we leave behind?

Previous Post

March 29, 2010

The Top Ten Books that Influenced Me Theologically

Next Post

March 31, 2010 Sermon from Palm Sunday

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Author Interviews Battle Over the Body and Blood of Christ Bearing Beauty Book Reviews Christian Education christian spirituallity christianity Christmas Church Church Leadership Contemplation Creation Care Death and Dying Death Penalty Disruptive Change Disruptors Series Easter Education Evolution and Faith Future of Progressive Christianity Gun Violence Health & Wellness Holy Week Interfaith Israel-Palestine Leading Differently Lent LGBTQ Living with Cancer Meditations on the Cross Mental Illness millennials Mimetic Mondays Monday Meditations Movie Reviews New Monasticism Pando Populus Parenting Patheos 10+1 Q&A Series PC(USA) Politics Pop Culture Practical Theology Series Prayer progressive christian Race Relations Reformation religion Religion and Politics Religion in America Rethink Church Social Justice Spirituality Spirituality of the Body Stump a Scholar Technology and Faith Thanksgiving Theodicy Trust Me Church Uncategorized Why I'm Still Christian Youth Ministry

Select a Month December 2025 April 2025 January 2025 September 2023 September 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 November 2021 October 2021 May 2021 February 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the book of songs and prayers in the Bible called?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Matthew Proverbs Genesis Psalms