Cylon Religion

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This article discusses the religion of the Cylons of the Re-imagined Series. In the Original Series, the Cylons there have no documented religion. For summary information on the Colonial faiths as seen in the Original Series, see Kobollian Faith.

Cylons follow a monotheistic religion, of their own devising, distinct from the polytheistic religion of their human creators (Miniseries).

Sources

Our knowledge of Cylon beliefs comes from four principle sources:

A copy of Number Six engaged in an affair with Gaius Baltar who was killed on the day of the Cylon Attack
The Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii
Two copies of Leoben Conoy, found on Ragnar Anchorage and the Gemenon Traveler
A creature appearing to Baltar as a copy of Number Six, who claims to be an "Angel of God".

Each of these should be taken with a considerable grain of salt. The first two are probably the most trustworthy. Conoy frequently mixes truth and lies, and his statements tend to be fairly ambiguous anyway. The "Angel of God" nature has not yet been clearly elucidated, and she has disclaimed direct allegiance with Cylons at least once.

Attitude toward other faiths

Cylons view the worship of multiple gods as blasphemous against their God (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I). The Cylons seem to know the scriptures of the human religion very well, but do not believe them to be literally true (Home, Part I). They acknowledge the historicity of the Lords of Kobol without accepting their divinity.

Beliefs

It seems that they worship a supernatural being beyond creation, something that wishes for all to believe in it and love it, human and Cylon alike. The Cylon religion includes concepts of "sin". For example, Number Six warned Baltar that suicide was a mortal sin when he jokingly suggested killing himself ("Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down"), and the tortured Number Six copy named Gina did not kill herself to escape horrific torture because she believed that suicide is a sin ("Resurrection Ship, Part II").

The Cylons maintain that one of God's Commandments is to procreate ("be fruitful"), but the humanoid Cylons are incapable of procreating with each other. The Cylons apparently strictly define "procreation" as biological reproduction, and not creation of copies of existing Cylon models using asexual, industrial or laboratory techniques. As a result, the Cylons began attempts to create a Cylon-Human Hybrid (deemed more feasible than their previous attempts at procreation amongst their own kind). To this end they developed the Farms on the occupied Twelve Colonies to create a hybrid, but these attempts ended in failure.

The first successful Cylon-Human Hybrid, Hera, the daughter of the Caprica copy of Sharon Vallerii and Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon, is literally considered to be a "miracle from God" by the Cylons ("Final Cut").

View of humanity

The Cylons believe that a singular God created mankind. Mankind is a flawed creation. Sinned. Has essentially thrown away the gift of the soul and of God's love. God then had man create the Cylons as a more perfect entity. And now the Cylons are supposed to take the place of the flawed humans in the cosmos and essentially are the next generation.

The Cylons also see themselves as mankind's children and that children can't become really, truly adults until their parents are dead. And so the Cylons had to kill their parents in order to evolve and mature. This is their philosophical world view. (Torn Podcast, Act 2)

Analysis

In examination of the Cylon's religion and religious beliefs, some of their beliefs are similar to those of the Abrahamic religions like Judaism and Christianity in which they believe in a singular deity, reject the worship of multiple deities, and seeing suicide as a mortal sin.

The concept that the religious beliefs of the Cylons are similar to the real-life Abrahamic religions of planet Earth in the re-imagined series of Battlestar Galactica is a plot twist which executive producer Ron Moore developed and has said he thought it was an intriguing switch: normally, the "Good Guys" on a show are monotheists, and the "Bad Guys" are polytheistic pagans. However, in the Re-Imagined Series of Battlestar Galactica, the "good" humans follow a polytheistic religion that worships the Greek Gods, while the "bad" Cylons worship a monotheistic God, similar to real-life Abrahamic religions.

Sayings and Prayers

Leoben Conoy: (at a dinner table with Kara Thrace) "Heavenly father, we thank you for the bounty of this table…" (Occupation)
Sharon Agathon: "When God's anger awakens, even the mighty shall fall…" (Torn)
A group of sickened Cylons performing the Prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing: "Heavenly father [. . .] grant us the strength...the wisdom [. . .] and above all...a measure of acceptance..." (A Measure of Salvation)