ATTN: JMS - Day of the Dead **Spoilers**

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: "Robert G. Barker" <wbwells at cobweb.net>
Date: 12 Mar 1998 12:17:03 -0700
Lines: 65



Space   aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh










Dear JMS,

    O.K.  I know that "Day of the Dead" was written by Neil, but I was
really struck by the different personal examinations of faith.  Lennier,
who has always seemed to be a pillar of faith, makes the comment that it
is nice to see proof of life after death.  Garibaldi has a crisis of a
different sort.  In the first season he is referred to as an Agnostic.
Later on he says that he is an Atheist.  When Dodger is about to leave,
he starts to tell her that he was raised Catholic and maybe someday they
will see each other again in heaven.  The way that Jerry Doyle played
that scene with the doubt and uncertainty really got me.  It looks like
Garibaldi has shifted back to Agnostic again.

    Faith to me has always been defined by a belief in something I
cannot prove.  It does not necessarily have to be religion.  In my life
I have seen lots of people with differing relations on faith.  Some
people walk with faith all their lives, some struggle with it every day,
some loose it to a tragic event, some get it to the same, and some never
had it and never will see faith.

    Now I know you are an atheist and I've read your reason's why so I'm
not going to rehash all of that.  My question is that as much as people
who follow a particular religion might have a crisis of faith, do
atheist ever have the same crisis where they self examine what they
believe?  Not that you would change what you would believe, but the
characters in the series constantly show the signs of self doubt.

    Finally, I want to say this before the series wraps up and you leave
the net as someday Sheridan will leave us.  I started casually watching
Babylon 5 halfway through the second season while working on my
engineering degree in college.  It was shown late at night on the
weekend at time reserved only for vampires and Charlie Sheen.  At the
time I was completely take with the propaganda that B5 was a Star Trek
rip-off.  And then came "The Long Twilight Struggle" and I was
completely floored.  I've been with you ever since.

    I watch and enjoy TV and movies and I read lots of books, but the
entire Babylon 5 series is in a special class.  It is important.  There
are movies like "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" or "Shindler's List" and
books like "East of Eden".   These are things that I will point to
person I know and say "You must see this, it is important."  "It will
teach you things about yourself."  There are not many works that can fit
that description.  Babylon 5 is one of those few.  Thank you for giving
it to us.

Warm Regards,

Bob Barker


"I tried being an atheist, there just weren't enough holidays." - Henny
Youngman

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 12 Mar 1998 17:22:15 -0700
Lines: 26

>My question is that as much as people
>who follow a particular religion might have a crisis of faith, do
>atheist ever have the same crisis where they self examine what they
>believe?  Not that you would change what you would believe, but the
>characters in the series constantly show the signs of self doubt.

I think you *have* to question what you believe (or don't believe, or believe
you believe or believe what you don't believe) on a regular basis, the way you
exercise any muscle.  If you leave it unattended, it gets flabby and soft and
intellectually lazy.  The peril of the unexamined life is one of the things
I've often railed about in one place or another...whether or not you come back
to your original position after a lengthy self-examination, the important thing
is that you *do* it from time to time, honestly and straightforwardly, because
you could change your position, or if you don't, at least you now have more
reasons and a better understanding of it, so that you can defend it and talk
about it rationally rather than get angry because you can't articulate why you
believe what you believe.

And I believe that may be one of the longest unbroken sentences I've yet
written....

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
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