[B5JMS] ATTN JMS: Gideon's Morality?

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: Robert Spelman <madoc1 at my-deja.com>
Date: 15 Apr 2001 11:38:42 -0700
Lines: 21

Good morning,

I was watching the first few episodes of Crusades on SciFi this week,
and had a question about Capt. Gideon and his seemingly incongruous
behavior. In "Racing the Night", Gideon refuses to use any of the data
from the aliens that were experimenting on people they had captured over
the last 1,000 years - IMO a pointless gesture when billions of lives
are at stake and the damage already done, but that was his decision to
do so. However, in the very next episode ("The Needs of Earth") he's
talking about doing anything necessary to get information leading to the
cure, including "going rogue" and operating outside the authority given
him by Earthforce. Is Gideon's moral compass being used at magnetic
north, did I miss something, or was his change of heart discussed in a
later episode?

Thanks as always for bringing good science fiction back to US
television,

Robert Spelman
http://www.madocowain.com


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 15 Apr 2001 16:12:30 -0700
Lines: 32

> In "Racing the Night", Gideon refuses to use any of the data
>from the aliens that were experimenting on people they had captured over
>the last 1,000 years - IMO a pointless gesture when billions of lives
>are at stake and the damage already done, but that was his decision to
>do so. 

This is based on a historical reality.  There were many medical experiments
performed in the concentration camps during WW2.  Maybe there was useful data
there, maybe there wasn't...but the international concensus was that it was off
limits because of the way in which it was obtained.  So there's strong
historical precedent.

>However, in the very next episode ("The Needs of Earth") he's
>talking about doing anything necessary to get information leading to the
>cure, including "going rogue" and operating outside the authority given
>him by Earthforce. Is Gideon's moral compass being used at magnetic
>north, did I miss something

I don't see them as contradictory.  He did not in his actions murder tens of
thousands of people.  He broke some local laws, sure, but there's simply no
comparison between that and the extermination of other lives.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
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