Shepherd Book and his Monastery.... by ScottishBrownCoat

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Shepherd Book and his Monastery....

POSTED BY: SCOTTISHBROWNCOAT
UPDATED: Friday, May 28, 2004 07:00
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VIEWED: 857
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Friday, May 28, 2004 2:54 AM

Hello,

First of all, I never even heard of Firefly until two friends of mine let me borrow the series on DVD, my wife and I started watching it on monday Night(5-24) and couldn't stop until tuesday morning, I haven't had a great experience watching a quality show in a LOOOOOOONG time. I am now a complete fan of the Show.
With that said, onto my observation, and I apologize if someone has already brought this up.

I have seen that people have some very interesting and valid points to bring up regarding Shepherd Book and his possible connection with the alliance.
They usually cite his use of weapons and his decent treatment by the alliance as sources for this theory.
Allow me to post my own theory about Shepherd Book, and tell me what you think about it.

We know in the Firefly Universe that the Anglo and Chinese cultures have blended somewhat, we know this by the manner of language mixing and we see many things from Chinese Silk wall hangings to the use of Chopsticks on a regular basis the prevelance of Bamboo in the settlements, of course not that Chopsticks alone denote this blending, but it is just one of countless images that I saw while watching the show that showed me in the future there will be a serious blending of the cultures.

On to Shepherd Book.....
He is a Shepherd from a Monestery, but in the show we are not totally clear as to his complete religious beliefs, We know that he reads a Bible, but we don't know in that future if there is a christianity as we know it or a new religion with "Shepherds" have become prevelant.
So my theory is that if culture is blending between the east and west, it would only be logical that this would trickle down into religion as well.
Many Chinese Monasteries Teach Martial arts, and there is no reason to believe that Shepherd Book would not have learned how to Fight as well, and still be a Shepherd.
His treatment by the alliance could just be that the man was a part of the Shepherds religion.
Clergy carry a special place in the heart of the devout of any religion, this could have just been an example of that.
Unless of course Joss has said something different, but I haven't heard anything that is my theory.
There is so much to his story that time would have unfolded for us, but unfortunately that was taken away, thank God for the Movie!
Thanks for your time,
ScottishBrownCoat

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Friday, May 28, 2004 4:52 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

First & foremost ScottishBrownCoat, welcome to the board. We are always happy to have a new fan join us. Glad you & your wife enjoyed the show so much. You will soon find that these episodes are so enjoyable that you can sit through them many times and find new and interesting things to talk about.

As to Book's actual religion, there has been much discussion on the subject. The general concensus is that it appears to be some sort of blend of several religions. We also hold the belief that his knowledge of criminal practices, and his obvious ability in hand to hand combat & firearms comes from sort of military or covert ops training prior to his becoming a Shephard. There are all sorts of theories on Book and his mysterious past, ranging from bounty hunter, to Alliance operative, to former Alliance military. Whatever the truth, the Alliance certainly showed an urgency in treating him in the episode "Safe".

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Friday, May 28, 2004 5:05 AM

EST120

Quote:
His treatment by the alliance could just be that the man was a part of the Shepherds religion.
Clergy carry a special place in the heart of the devout of any religion, this could have just been an example of that.
Unless of course Joss has said something different, but I haven't heard anything that is my theory.

hi! first of all, welcome to the group!

your theory is interesting. of course, some other science fiction literature dealing with futuristic religious groups have used some sort of "warrior cleric" or "warrior priest" figures to protect the church, so i can see how that might fit in. concerning the alliance, though, i might have to disagree because book has never wated to discuss his relationship with the alliance. if his affiliation with them is so tame (ie because he is a preacher the alliance respects him), then why would he try to hide it? in "safe", mal asks him about it and book declines to elaborate.

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Friday, May 28, 2004 7:00 AM

SCOTTISHBROWNCOAT

Hello, and thanks for the great welcome.
You guys brought up Great Points!

Yeah, it is a mystery, But I must say after reading more member replies on the subject in other discussion threads, Your theories do seem more likely, It was made mention that he wasn't upfront about his past, I nearly forgot about that,so you are right I will have to watch the episodes again.

Whatever the case will be, we can be happy to know that we have a movie to look forward to, and with Joss at the helm, it will be an answer that will make us all happy, that is something I noticed about him.

Also, I think that Shepherd Book's Explaination on faith is an example of excellent writing.

Look forward to more discussion,
ScottishBrownCoat

P.S. As it turns out, when my friend lent me the DVD's to watch, he forgot to give me Disc 4, and I thought it was only a 3 disc collection, so I feel like I just won the lottery, I got a very cool evening to look forward to.
P.S.S. Any word on Firefly Conventions?

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