Could Gaius Baltar Be . . . a Mormon?

Despite the creators of Battlestar Galactica doing their best to suggest that Gaius Baltar may be the colonial version of the son of God - especially with his turning-the-other-cheek-so-they-can-punch-that-one-too act from last Friday's episode - fans at the Battlestar Galactica Blog feel the need to point out that, although he may look like Jesus, so they say, Mr. Jesus is very far away. In fact, the religious figure he more closely resembles may be a friend from the Beehive State.

Some fans - such as Major Dojo - are coming up with somewhat convincing rationales behind why Baltar has Christ-like tendencies:

Looking back however you see another very interesting parallel throughout the entire series: the constant testing of his faith in God... That would make him by some measure the Son of God, and by another measure God himself... Suppose that Baltar, a brilliant scientist, was so obsessed with his own immortality that he sought a way to clone himself. Cloning of course is "easy" - the challenge is in the transference of consciousness. But this is exactly what Baltar discovered how to do, and what ultimately was the genesis of a new breed of cylons. In this way, Baltar became the Cylon's Creator, or God.

The first cylon he developed was modeled in his own image: meant to be the vessel for his own consciousness when the time came. However, while it would hold its consciousness, it would lack the knowledge of his true identity. Why? Because Baltar had a plan. In that plan, or destiny if you will, Baltar knew he would be tested in unimaginable ways. To help him along the way he programmed into himself a guide, an angel of sorts to instill in him a faith in himself (God) and is so doing help him survive and fulfill his destiny. This theory even helps to explain how an image of Baltar, a.k.a. "Head Baltar" appears to Six.

The BSGBlog, however, aren't so convinced:

There has been a lot of uninformed commentary on the internet comparing Gaius Baltar to Jesus Christ. The people making this comparison obviously have no clue. Gaius does not represent Jesus, he represents Joseph Smith.

For those who don't know who Joseph Smith is, he's the man who gave the world Big Love, the Osmonds and much, much more by creating Mormonism. The BSGB goes on to explain why their theory makes more sense:

Jesus was the Son of God. Gaius, like Joseph Smith, is just a regular person and not divine himself. Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni on numerous occasions (or so he claimed). Gaius is visited regularly by some supernatural entity that reveals itself as a Cylon model Number Six. Or maybe Gaius is just insane, but the Number Six in Gaius' head is supposed to represent the angel Moroni who visited Joseph Smith. Just as Joseph Smith received religious instructions from Moroni, Gaius receives religious instruction from Number Six.

Joseph Smith and Gaius were both politicians. Joseph Smith was the mayor of the town of Nauvoo, and he announced his candidacy for president of the United States in 1844. Gaius Baltar ran for president of the colonies (and won too). See the similarities?

Unlike Jesus, who was convicted at a trial and sentenced to death, both Joseph Smith and Baltar managed to evade any serious jail time at their trials. Joseph Smith was killed by a mob, and not by the law. It seems to me that the writers of BSG are also setting up Gaius Baltar to be killed by a mob. Every time he's out in public, the mob wants to kill him.

Of course, the biggest similarity between the prophet Joseph Smith and Gaius Baltar is the polygamy! Joseph Smith had two dozen or more wives. Gaius has a harem of female followers. Jesus never had any wife at all.

I have to admit, I'm kind of sold, even if I'm not convinced that a lot of this may be accidental coincidences that the writers should immediately try and incorporate into their remaining episodes if possible. But never mind Smith's two dozen wives, what I really want to know is, how many of them exhibited the sado-masochistic overtones of Tory and Six from last Friday, and are there S&M tendencies in Mormonism that I previously know about?

Who Baltar might really be [Major Dojo]
Gaius is Joseph Smith, not Jesus [Battlestar Galactica Blog]

Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at graeme@io9.com.