I'm also intrigued to learn more about the social divisions and institutions of the colonies, as well as their religious ideas, though I fear I'll be disappointed.  I also have mixed feelings about leaning just how the cylons developed intelligence and independence, and went to war against their creators.  I sadly expect some cross between Terminator 3 and Animatrix, but I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Since you're interested in how religous ideas play into the mix, tell me, are you as annoyed as I am at how the writers started out hinting about an interesting cylon monotheistic theology, but then did absolutely nothing to fill in what kind of belief system it was a part of, what sacred texts they might have, or what institutions they've developed around it?  It seems to me they just left it annoyingly hanging there because they loved the irony of having a genocide committed in the name of a loving god, but didn't want to do much else with it ...or is that just me?  Maybe the prequel will do something interesting here ...or not.

Apollo

Interesting point about contrasting the zealotry of the cylons to their apparent indifference  to spiritual discipline.

We do have some pretty strong reasons to be sure that being a cylon is more than just having a belief system.  For one thing, it's still not clear to me that they have a coherent belief system.  Beyond that, though, there are physiological differences between the humans and the humanoid skin jobs.  Laura Rosliin was cured of breast cancer because of the super-human properties of cylon blood.  Gaius' cylon detection test did work, sort of.  They seem to have greater physical strength and endurance.  And of course they resurrect.  But who knows, maybe there's another explanation for these differences.  I'm open.

 Interesting idea too about Saul Tigh being parallel with the Apostle Paul.  I guess I'd thought of him as parallel with Saul the first king of Israel:  the tall guy in the Book of Samuel who was a brilliant military commander, but ultimately incompetent as a leader because of his mood swings & erratic behavior.  That's also Saul Tigh in a nutshell, as we've come to know him.  If the character is inspired by King Saul, then we might expect some parallel with that Witch of Endor story (which could easily fit with the context; there are plenty of oracles among the humans, and bizarre pronouncements of oracles from those cylon hybrids).  But maybe there's some sort of Road to Damascus experience in store for him, instead.  Fun stuff.  We'll see what happens.

Apollo

Interesting.  I didn't remember that detail from the original series.  If there's a parallel with Paul of Tarsus, boy, there are any number of things you could point to as his "thorn in the flesh" aren't there!  Still, the coupling of his military brilliance and his moodiness & leadership ineptitude do run a close parallel with King Saul in the Book of Samuel.  He's a little on the tall side, too.  I just must have blinked during the scene when he threw a spear at a younger guy playing a lyre.  Well, no reason the writers couldn't draw from both characters.  Do we anticipate some sort of Damascus Road bright light & mysterious voice thing with him, then?  If so, to whom would he defect afterward, as Paul defected to the Christians?  Would he discover his true "inner cylon"?  Then again, the writers are ultimately doing their own thing with this series; they don't need to push any parallels further than they want.

At first when I heard of the sequel, I was not as excited, but listening to your views especially the religious belief of the colonies, and I would like to learn more about it.  Everyone is comparing Christianity, but going back to the beginning of BSG when the found the key on Cobol, the Twelve were names of Greek gods.  Did anyone else notice this. 

It's sounding more and more interesting. If they have the same writers, and stay faithful to the story-telling methods they're using with BSG, I'll be a devoted watcher. I'd love to delve more into the politics, mythos, and mindset of the BSG universe. Having watched the original program (yes, I AM that old :P ) I have to say that I much prefer this one. That one was okay for it's time, but really, the only word I can think of to describe it now was "hokey". It was kind of network TVs answer to Star Wars and while it had some high points, it had some pretty low points too. (Boxey and the Daggit - saccharin cuteness - need I say more?) Of course, for closet sci-fi nerds like myself (I hadn't come out of the closet yet, because I was a GIRL and I LIKED SCI-FI, a thing unheard of), it was a lifeline in a pretty dark and empty sea.

Ah well, forgive me for waxing poetic. I'm just really pleased that I am around to watch this version, because it's the best written and most topical series on TV right now. People who don't watch it or dismiss it as "just another sci-fi" show, or dismiss it for any other reason really don't have a clue.