Editing Babylon 5 (section)

== Themes ==
Throughout its run, ''Babylon 5'' found ways to portray [[theme (literature)|themes]] relevant to modern and historical social issues. It marked several firsts in television science fiction, including the exploration of the political and social landscapes of the first human colonies, their interactions with Earth, and the underlying tensions.<ref name="mars"/> ''Babylon 5'' was also one of the first television science fiction shows to [[wikt:denotative|denotatively]] refer to a [[same-sex relationship]].<ref name="dyke1">{{cite web<!-- The article date was taken from the Internet Archive copy "Page info." The author was taken from the IA copy "Page source." -->|url=http://www.dykesvision.com/en/interviews/lesbian-babylon5.html|title=First Lesbians in Space|date=January 19, 2004|work=DykesVision|location=Germany|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011155941/http://dykesvision.com/en/interviews/lesbian-babylon5.html|archive-date=October 11, 2004|access-date=October 18, 2009|quote=I think I...loved Talia.}}<!-- Original web cite {{cite web |url=http://www.dykesvision.com/en/interviews/lesbian-babylon5.html |title=First Lesbians in Space |publisher=dykesvision.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011000000/http://www.dykesvision.com/en/interviews/lesbian-babylon5.html |archive-date=October 11, 2004}} --></ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.webpan.com/dsinclair/tng.html |title=Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Star Trek |website=Webpan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020614005253/http://www.webpan.com/dsinclair/tng.html|archive-date=June 14, 2002|url-status=dead|access-date=February 24, 2019 |quote=When Babylon 5 revealed two of its lead characters to be bisexual or lesbian in its second season, and established that gay marriage is legally recognized, and generally accepted, on Earth in the 23rd century, there was no uproar, no drop in ratings, and no boycotts.}}</ref> In the show, [[sexual orientation]] is as much of an issue as "being left-handed or right-handed".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=19037 |title=Re: BABYLON 5 To Include Gay/B |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 23, 1994 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028173732/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=19037 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Unrequited love]] is explored as a source of pain for the characters, though not all the relationships end unhappily.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/soap_opera_babylon_000317.html |title=Soap Opera 'Babylon' - B5 and the Soaps |last=Parks |first=Jo-Ann |date=March 17, 2000 |website=SPACE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001216112200/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/soap_opera_babylon_000317.html|archive-date=December 16, 2000|url-status=dead|access-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref>

=== Order vs. chaos; authoritarianism vs. free will ===
{{Quote box |quote=Neither the Vorlons nor the Shadows saw themselves as conquerors or adversaries. Both believed they were doing what was right for us. And like any possessive parent, they'll keep on believing that until the kid is strong enough to stand up and say, 'No, this is what '''''I''''' want.' |source=—[[J. Michael Straczynski]], 1997<ref name="js"/> |align=right |width=40% |salign=right}}

The clash between order and chaos, and the people caught in between, plays an important role in ''Babylon 5''. The conflict between two unimaginably powerful older races, the [[Vorlon]]s and the [[Shadow (Babylon 5)|Shadows]], is represented as a battle between competing ideologies, each seeking to turn the humans and the other younger races to their beliefs. The Vorlons represent an [[authoritarian]] philosophy of unquestioning obedience. Vorlon characters frequently ask, "who are you?" focusing on identity as a catalyst for shaping personal goals;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/Messages/Thread?threadid=_%3E%3EZHD%20-%20Thoughts%3C%3C&messageid=10775 |title=ZHD – Thoughts |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=May 11, 1996 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028162744/http://jmsnews.com/Messages/Thread?threadid=_%3E%3EZHD%20-%20Thoughts%3C%3C&messageid=10775 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="signs"/> the intention is not to solicit a correct answer, but to "tear down the artifices we construct around ourselves until we're left facing ourselves, not our roles."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fsl.cs.sunysb.edu/pipermail/b5jms/1995-October/000003.html |title=JMS on Compuserve: October 1, 1995 |author=((B5JMS Poster))|date=October 9, 1995 |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=June 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620052209/http://www.fsl.cs.sunysb.edu/pipermail/b5jms/1995-October/000003.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Shadows represent another [[authoritarian]] philosophy cloaked in a disguise of evolution through fire, of fomenting conflict in order to promote evolutionary progress.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=7430 |title=Re: Attn JMS: Shadows and Hegel? |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=April 28, 1998 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028173441/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=7430 |url-status=live }}</ref> Characters affiliated with the Shadows repeatedly ask, "what do you want?" emphasising personal desire and ambition, using it to shape identity,<ref name="signs"/> encouraging conflict between groups who choose to serve their own glory or profit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=10546 |title=Questioning... |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=November 23, 1996 |website=JMSNews |access-date=September 2, 2006 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026125135/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=10546 |url-status=live }}</ref> The representation of order and chaos was informed by the [[Babylonian mythology|Babylonian myth]] that the universe was born in the conflict between both. The climax of this conflict comes with the younger races' exposing of the Vorlons' and the Shadows' "true faces"<ref name="js">{{cite web |title=JMS Speaks |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |author-link=J. Michael Straczynski |url=http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/072.html#JS |publisher=Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 |access-date=November 7, 2007 |quote=The notion of the Vorlons and Shadows representing Order and Chaos goes back to the Babylonian creation myths, that the universe was born in the conflict between order and chaos, hence part of the reason I decided to name this show after Babylon. That's called *research*. It informs the show, but it is not the show. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013085744/http://midwinter.com/lurk/guide/072.html |archive-date=October 13, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> and the rejection of both philosophies,<ref name="signs">{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/babylon_5_signs_portents_001013.html |title=A B5 Milestone Remembered |last=O'Callaghan |first=Scott |date=October 13, 2000 |work=Space.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001027204131/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/babylon_5_signs_portents_001013.html|archive-date=October 27, 2000|url-status=dead |access-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref> heralding the dawn of a new age without their interference.

The notion that the war was about "killing your parents"<ref name="js"/> is echoed in the portrayal of the civil war between the human colonies and Earth. Deliberately dealing in historical and political metaphor, with particular emphasis upon [[McCarthyism]] and the [[House Un-American Activities Committee|HUAC]],<ref name="commie">{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14128 |title=Re:nightwatch |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 28, 1996 |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026125718/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14128 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Earth Alliance (Babylon 5)|Earth Alliance]] becomes increasingly authoritarian, eventually sliding into a dictatorship. The show examines the impositions on [[civil liberties]] under the pretext of greater defense against outside threats which aid its rise, and the self-delusion of a populace which believes its moral superiority will never allow a dictatorship to come to power, until it is too late.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/Messages/Message?id=13917 |title=Point of No Return |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=March 7, 1996 |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026132937/http://www.jmsnews.com/Messages/Message?id=13917 |url-status=live }}</ref> The successful rebellion led by the Babylon 5 station results in the restoration of a democratic government and true autonomy for Mars and the colonies.<ref>Episode 4x21, "[[Rising Star (Babylon 5)|Rising Star]]"</ref>

=== War and peace ===
{{Quote box |quote=What interests me, what I wanted to do with making this show, was in large measure to examine the issues and emotions and events that precede a war, precipitate a war, the effects of the war itself, the end of the war and the aftermath of the war. The war is hardware; the people are at the center of the story. |width=40% |source=—J. Michael Straczynski, 1997<ref name="jswar">{{cite web |title=Great Job (as usual) |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 2, 1997 |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=9894 |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026123532/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=9894 |url-status=live }}</ref> |align=right |salign=right}}The ''Babylon 5'' universe portrays numerous armed conflicts on an interstellar scale, including the [[Deathwalker|Dilgar war]], [[Narn]]-[[Centauri (Babylon 5)|Centauri]] conflict, [[Rumors, Bargains and Lies|Minbari civil war]], [[Drakh#Centauri|Drakh War]], [[And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder|Interstellar Alliance-Centauri war]], and [[The Deconstruction of Falling Stars|the Great Burn.]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Straczynski |first1=J. Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TvW4b6ckVcC&q=war&pg=PA118 |title=Role Playing Game |last2=Sprange |first2=Matthew |date=2006 |publisher=Mongoose Publishing |isbn=978-1-905471-20-1 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818015355/https://books.google.com/books?id=6TvW4b6ckVcC&q=war&pg=PA118 |url-status=live }}</ref> The story begins in the aftermath of a war which brought the human race to the brink of extinction, caused by a misunderstanding during a [[first contact (science fiction)|first contact]] with the Minbari.<ref name="january">{{cite web |title=Since it is now January 1st, time... |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |author-link=J. Michael Straczynski |date=December 31, 1991 |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-7707 |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=November 5, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010152146/http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-7707 |archive-date=October 10, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> Babylon 5 is built to foster peace through diplomacy, described as the "last, best hope for peace" in the opening credits monologue during its first three seasons. Wars between separate alien civilizations are featured. The conflict between the [[Narn]] and the [[Centauri (Babylon 5)|Centauri]] is followed from its beginnings as a minor territorial dispute amplified by historical animosity, through to its end, in which [[weapons of mass destruction]] are employed to subjugate and enslave a planet. The war is an attempt to portray a more sobering kind of conflict than usually seen on science fiction television. Informed by the events of the first [[Gulf War]], the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Prague Spring#Invasion|invasion of Prague]], the intent was to recreate these moments when "the world held its breath" and the emotional core of the conflict was the disbelief that the situation could have occurred at all, and the desperation to find a way to bring it to an end.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=16470 |title=Coming of Shadows *SPOILERS* |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 6, 1995 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028170549/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=16470 |url-status=live }}</ref> By the start of the third season, the opening monolog had changed to say that the hope for peace had "failed" and the Babylon 5 station had become the "last, best hope for victory", indicating that while peace is ostensibly a laudable goal, it can also mean a capitulation to an enemy intent on committing horrendous acts and that "peace is a byproduct of victory against those who do not want peace."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=7354 |title=Season 3 voiceover |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=May 17, 1998 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026134029/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=7354 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Shadow War also features prominently in the show, wherein the Shadows work to instigate conflict between other races to promote technological and cultural advancement, opposed by the Vorlons who are attempting to impose their own authoritarian philosophy of obedience. The gradual discovery of the scheme and the rebellion against it underpin the first three seasons,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14592 |title=<Voices> |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 4, 1996 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=November 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128053708/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14592 |url-status=live }}</ref> but also as a wider metaphor for competing forces of order and chaos. In that respect, Straczynski stated he presented Earth's descent into a dictatorship as its own "shadow war".<ref name="home">{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14458 |title=Re: Instant Gratification |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 13, 1996 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026120843/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14458 |url-status=live }}</ref> In ending the Shadow War before the conclusion of the series, the show was able to more fully explore its aftermath, and it is this "war at home" which forms the bulk of the remaining two seasons. The struggle for independence between [[Mars]] and Earth culminates with a civil war between the human colonies (led by the Babylon 5 station) and the home planet. Choosing Mars as both the spark for the civil war, and the staging ground for its dramatic conclusion, enabled the viewer to understand the conflict more fully than had it involved an anonymous colony orbiting a distant star.<ref name="mars">{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/mars_babylon5_991203.html |title=Babylon 5 and the Red Planet |last=Aylott |first=Chris |date=December 3, 1999 |website=SPACE |publisher=Space.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010211102406/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/mars_babylon5_991203.html|archive-date=February 11, 2001|url-status=dead |access-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref> The conflict, and the reasons behind it, were informed by [[Nazism]], McCarthyism and the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]],<ref name="commie"/> and the destruction of the state also served as partial inspiration for the Minbari civil war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=13899 |title=The Future of B5 |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=March 9, 1996 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026124632/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=13899 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-6010 |title=Richard Hatch |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=August 24, 1996 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183039/http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-6010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The post-war landscape has its roots in the [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]]. The attempt to resolve the [[issues of the American Civil War]] after the conflict had ended, and this struggle for survival in a changed world was also informed by works such as ''[[Alas, Babylon]]'', a novel dealing with the after-effects of a [[nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] on a small American town.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=9783 |title=Re: ATTN JMS: Comparison to "Lucifer's Hammer" |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=February 14, 1997 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028175309/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=9783 |url-status=live }}</ref> The show expresses that the end of these wars is not an end to war itself. Events shown hundreds of years into the show's future tell of wars which will once again bring the human race to the edge of annihilation, demonstrating that humanity will not change, and the best that can be hoped for after it falls is that it climbs a little higher each time, until it can one day "take [its] place among the stars, teaching those who follow."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=8433 |title=Re: to JMS: deconstruction |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=October 30, 1997 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028173753/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=8433 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Religion ===
{{Quote box
| quote = If you look at the long history of human society, religion – whether you describe that as organized, disorganized, or the various degrees of accepted superstition – has always been present. And it will be present 200 years from now... To totally ignore that part of the human equation would be as false and wrong-headed as ignoring the fact that people get mad, or passionate, or strive for better lives.
| source = —J. Michael Straczynski, 1993<ref name="religion1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=20161 |title=Religion in B5 |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=September 9, 1993 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026121418/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=20161 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| align = right
| width = 45em
| salign = right
}}
Many of Earth's contemporary religions are shown to still exist, with the main human characters often having religious convictions. Among those specifically identified are the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] branch of [[Christianity]] (including the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]]), [[Judaism]], and the fictional Foundationism (which developed after first contact with alien races).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=16598 |title=Christianity in 23rd century |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=January 23, 1995 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026133433/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=16598 |url-status=live }}</ref> Alien beliefs in the show range from the [[Centauri (Babylon 5)|Centauri]]'s [[Bacchanalia]]n-influenced religions,<ref name="religion1"/> of which there are up to seventy different denominations,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-15929 |title=Re:Franklin and Ivanova |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=December 11, 1995 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723193114/http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-15929 |url-status=live }}</ref> to the more [[pantheism|pantheistic]] as with the [[Narn]] and [[Minbari]] religions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.philjohn.com/rev_tv/pjkdt_b52.html#Myths07 |title=Myths and fiction |author=Philipp Kneis |date=April 17, 1999 |access-date=December 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217192440/http://www.philjohn.com/rev_tv/pjkdt_b52.html#Myths07 |archive-date=December 17, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> In the show's third season, a community of [[Cistercians|Cistercian monks]] takes up residence on the Babylon 5 station, in order to learn what other races call God,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14871 |title=9 Billion Names of God and Bro |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=November 22, 1995 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026123332/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=14871 |url-status=live }}</ref> and to come to a better understanding of the different religions through study at close quarters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=13986 |title=Re:Messages from Earth |last=Straczynski, J. Michael |first=J. Michael |date=March 4, 1996 |website=JMSNews |publisher=Midnight Design Productions, LLC |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026120647/http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=13986 |url-status=live }}</ref>

References to both human and alien religion is often subtle and brief, but can also form the main theme of an episode.<ref>{{cite newsgroup |title=Pilot Question? Religion? |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |author-link=J. Michael Straczynski |date=December 6, 1993 |newsgroup=rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated |url=http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-15341 |access-date=November 23, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028180104/http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-15341 |archive-date=October 28, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> The first season episode "[[The Parliament of Dreams]]" is a conventional "showcase" for religion, in which each species on the Babylon 5 station has an opportunity to demonstrate its beliefs (humanity's are presented as being numerous and varied),<ref name="religion1"/> while "[[Passing Through Gethsemane]]" focuses on a specific position of Roman Catholic beliefs,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/babylon_5_305_001208.html |title=Babylon 5 – 'Voices of Authority' |author=Tom Janulewicz |date=December 8, 2000 |work=Space.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010211100756/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/babylon_5_305_001208.html|archive-date=February 11, 2001|url-status=dead |access-date=February 23, 2019}}</ref> as well as concepts of justice, vengeance, and biblical forgiveness.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/babylon_5_304_001207.html |title=Babylon 5 – 'Passing Through Gethsemane' |last=Janulewicz |first=Tom |date=December 7, 2000 |work=Space.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010211102400/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/babylon_5_304_001207.html|archive-date=February 11, 2001|url-status=dead |access-date=February 23, 2019}}</ref> Other treatments have been more contentious, such as the [[David Gerrold]]-scripted "[[Believers (Babylon 5)|Believers]]", in which alien parents would rather see their son die than undergo a life-saving operation because their religious beliefs forbid it.<ref name="religion1"/>

When religion is an integral part of an episode, various characters express differing view points. In the episode "[[Soul Hunter (Babylon 5)|Soul Hunter]]", where the concept of an [[Soul (spirit)|immortal soul]] is touched upon, and whether after death it is destroyed, reincarnated, or simply does not exist. The character arguing the latter, [[Stephen Franklin (Babylon 5)|Doctor Stephen Franklin]], often appears in the more spiritual storylines as his scientific rationality is used to create dramatic conflict. Undercurrents of religions such as Buddhism have been viewed by some in various episode scripts,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hundredmountain.com/Pages/foundobjects_pages/sum01_babylon5.html |title=Tuning in to some Buddhist undercurrents in the alternate universe of TV's "Babylon 5" |publisher=Hundred Mountain |date=Summer 2001 |access-date=December 13, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902174919/http://www.hundredmountain.com/Pages/foundobjects_pages/sum01_babylon5.html |archive-date=September 2, 2007}}</ref> and while identifying himself as an [[atheist]],<ref name="religion1" /> Straczynski believes that passages of dialog can take on distinct meanings to viewers of differing faiths, and that the show ultimately expresses ideas which cross religious boundaries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=4492 |title=Re: Attn JMS: Southern Baptists and B5 -- Was: S2 commentary comment |last=Straczynski |first=J. Michael |date=June 21, 2003 |website=JMSNews |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028172746/http://jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=4492 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Addiction ===
Substance abuse and its impact on human personalities also features in the ''Babylon 5'' storyline. Garibaldi is a relapsing-remitting alcoholic, who practices complete [[abstinence]] throughout most of the series until the [[Phoenix Rising (Babylon 5)|middle of season five]], only recovering at the end of the season. [[Zack Allan]], his eventual replacement as chief of security, was given a second chance by Garibaldi after overcoming his own addiction to an unspecified drug. Dr. [[Stephen Franklin (Babylon 5)|Stephen Franklin]] develops an addiction to injectable [[stimulant]] drugs while trying to cope with the chronic stress and work overload in Medlab, and he takes a leave of absence from his position to recover. Executive Officer [[Susan Ivanova]] mentions that her father became an alcoholic after her mother's suicide. Captain [[Elizabeth Lochley]] tells Garibaldi that her father was an alcoholic, and that she is a recovering alcoholic herself.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}