Science VS Religion effect: Andromeda

No, you didn't - you didn't mention it at all.


You also explicitly stated this: I would rather have bypassed many conversations. At least at the time they happened. Virtually every crew mate rubs all their personal secrets into your face at the first convenience. There's no development of them starting to trust you, to tell you more about them, their personalities, believes, whatever.

... which I feel is at least hyperbolic, if not outright wrong.  It's not like Ryder is interrogating them under threat of torture.  Whatever they share with Ryder is completely voluntary.

This human.

He, understands!

Test tube butt set.

I think this post has gone off topic. Bioware/EA gets the reputation of having hidden messages because most of their games have layered characters and settings with references to real-life and subtext. The Genophage, for example, can invoke particular reactions based on where people stand on abortion; pro-life people are more likely to oppose the Genophage while pro-choice people are more likely to support it. There's also the recurring theme of "do the ends justify the means" and two genocide dilemmas in the first game (the Thorian and the Rachni).

The objectionable parts relating to this topic are as follows;
* Apart from Suvi and a somewhat vague affirmation from Ryder if chosen, there are no religious members of the Andromeda Initiative (apart from a few Asari commandos who invoke the goddess). The angara religion plays a part, but there is no theistic element to it and it has an air of the "maybe magic, maybe mundane" trope. The conversation with Suvi after discovering the Jaardan can go either way, with Ryder stating God can still exist (someone had to make the Jaardan) or scoffing at it and talking down to Suvi for her faith. The latter option is the condescending one.
On a side note, it's interesting that the writers made Suvi a lesbian and religious even though it's well known that most, if not all, real life religions disapprove of homosexuality. While it is possible to be homosexual and religious, it is uncommon in real-life (homosexuals are a minority and religious ones are a minority in a minority), does lead to questions and is an interesting choice by the writers (I am Christian and straight myself, I do question it, but I do not oppose it).

* The writers made the kett a race of pseudo-religious and always blatantly evil aliens (it's treated the same as a religion except it lacks any God, god or higher being, any supernatural elements or any moral teachings). No one in the game has anything positive to say about the kett and there are so many Nazi parallels (psychotic leader, aggressive expansion, death camps, invasive experiments, master race obsession) it's uncharacteristically unsubtle of Bioware (it could only be more blatant if the kett had swastikas and shouted "Heil Archon!"). Later in the game we learn some of the kett oppose the Archon. This quest could have revealed more about kett culture outside of Heleus or introduced some sympathetic kett. Instead the questline ends when you make contact with the Primus, the Archon's lieutenant who has been rallying kett against him, and are given the option to make a temporary alliance with her. You never get more information about the kett as a whole, the Primus' offer is treated akin to a Deal with the Devil (that's even the name of the quest) and the conflict turns out to be a case of Evil Versus Evil.

* The kett use religious imagery, mostly from Christianity (given certain groups, especially leftists, anti-religion bias and tendency to single out Christianity, this makes me leery).  The Archon has a crest that grows above his head into a circle that looks similar to the popular image of a halo, but he is a very blatant villain, even compared to other kett.  Then the higher-ranking kett wear clothes with collars that evoke the image of a halo shining with light in their shape.   

* Three of the kett of them are named using titles from real life religions; Christianity and Gnosticism. Archon comes Gnosticism, while Cardinal and Primus come from Christianity (the former being a clerical rank in Catholicism and Primus is one of the titles of the head of the Scottish Episcopal Church). Using real-life clerical titles for a fictional race of always evil aliens is very on-the-nose (while Archons in Gnosticism are considered antagonistic, Cardinal and Primus are not) and makes me leery of the intentions of the writers who came up with that and those who approved it; imagine the reaction from fans and the media if the characters were called "Rabbi" instead of "Cardinal", or "Sheikh" instead of Primus.
trivial side note; Cardinals in Christianity are exclusively men, while the kett "Cardinal" is female (or as close as kett get to female)

The above points at best are a product of poorly thought out unsubtle writing, at worst some among the game devs trying to sneak in an agenda, such as an anti-religion message.  Even if the topic of God, faith and religion (along the debunked issue of whether religion is opposed to science and vica versa; the answer is no, look up Gregor Mendel for an example) is handled more respectfully in other games, Bioware and EA have gone through several employees and teams throughout the development of their franchises (and the tumultuous absorption of Bioware into EA, which is another issue) so it's possible some writers (new or old) with certain agendas slipped in and inserted those into the franchise (if any of the game devs behind the above points read this post, please explain yourselves).

and isn't that awkward? Maybe? It was horribly executed on this aspect. I wouldn't doubt that the crunched development played into the pace. 

Some fields of science are indeed incompatible with scripted religion. Such as the creator god, poofing everything into existence.

I don't see how a video game is making a statement here. It just offers you the freedom to believe or disbelieve. Any clear cut statement swinging in one direction or the other would mean losing audience, since religious people as well as areligious ones are playing these games. Other companies are avoiding this topic like the plague. Bioware at least offers you the chance to be what you are in your player character.

I for one wouldn't want to play a religious person, and I think, ultimately, this is what it boils down to. Offering the freedom of choice.

Just have to point out... a creator god could have "poofed" creation into existence with the big bang. But then, the deeper we get into wuantumn theory, the more science and faith begin to coexist wuite happily.

Hey well at least it follows in Osiri I mean Jesus' footsteps, being the original necro. 

I'm antagonistic enough to call him Joshy.

Which might have been his nickname in today. Yeshua - Joshua - Josh - Joshypoo.

Who is this Jesus?

/locked

The God of Suvi. Sell it enough and it will become an influential cult in America.

I'm not sure what that has to do with either of our points.

My only point is that one can have spiritual beliefs, practices, etc. - including a belief in a creator god (as Suvi expresses) - without ascribing to any historical religion, or really anything else that anyone else might believe.