Dr. Franklin faces an ethical dilemma when the parents of a dying child refuse to let him operate for religious reasons. Their son is suffering from a chronic respiratory ailment and will die soon. It can be cured with surgery, however their religion prohibits surgery (believing that cutting into a body will release the spirit, reducing the body to something worse than death, it is something only to be done to food animals). Franklin's associate attacks their beliefs, but Franklin reprimands her, telling her that even though they both consider the beliefs to be archaic and inhumane, they have to work with the parents, not against them.

Despite his best efforts, the parents still refuse to allow the surgery. Franklin goes to Commander Jeffrey Sinclair to get him to order the surgery, but he refuses. Eventually he performs the surgery against orders, saving the boy's life. Unfortunately the parents now consider the son to be a soulless demon and at first abandon him. They eventually return for him saying that they have brought his "travel robe" and are going to take him home. After they leave Franklin looks up the species in the medical database and realizes that the boy was wearing a robe used in sacrifices. He runs to the family's quarters, but it is too late. The parents have already killed the boy.

“

Sinclair: Who asked you to play God?

Stephen Franklin: Every damn patient who comes through that door, that's who. People come to doctors because they want us to be gods.

”

A minor subplot is going on in the meantime - Susan Ivanova, becoming restless, gets Sinclair to allow her to lead a squadron of fighters into Raider territory in order to rescue a stranded transport ship, the Asimov. She eventually ends up going against orders and following an enemy scout. This results in her discovering a fleet of Raiders waiting in ambush. They stop the ambush, thus saving the families aboard the transport.

The overall message of the episode is that sometimes doing the morally right thing instead of the legally right accomplishes nothing (the boy would have died regardless of whether or not Franklin performed the surgery — two choices leading to the same result is the definition of the philosophical dilemma, although the results shall be known in advance), and sometimes it makes a huge difference (the Asimov would have been destroyed if Ivanova had followed orders precisely).

[edit] Arc significance

Introduces Dr. Franklin's agnosticism, as well as a window into Sinclair's spirituality.
Furthermore, the episode shows that while Franklin has respect for other people's beliefs and will defend them, he puts saving lives above all else. On the other hand, Sinclair is willing to allow other people to follow their beliefs even if it means allowing the boy to die.
Several time allusions are make to Franklin's predecessor, Dr. Benjamin Kyle, who (on Sinclair's orders) disobeyed the wishes of the Vorlon government and operated on Ambassador Kosh during the pilot movie The Gathering.

[edit] Production details

[edit] Issues

"Believers" was one of a very few Star Trek-style "issue" episodes which dealt with currently relevant political issues, in this case the classic struggle between religion and science, and the right of parents to make decisions for their children. However, unlike Star Trek, which often had very clear moral lessons, this episode was written to be more ambiguous and present the questions, rather than the answers. Though many viewers might instantly take one side or another based on their personal feelings, the episode itself doesn't treat anyone as being 100% right or wrong. The writer's intent was to present both sides equally and allow the viewer to decide for themselves.

One obvious connection is with the religious rejection of certain types of medical treatment often ascribed to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Strict followers will not permit certain kinds of medical procedures, especially those that require whole blood transfusion and organ transplants. Christian Science is another religious group that generally uses prayer in lieu of medical treatment. Although neither of these groups would intentionally kill or harm their children, both groups have been the center of several controversies in the United States over issues similar to the one portrayed in this episode.