Preacher's Daughter: Willow, Xander, and the Prayer of St. Francis

We still have to see where the trends go, but I think one of the issues in play is that just because something is not religious, it doesn't mean it has to ban religion from the conversation it wishes to hold. If you want to enter a specific idea to the dialogue, or evoke a certain emotional response, and it just so happens that the music or the theme already exists, why reinvent the wheel? With reference to the Buffyverse, Josh Whedon seems to express egalitarian values, and you can't claim to both value basic human respect while stereotyping and excluding groups from the conversation. And in his willingness to explore, he does a good job representing both the positive and negative sides of things, creating a more honest conversation.

I really don't believe the writers at Buffy intended for the scene to be read this way, although your interpretation is interesting. Universal love, compassion and self-sacrifice are not the exclusive domain of Christianity.

Also, just to clear this up, Willow was raised Jewish but became a Wiccan, was one at the time of this episode, and remained so through the end of the series.

Yeah, I found this really interesting too. I'd never read that much into this sequence but the carpenter and the jew does produce quite strong conversion imagery. I had always though of Buffy as a very secular and humanist show, but, although Joss Whedon is an atheist, he has not been afraid to use Christian imagery in his shows. Angel is built entirely on Christian concepts of redemption and sacrifice, so it seems this is just evidence of Joss showing his interest in Christian mythology and theology in Buffy as well

Does anyone know what was playing during the scene where Christina was having the abortion? I'm pretty sure I heard the word "God" said at least once in the song, but I was focused on the watching the scene play out.

I will try to only speak for myself here: I am an identified atheist who was raised non-denominational Christian in a predominantly Christian community/city/state/country. Because this religion permeated so many parts of my life and is such an integral part (in my eyes) of USian culture, I find myself, even though I'm an atheist, sometimes making implicit assumptions that other people are Christian, understand Christian cultures, and even using Christian phrases. I find it interesting because a part of my process of maturing and developing my own identity included a lot of anger and resentment toward my experience of Christianity. However, it was still so big for me that it's not like that history is gone, it's not like those words are permanently excluded from my vocabulary, or even from my subconscious (if you believe in that concept). Part of how privilege maintains itself is through invisibility. And in my experience, Christianity is a hugely privileged and dominant group in this country, and part of how that maintains itself is in this unstated, implicit reach of the religious doctrine into domains where it wouldn't logically belong (e.g. BtVS).

A common feminist criticism of BtVS was its use of Christian ideology (I mean, really, vampires couldn't touch a cross or go into a church, Angel got his "soul" back and had to repent). However, I don't think that all of that was carefully calculated or constructed. I suspect, and really, this is based on my own experience, that Christian ideals are so pervasive that it's easy to include them without really thinking, to forget that there are alternative ways to view right/wrong/good/evil.

I definitely think the parallels were intentional. I mean, you could maybe call everything coincidental if not for the song, but the song makes it clear that a choice was made to lead us to this conclusion. But, does no one think that Joss was, as Joss does, turning the theme on its head? I mean, Xander as Christ-figure? Or in linking the group's one non-supernatural character to Jesus, the humanistic message was reconfirmed by showing us that you don't need divinity or special powers to be a force of salvation... Anyhow. My tuppence. Nice essay.

Just because it's a song with Christian lyrics, doesn't mean that the message of Grave was meant to be seen as specifically Christian. Themes of love and forgiveness aren't the exclusive domain of Christianity or any religion. Sarah McLachlan's interpretation of the prayer of St. Francis was simply perfect for the episode*, both as the resolution of the conflict of season 6 (which was all about people being flawed and having to struggle with their demons and abusing each other as a result) and the introduction of season 7, where love, forgiveness and redemption were huge themes (Spike and the followup to the Buffy/Spike S6 relationship, Willow, Anya, Andrew).

It also wasn't the only time Christian imagery was used on the show - in fact, there is a much more explicit Chrisian imagery and Christian references in season 7 "Beneath You" in the church scene with Spike.

There are also Christian (Catholic) themes in "Angel", the show, including one explicit in the episode "Dear Boy" when Darla shows Angel that a cross still burns him and tells him that god still doesn't want him. But that doesn't mean that the existence of god is confirmed; there's never any mention of the Abrahamic god as someone that actually exists in the verse, Buffy in S7 says that it hasn't been confirmed if he exists or not, while there are, on the other hand, higher powers like The Powers That Be or hell-gods from another dimension like Glory, and all those are shown in less than flattering light (Glory is a villain, vain, selfish and ruthless, and the Powers That Be are mostly indifferent to humans).

*Just like another song by Sarah McLachlan was used to end season 2 finale, "Becoming II".

You know, until I read this article, I've never thought about that scene with Xander and Willow as him being a carpenter and her being Jewish. I was brought up Catholic so to me the most obvious display of Christianity was when Buffy jumped to her death to close the portal at the end of season 5 to save the world (again ;/). It was the ultimate sacrifice. Plus the imagery of her in the white shirt swan diving into it with her arms and body forming a cross was pretty powerful. Also, the way she stressed to Dawn that she, the Key, was made out of her, much like us, humans, are formed in God's image and likeness...

Very insightful article, thank you for sharing. :)

P.S. I absolutely love Sarah Mclachlan's rendition of Prayer to St. Francis. Whenever it's played in church, I always wish they'd use this instead.