Supergirl discovers she has a religious following (Picture: The CW)

For a show that so obviously loves to throw serious shade on the current state of the world, Supergirl pulled together an incredibly moving take on religion this week – and it moved me in a way I did not see coming.

In episode four of the new series, entitled The Faithful, the superhero (played by Melissa Benoist) discovers she has a religious following, and all is not well within this new group.

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The group she stumbles across is comprised of people she has saved.

They revere her as a God and follow her religious teachings from Krypton.


But to be part of this group, they were putting themselves in danger, just to be saved – and they were also looking for new recruits.



The leader of this group had become so blinded by his faith that even when the ‘God’ he worships stands in front of him and tells him he’s wrong and he needs to stop, he doesn’t hear it. He sees an opportunity to ‘save’, and to do what is ‘right’.

The exploration into these religious extremists was a fascinating one. And perhaps surprisingly, they were not filled with hate. If anything, they were filled with an abundance of love and joy – but it was joy that had become twisted into something dark.

(Picture: The CW)

This theme could not be more relevant to the world today, where horrific acts are being committed by extremists, who take on none of the onus themselves, and instead defer it to a ‘higher power’ they follow blindly.

We hear it so much in the news: people excusing hideous acts because they believe it’s what their God would want. They murder, cause pain or destruction – and religion gets the blame.

And this doesn’t just apply to religious extremists who commit terrorist acts in the name of their God.

Just this week, Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler attempted to justify allegations against Roy Moore (Moore allegedly initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old when he was in his 30s) by citing Joseph and Mary.

He said: ‘Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.’

It would have been very easy for Supergirl to just focus on the negative connotations surrounding religion (which were so deftly explored in The Faithful).

However, the show went one better and chose to end with the positive, something which I found incredibly moving and personal because my religion has never been a source of division or hatred for me.

(Picture: The CW)

At the end of the episode, Supergirl acknowledges that she didn’t even realise how much she missed her religious practices from her time on Krypton until she heard the words spoken aloud.

We then see her on her knees praying alongside the holographic rendering of her mother. She speaks the words herself and hears her mother say them and a sort of calm seems to pass over her.

And my mind went to the times I have sat and prayed with my own mother, how it has brought us even closer and how it has brought us comfort in times of pain. Personally, my faith has brought me a sense of community and of shared history, a sense of calm and belonging.



Like Supergirl, I hadn’t realised just how much I missed seeing positive takes on religion in films and TV because I have become so very used to hearing the negative.

So yes, Supergirl is comic books, aliens and superheroes, but this week, it was also incredibly human. And we absolutely need to see more of this positive side to religion.

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