Faith and Science in the X-Files
Tenitia Hobson

            DISCLAIMER

            Let me just say, as a clarification to my own sanity, that I do fully realize that these are fictional characters. If you look on my CBU website, you will find that I have a page for the character of Dana Scully, and a separate page for Gillian Anderson, the actress who portrays her. Nor do I believe that little green men are scurrying around, taking people at random like rabbits in a carrot garden. I have a sense that perhaps they are out there, but in my opinion, they sure as heck are not taking people. And even if they were, it would not be the rednecks who appear in the National Enquirer every week. I am not just some disillusioned fangirl living in the twilight zone. I perhaps linger at the border from time to time, but by no means am I a permanent resident. With that said, I shall continue.

            "First and foremost, what I wanted to do was scare people's pants off." --Chris Carter, creator of the X-Files

            Scare people's pants off. The X-Files has done far more than that. During it's eight season run on the Fox network, the show has gained critical as well as public acclaim, a feature film, countless awards, and even more countless websites (three of which are mine), and launched the careers of two actors to wondrous heights.
            The X-Files, created by Chris Carter, is currently running in its eighth and possibly last season on the FOX network; it began as a small cult TV show, and rose to become a mainstream hit. The show chronicles the work of FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder who investigate the X-Files, which are cases involving bizarre or unexplainable events. The show has won several awards during its run, from the Environmental Media Awards to the prestigious Primetime Emmy awards. The Emmys are an honor, which although deserving of, virtually no science fiction show ever obtains.
            Science and faith are not only in a constant, but also evolving interaction throughout the show. To analyze this interaction, I have used the four ways in which religion and science can interact as defined by John Haught.

Conflict- the conviction that science and religion are fundamentally irreconcilable.
Contrast- the claim that there can be no genuine conflict since religion and science are both responding to radically different questions.
Contact- an approach that looks for dialogue, interaction, and possible "cosonace" between science and religion, and especially for ways in which science shapes religious and theological understanding.
Confirmation- a somewhat quieter, but extremely important perspective that highlights the ways in which at a very deep level religion supports and nourishes the entire scientific enterprise

(Haught 9)

            Over eight seasons, the relationship between faith and science has gone from one of pure conflict, to one of contrast, to one of contact, to finally one of confirmation. You can watch an episode from season one and then watch one from season four and clearly see the difference. The combination of science and faith can be seen in nearly every episode, whether it is in conflicting, contrasting, contacting, or confirming stances.
            Chris Carter himself has stated that both faith and science heavily influence the X-Files, and that both can be seen throughout the show. "Actually, the truth is, more often than not, the ideas which become X-Files are rooted in hard science, and even when they are not, they're built on a foundation of scientific convention" (Simon 12), and, 'To me, the idea of faith is really the backbone of the entire series- faith in your own beliefs, ideas about the truth, and so it has religious overtones always' (Lowry 139). The X-Files has covered a wide range of topics in both the fields of faith and science. Scientific topics range from general medicine, genetics, cryology, and entomology, to cosmology and physics. Faith topics have varied from Catholicism and Judaism to Wicca and Voodoo. The X-Files is certainly a jack-of-all-trades among shows. I have picked out four episodes over the seasons to analyze this ongoing evolution between science and faith, one for each of the four stances.
            Interaction between the worlds of science and faith in the X-Files can best be seen in the relationship between its two main characters, Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. The dynamic between these two is quite simple--one is a skeptic and one is a believer. Scully, a catholic and a medical doctor with a specialization in forensic pathology is our skeptic. Her world centers on the hard facts of science, tangible things that can be proven and analyzed. Mulder, with his degree in psychology, atheistic tendencies, and his penchant for profiling serial killers, is our believer. His is a world of faith, one where no proof is needed, and the most amazing things are immediately taken as truths. Being the feminist that I am, I appreciate the fact that the woman in this show is intelligent and skeptical, and not the usual gullible dame you find in primetime TV. Chris Carter did this on purpose. He says, "I wanted to flip the gender types, the stereotypes that we have. I wanted Mulder to be the believer, the intuitor, and I wanted Scully to be the skeptic. The one which is usually the traditional male role"(Pilot). Scully and Mulder are two extremes, two sides of the proverbial coin, if you will. Or at least, that is the way that it started out. Over the course of the eight seasons, both Scully and Mulder have evolved their views. Both have become more open to the validity of the other's beliefs and skepticisms. But as I have stated before, in the beginning, it was a very different story.
            Let us go all the way back to the first X-Files episode, the only X-Files episode to not be given a formal name, simply called "Pilot". In this episode we see Scully and Mulder meet for the first time when she is assigned to be his partner and assist him in his work on the X-Files. Their first assignment is in the small town of Bellefleur, Oregon. Here a small group of young locals believe that they were abducted during a high school graduation celebration. Now, a few years after the supposed abduction, the members of this group are turning up dead in the woods that surround the town. Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate the deaths and the strange circumstances surrounding them. During their first conversation, Scully and Mulder discuss the death of the latest victim, Karen Swenson, and exchange the following dialogue:

Mulder- Now when convention and science offer us no answers, might we not finally turn to the fantastic as a plausibility?
Scully- The girl obviously died of something. If it was natural causes, it's plausible that there was something missed in the postmortem. If she was murdered, It's plausible that there was a sloppy investigation. What I find fantastic is any notion that there are answers beyond the realm of science. The answers are there. You just have to know where to look.
Mulder- That's why they put the I in FBI. See you bright and early, Scully. We leave for the very plausible state of Oregon at six a.m.

(Pilot)

            The dynamic between the two of them and their differing opinions is very obvious. This is an evidently conflicting position. There is not even room for any compromising to be done here. It is very clear that Scully unwaveringly believes science can provide the answers to everything, and that Mulder unwaveringly does not. This could be compared to a religious fundamentalist's view of the world versus an atheistic scientist's view. Both would claim that their field, whether it be science or faith, is the only one that can provide the answers that are sought.
            An interesting concept that comes up in this episode it that of "missing time." Missing time is an actual phenomenon related to paranormal events. Often, people who encounter paranormal events will experience missing, stopped, or lost time. Take for example, if someone claims to have been abducted. One of the things that they may cite as "proof" is that they experienced missing time. This phenomenon comes into play as Scully and Mulder are driving past the area where the supposed abductions have occurred. Mulder looks at his watch to check the time. A few seconds later, the car goes completely dead, and stops dead in its tracks. Mulder looks at his watch again and discovers that instead of a few seconds, ten minutes have gone by. He excitedly exits the car, with Scully following him.

Mulder- Abductees. People that have made UFO sightings. They've reported unexplained time loss.
Scully- Come on!
Mulder- Gone! Just like that!
Scully- No, wait a minute. You're saying that time disappeared. Time can't just disappear; it's a universal invariant.
Mulder- Not in this zip code

(Pilot)

            Even in the presence of unexplained and confusing events, the conflicting points of view of the two agents are still obvious. This pattern continues throughout this episode and most of season one as well. During this period of time, fans would often refer to themselves as Scullyists or Mulderists, according to whether they were a skeptic or a believer. These terms slowly changed meaning as the show evolved, and now are simply used to denote which is a person's favorite character.
            The next episode I will discuss is called "Revelations". In this episode, the roles of skeptic and believer are flip-flopped when the agents investigate a case with heavy religious overtones. A fifth-grade boy from Loveland, Ohio, named Kevin Kryder is the center of this episode. Kevin exhibits signs of the stigmata, which are wounds having a likeness to those Jesus suffered during the crucifixion, on his hands. The agents are brought in to protect the boy from being the next victim in a series of religiously motivated murders. The previous victims were all false Stigmatics, among them a Pennsylvanian reverend. Mulder is immediately doubtful, citing child abuse and self-mutilation as possible explanations for Kevin's wounds, especially since "his father was institutionalized for believing that he had to protect Kevin from evil forces" (Lowry 135). Scully immediately feels drawn to Kevin and is willing to believe in him. Her feelings are only amplified when Kevin cryptically asks her, 'Are you the one that was sent to protect me?' (Lowry 136)
            While Kevin is being held in their protective custody in a local hotel, Scully notices that he not only has stigmata wounds in his palms but in his side as well. She then discusses the possibility of Kevin's condition being miraculous with Mulder, and he shoots her theory down on the spot. Scully then points out to Mulder that he has taken a very hypocritical view, considering his usual fervor for the far-fetched.

Scully- How is it that you are able to go out on a limb whenever you see a light in the sky, buy you're unwilling to accept the possibility of a miracle. Even when it's right in front of you?
Mulder- I wait for a miracle everyday, but what I have seen here has only tested my patience, not my faith.
Scully- What about what I've seen?

(Revelations)

            While Scully and Mulder are outside discussing the situation, Kevin is abducted from the hotel bathroom, the abductor escaping by bending the wrought iron bars on the window outward, and leaving the agents with no clues as to where he may have gone. While Mulder heads for the airport to try and intercept them if they attempt to leave, Scully's instincts lead her to a recycling plant in nearby Jerusalem, Ohio. Here she finds Kevin and his abductor, who dies attempting to keep the boy away from Scully. When she rescues him, Kevin embraces Scully and simply tells her, "I knew you would come" (Lowry 138). After returning Kevin to safety, Scully goes to confession for the first time in six years, and tells the priest about what has happened.

Scully- Do you believe in miracles father?
Priest- I see them everyday. The rising sun. The birth of a child.
Scully- No, I'm talking about events that defy explanation. Things that…. I believe helped me save a young boys life. But now I wonder if I saw them at all. If I did't just imagine them.
Priest- Why do you doubt yourself?
Scully- Because my partner didn't see them. He didn't believe them. And usually he….he believes without question.
Priest- Maybe they weren't meant for him to see. Maybe they were only meant for you.
Scully- Is that possible?
Priest- With the Lord, anything is possible. Perhaps you saw these things because you needed to.
Scully- To find my way back?
Priest- Sometimes we must come full circle to find the truth. Why does that surprise you?
Scully- Mostly it just makes me afraid.
Priest- Afraid?
Scully- That god is speaking, but that no one's listening.

(Revelations)

            This switch in roles indicates that both Scully and Mulder can be at the other end of their expected extreme, and perhaps this gives both of them a better understanding of their partner's point of view.
            I think that faith and science in this episode are in a contrasting position. The only evidence and reasons presented to explain Kevin's condition that are actually considered valid are religious ones. No real scientific questions are asked or pondered in this episode, nor is there an attempt to relate science to the events which occurred, beside Mulders' theories of child abuse. Perhaps this is because the main question of the episode was not how Kevin's condition came about, but why. Since this was a phenomenal, irrational event that defied the world of science, faith was the only method that was used to analyze it. This definitely puts things in a contrasting stance, with faith asking why and science trying to figure out how. Even though this is considered to be one of the most religious episodes of the X-Files ever made, I think that the general idea of faith in anything was the main point. Chris Carter expressed a similar opinion when talking about the episode. 'It dealt with faith, not religion with a capital R, or Catholicism with a capital C' (Lowry 139).
            F. Emasculata is one of the most science driven episodes that I have seen to date. There is no paranormal event or possibility to consider--just an experiment gone wrong by a pharmaceutical company. This episode deals with faith in a more abstract view than others-the faith that our government will protect us.
            F. Emasculata stands for Faciphiga emasculata, a new species of bug that was found in the rain forest. The bug was thought to be useful to the drug industry because it contained a dilating agent that could be used to help open up blood vessels in the heart. Pinck Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest producers of drugs in the nation (in the X-Files realm at least), collected this bug on one of their expeditions, with the hopes of manufacturing a drug from the dilating agent.
            Rather than having to endure years of testing from the Food and Drug Administration, which would cost a countless amount of time and money, the company decided to secretly use prisoners as guinea pigs, to test for any adverse effects. And boy, did they ever find one! The adverse side effect was that the bug was a parasitoid. "Parasitoids are very large predators that spend at least part of their lives inside their hosts, which they eventually kill by eating its innards" (Simon 66). After the bug spreads and kills most of the prison population, an infected convict escapes, which now puts the public at risk as well. Scully becomes quarantined inside the prison after it is discovered that she may have been infected, while Mulder searches for the escaped convict. Men claiming to be with Centers for Disease Control, but who actually work for Pinck Pharmaceuticals, neatly destroy all evidence of the outbreak. While Mulder is searching for the convict, he questions the character known only as Cigarette Smoking Man, who is very high on the FBI chain of command, as to why no one was informed of the severity of the situation.

Mulder- Innocent people have been infected, what you knew could have prevented that.
CSM- How? In 1988 there was an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in Sacramento, California. The truth would have caused panic. Panic would have cost lives. We controlled the disease by controlling the information.
Mulder- You can't protect the public by lying.
CSM-It's done everyday

(F. Emasculata )

            Scully soon discovers that she is not infected, but that the only person who was willing to tell the truth to the public is, and he soon dies from the bug's effects. Now the only proof they have is the convict Mulder is in pursuit of. The convict is cornered in a bus station, and "accidentally" killed while being taken into custody. With the bug contained, and all of the evidence destroyed, Scully and Mulder are left only with knowledge of the truth.

Mulder- Robert Torrence was patient zero-the first prisoner to contract the disease. Just before being admitted to the infirmary, he received a package from Pinck Pharmaceuticals. They orchestrated this entire thing to circumvent years of F.D.A. trials in order to get their drug on the market.
Scully- We can't prove a thing, Mulder. They've made sure of it

(F. Emasculata).

            They are also left with the knowledge of the fact that without evidence, no one will believe them, and I am sure that they are left with a little less faith in our government.
            One of the fundamental faiths we, especially as Americans, have is the faith that our government is doing only what is best for us, and would never lie to us. In this episode, that faith was violated as the CDC and Pinck Pharmaceuticals withheld information about the outbreak from the public and then proceeded to quietly cover up their mistake. This type of faith is a lot more common and easier to relate to, although not nearly as dramatic as, the traditional type of faith that I have discussed until now. Perhaps after being set in their roles and then reversing these roles, Scully and Mulder have now found that they can and do connect on this much simpler level. It is in this connection between Scully and Mulder that the contacting position is found. Science and faith in this episode are in contacting position, both coming to the same conclusion, but neither coming up with any proof. The faith is there, searching for contact with science to validate its point. This is yet another stage in the evolution of faith and science in the X-Files.
            The last episode that I will discuss is entitled the Erlenmeyer Flask. In this episode, Scully and Mulder investigate a tip that the government has been conducting experiments using alien DNA. The tip leads them to the research lab of a Dr. Berube, who is less than forthcoming about his experiments. The agents decide to pursue other leads and question Dr. Berube again later. When they return, they find that he has been murdered. This leaves Mulder and Scully to try and nose around to figure out what the good doctor Berube was really up to.

Scully- I'm sorry, Mulder, I'm seeing the pieces, but I'm not seeing the connection.
Mulder- Maybe that's just it. Maybe we're not seeing it because it can't be seen, not in any obvious way. What do you think this is?

(Mulder hands her an Erlenmeyer flask labeled purity control)

Scully- I don't know.
Mulder- Can you find out?
Scully- What are you going to do?
Mulder- To see what else I can find out about our Dr. Terrance Allen Berube.
Scully- Okay Mulder, but I'm warning you, if this is monkey pee, you're on your own

(The Erlenmeyer Flask).

            Here, even though we can see that Mulder and Scully still by no means agree on everything, at least the differences can now be taken as a joke. They agree to disagree because there is a strength in the disagreement that causes each of the agents to pursue the final answer, and hopefully come to the same conclusion.
            Scully takes the sample in for analysis, and the results are astonishing. They discover that Dr. Berube had been conducting experiments attempting to create a human/alien hybrid using alien DNA. Everything on this Earth is composed by four nucleotides, which code for genes in our DNA--adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. But the sample from Dr. Berube's lab had six. Since the substance had two extra nucleotides, by definition it cannot be of this Earth, and therefore must be extraterrestrial in origin. Even Scully tells Mulder, "Bacteria like this may have existed, but not for millions of years. Not since before our ancestors crawled out of the sea" (The Erlenmeyer Flask). In my opinion, this episode exhibits a conformational attitude. Although there is some heavy science involved, you must first ask yourself to believe, at least to a point, in aliens. Otherwise how would you get alien DNA? Of course, they could have concluded that these fifth and sixth base pairs were just two that they missed and go gallivanting around the world looking for them, but that would have violated the most fundamental principles of the world as we know it. In order to figure out what is going on, the two fields of science and faith must merge, with one filling in the gaps where the other fails. We have the faith that aliens do exist, and now we have the science to validate this faith as well.
            And here we have come full circle. They began in complete opposition, and have now meshed to a unique harmony. From conflict to contrast to contact to confirmation, faith and science have fully evolved within the show.
            "I want to believe." A poster bearing this message graces the wall of Mulder's office, signifying the willingness to have faith in what you see. "The truth is out there." This tagline appears at the end of the show's opening credits, signifying that the answers we seek are there, but only need to be uncovered. Both of these are underlying principles in the X-Files. What if we combine them? How about "I want to believe the truth is out there," meaning we want to have the faith that we can find proof to support and validate our own beliefs. It is my belief that this statement is true of everyone. All that is left is for each of us to decide exactly what the "truths" we want to believe in are, whether they lie in faith, science, or a blend of both.

Works Cited

"The Erlenmeyer Flask." The X-Files. Dir. R.W. Goodwin. Fox. 13 May 1993.

"F. Emasculata." The X-Files. Dir. Rob Bowman. Fox. 28 April 1995.

Haught, John F. Science and Religion- From Conflict to Conversation. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1995.

Lowry, Brian. Trust No One: The Official Third Season Guide to the X-Files. New York: Harper, 1996

"Pilot." The X-Files. Dir. Robert Mandel. Fox. 10 September 1993.

"Revelations." The X-Files. Dir. David Nutter. Fox. 15 December 1995.

Simon, PH.D., Anne. The Real Science Behind the X-Files. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999.