Many thanks to Kathy M., my advisor on several levels, for this chapter.

0pening dialogue transcribed directly from the GI episode

VOODOO SOMETHING TO ME

Mary Ann: "How many flares do we have left?"

The Professor: "About a hundred and fifty."

The Skipper: "Everybody ready? Stand by… Ready… Fire!"

The Professor: "Now let's pray somebody saw our signal…"

Two days later:

Hey, Gilligan! What's the big idea?" the Skipper asked, looking at the way Gilligan was dressed in a straw 'skirt' and no shirt.

"Maybe we should keep it this way," the first mate explained, "You seemed to like me better as a chimp!"

"Oh, Gilligan!" the other castaways cried, more or less together, and the Skipper came running toward his first mate.

"Gilligan, I want you to know that you're forgiven. Now I may spout off at you, but you're at the top of the list with me."

"Skipper… You don't know how much that means to me; coming from a man I will always look up to," Gilligan answered happily.

"You mean that, Little Buddy?" the Skipper asked, putting an arm around Gilligan's shoulders as they started toward the breakfast table, "You'll really always look up to me?"

Jonas Grumby's foot hit the trip wire of the trap Gilligan had prepared earlier, and went flying upside down into the air; caught… again!

"Way up!" the first mate went on.

-o-O-o-

It didn't take long to release the Skipper once more, and for Gilligan to retrieve his clothes from the little chimp that he had dubbed "Austin," and dress himself in his usual garb.

"Why Austin?" the Professor asked, as Gilligan fed his new friend another banana.

"He reminds me of my fifth grade Social Studies teacher… Mr. Austin."

"Good heavens," the teacher shook his head, "I hope there isn't a troop of monkeys with my name running around Cleveland!"

The group all laughed, and basked in the sunny, blue sky of the tropical morning, forgetting for a few minutes that they were still stranded on an uncharted tropical island until they heard a radio announcement that all local Hawaii based sea vessels involved in their search were being called back to shore. The search for the Captain, crew and passengers of the Minnow, was now completely abandoned. There was a sniff from Mary Ann and a slight moan from Ginger. Ignoring the two women, the Skipper switched off the radio, turned to the small cooking fire, removed a pot of coffee, and held it up.

"Any one for java?" he asked. "Speak up; this is your last chance. I used the last of the coffee supply this morning. From now on its fruit juices, coconut milk, or water, until we get off this island."

"Me!" everyone cried, and soon their coconut cups were full.

They savored the hot beverage slowly. No one said anything for a few minutes, but finally, Gilligan spoke:

"Professor?"

"Yes, Gilligan?"

"Can… I mean, may I ask you something?"

"Ask me anything you want, Gilligan. But I don't promise to answer it. Is that fair?"

"Yeah, but I hope you do." The young man stopped speaking for a moment and started to turn red, and it wasn't the tropical sun doing it, either.

"Gilligan…" the Skipper started to say, but suddenly the first mate found his voice.

"Did you mean what you said last night?"

The scientist scratched his head, puzzled, and tried to remember if he had said anything overly insulting to Gilligan after he had shot the signal gun into the hut containing their supply of flares.

"Gilligan, I am having difficulty comprehending your inquiry."

"Huh?"

"I don't understand your question. What is it you think I said?"

Gilligan bit his lip for a moment, and Mary Ann put a hand on his shoulder.

"Gilligan, nobody is going to bite you. Just ask the Professor your question."

"Professor, do you believe in God?" There… he had said it.

Now, where in the blue-eyed world is this question coming from? The scientist wondered, and decided to be candid with the young man.

"Yes, I do, Gilligan, but what makes you ask?"

"Oh… it's what you said the other night."

"Hmm?"

"You said it when we shot off the flare. You said, "Now let's pray somebody saw our signal." I just that was kind of funny…"

"Do you think praying is funny, Gilligan?" Mr. Howell cut in.

"Oh, no…" Gilligan protested, "Praying isn't funny, I just thought it was kind of weird…"

"Oh… praying is 'weird'?" the Skipper started to growl. "Gilligan…"

The first mate rolled his eyes and waved a hand in the air.

"No, no, no! You guys aren't letting me finish. I don't think praying is weird. I think praying is very not weird, in fact very important. I was doing a lot of praying while we were caught in the storm, Skipper!"

"Then why…?" the Professor began, beginning to look rather tense, but Gilligan interrupted him.

"I just thought you talking about praying was strange because you're a really scientific guy, and I always thought science guys didn't believe in God, but you said we should pray someone saw our signal, that's all."

Shaking his head, the teacher answered him kindly.

Of course I believe in God, Gilligan. Back home I am a member of the Presbyterian Church near me, and in college, I attended the Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. They both had excellent Physics departments, you see. There are times I attended the church on campus, as I didn't always have transportation to get to a Presbyterian Church."

"But, you…"

"Gilligan, science and Christianity are not opposing forces. People should understand that the Bible is not a scientific text book, and does not tell you anything about science… but on the other hand, science cannot tell you anything about God. Scientists just want to see how God does things. Curiosity is good. Besides, science proves God's existence, and it also clears up the truth about how long it took in human time to do it."

Ginger frowned. "I don't quite get it."

"Look at it this way: the creation of a planet over millions of years is the same miracle as if God did it all in six days. These two schools of thought are two different explanations of the same miracle. It is just that one thousands of years ago was explained by a man of faith, while the other was explained by a man of science. Science is not here to disprove God."

"Do you know of any other scientists that believed in God, Professor?" Mary Ann asked, "I have to admit, I was with Gilligan on this one. I didn't think scientists could believe in God either."

The Professor nodded.

"I can think of several off the top of my head: Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Isaac Newton, and Gregor Mendel."

"Heavens," Mrs. Howell, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. "I had no idea!"

They all said nothing for a few minutes, and then finally the Skipper rose to his feet.

"Everyone…" he started slowly, "This conversation we have been having this morning brings up a very interesting question: Far be it from me to start imposing any rules, past the ones we will have to have here to survive, of course, but Gilligan's question, and the Professor's answer has brought up a whole new… I am not sure how to say it… subject.

Everyone looked at their neighbor, but it was Lovey Howell who spoke first.

"Shame on me for not broaching this topic before… I said the night we all told a little about ourselves that I felt it was my duty to help keep us all civilized, and certainly God has to be a part of that." She glanced at her husband for a moment. "You will be joining me in this, Thurston." It was not a question. "Thurston is a member of the Vestry at our Episcopal church back home; the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and of course I serve on a number of committees there, myself."

"I'm Catholic," Gilligan spoke up, "I went to Mass every week back home, but I haven't been going as much since I was in the Navy, and working for the Skipper. But I still have my prayer book and my Rosary in my ditty box; I never go anywhere without them… and read the Liturgy. I just never thought about mentioning it to anyone here. I just… do it."

"I've attended the Winfield Grace Baptist Church since I was born," Mary Ann joined the conversation. "I've never gone anywhere else, and I always have my Bible with me."

"Well, I was raised in the Pentecostal Church," the Skipper said. "I haven't attended in many years though. As I grew up, and then out on my own, I realized it really wasn't where my heart was. But when I joined the US Navy, a prayer book and hymn book were standard issue, along with the Navy Manual. Now that is the order of service I follow." The others nodded and then Ginger spoke up.

"I'm Jewish," she said quietly. "My mother was Jewish and my father was Lutheran, but I consider myself Jewish." She chuckled, "The holidays around my house were interesting when my sister and I were kids… celebrating both holidays!"

"I bet!" Gilligan spoke, "That's a really interesting thing to know about you, Ginger! Do you…?"

Raising a hand, the Skipper stopped him. The question would have to be held for another time. The sun was rising higher in the incredibly blue sky, and they all still had much work to do.

"It looks like we have a wide variety of faiths here," he said, smiling. "I don't want to necessarily suggest anything as formal as insisting we have church service every Sunday, but at the same time, I think perhaps, if only to keep everything civilized as long as we are stranded here, perhaps we should all set a little time aside on Sunday, mornings…" He stopped speaking and glanced at the movie star, who nodded, "…barring emergencies, of course, for each of us to worship in our own way." He paused again, and the castaways looked at each other for a moment. "Of course, if we decide to pick a service, and come together as a group, that would be nice too."

"I think it's a fine idea!" the Professor spoke up.

"Well done, Skipper!" Mr. Howell added, and the others added their "yes" in turn.

"So I think we are finished here?" The Skipper asked, a bit uncertainly, this sort of discussion was definitely unfamiliar waters for him, after all.

"We are," the other castaways answered simultaneously.

"Then, fair seas!" the Skipper answered, and the breakfast concluded.