Dexter vs a Religious Killer July 22, 2011

Dexter vs a Religious Killer

By Hemant Mehta
July 22, 2011

I don’t watch Dexter, but reader Derek points me to the Showtime trailer for Season 6, in which Dexter encounters a man who killed his own wife.

The man has a Jesus tattoo on his chest.

How does he reconcile the tattoo with his crime?

“God forgives us… You cannot kill me, because God is a mighty fortress! I’ve been washed in the blood of the lamb and He Will Protect Me!”

Trailer is possibly NSFW:

Derek adds:

Dexter is an atheist on the show and his distaste of religion has been expressed several times throughout the series. This season looks to pair him up strictly against the uglier side of religion.


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  • You don’t watch Dexter? Shame on you, it’s a terrific show.

  • Tortuga Skeptic

    Hell Yes!

  • Tortuga Skeptic

    Hell Yes!

  • Probably won’t be the first to point this out, but that man did not kill Dexter’s wife. Although the man who did was also very Christian.

  • Probably won’t be the first to point this out, but that man did not kill Dexter’s wife. Although the man who did was also very Christian.

  • Judging by the look of that hammer later in the trailer, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that god didn’t do much protecting.

  • Judging by the look of that hammer later in the trailer, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that god didn’t do much protecting.

  • I’ve followed this show from the start and this trailer has me champing at the bit for the new season more than I can recall previously.  

  • Jccarter25

    That looks excellent. I still need to watch season 5 though!

  • Jccarter25

    That looks excellent. I still need to watch season 5 though!

  • Jccarter25

    Yep. That was “Trinity!!!” lol.

  • Dexter is an atheist show.

    wait wut?
    No it’s not… as a very avid viewer (I’ve watched the entire series 3 times over) I’m pretty confident in saying Dexter is agnostic and doesn’t mind religion at all. He finds it confusing at most but is very accepting of it. He even gave into his babysitter’s insistence on putting a St. Bridge statue over the baby’s crib and praying.

  • Crap. It’s not? Then who’s that guy?

  • Tim

    Yes, perhaps the blog post should have said “encounters a man who killed his wife”.

  • Heidi

    Um… gross.

  • I think Hemant was confused, or just didn’t write it out correctly. That man killed his own wife, not Dexter’s. Dick Solomon killed Dexter’s wife 😛

  • oh, what a difference a definite/indefinite article and some pronoun confusion will make. “A man who killed his own wife” makes it right. But it does sound like something Trinity would have said.

  • Fixed!  Thanks 🙂

  • Also it’s worth pointing out that this season specifically has Dexter bring faith into his child’s life. Dexter has no moral compass so he’s going to use religion as his kids… We’ll see how this all turns out, but it can easily fail in my eyes.

  • Jen

    I thought Dexter only gave into the St Brigit statue so he could blend in better – because being so adamantly against religion was seen as suspicious by the nanny, and he can’t have anyone suspicious about him for anything.

  • True, he always tries to be as accommodating as possible.
    But calling him (or the show) atheist is quite a stretch. He’s never denounced religion. As I said, he finds it confusing at most. Him and the show in general take a pretty neutral stance on religion. Which is why I’d be very surprised if the next season actually has any kind of anti-religion tone.

  • True, he always tries to be as accommodating as possible.
    But calling him (or the show) atheist is quite a stretch. He’s never denounced religion. As I said, he finds it confusing at most. Him and the show in general take a pretty neutral stance on religion. Which is why I’d be very surprised if the next season actually has any kind of anti-religion tone.

  • Derek

    Dexter stated upon walking into a church during season 3, “If I believed in God, if I believed in sin, this is the place where I’d be sucked straight to Hell. If I believed in Hell.” That’s just one of the many irreligious quotes from Dexter. 

    Hemant, you should definitely commit some time to watching Dexter. It’s truly a great show.  

  • You don’t have to denounce religion to be an atheist. It’s enough to not believe in it.

  • Richard

    Spoiler!!!!!! I’ve only seen the first three series so far.

  • Hypatia’s Daughter

    How does he reconcile being a Bible believing xtian with having a tattoo (and, to make it even worse, a tattoo of Jesus!)?
    Leviticus 19:28  “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.”

    And why does he think being forgiven by god is a free pass from the justice of man? Though that seems to be a common belief.  It is the very basis of the RCC abuse scandal and other crimes committed by religious leaders. If god and his earthly representatives (i.e. the church) forgive you,  you are not required to answer to secular law.

  • Anonymous

    Funny – just finished reading about the Norway bombing suspect. Apparently had ‘Christian Fundamentalist tendencies’ and listed his favorite TV show as Dexter. Guess he missed this episode.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for this!  I love Dexter so hard!
    We just started watching last year, and junked out to the entire series in about a month which is an awesome way to watch it.  Not sure if I’m going to be able to stand watching an episode a week.  I might just have to wait until I can watch straight through…but I’m getting so impatient!

  • abefroeman

    http://youtu.be/FcQT5kEb2ws

    That promo makes it seem like he’s developing a God Complex, thinking he himself is doing “God’s work” by ridding the word of criminals.

    Hm…

  • agnostics don’t have belief in a god. Buddhists don’t either. You could call them atheist too if you’re not interested in context.

  • Yes, I’ve heard the book series that Dexter is based on has some supernatural beliefs in it revolving around Dexter’s “Dark Passenger”

  • Anonymous

    Michael C. Hall says that the season will focus on Dexter’s desire to find faith, but more importantly to find some sort of spiritual grounding for his son, which he worries may also have violent tendencies. So, the atheist versus fundamentalist criminals is just wishful thinking at the moment, but it could happen.

  • Grady

    The facebook page of the Norway Killer indicates Dexter was one of his favorite shows.

    His only twitter quote was from John S Miller, an atheist.

    He says you don’t have to believe in Jesus.

    P Z Myers quotes a lot he wrote about atheism…in a 1500 page screed…such as saying he is not religious but might pray in a crunch.

    WTF? 

    This guy talked about everything in a contradictory fashion, and the screed contains a lot more about atheism.

    I am worried that we are being set up and this guy will turn on to not be a Fundamentalist at all but some kind of Nihilist.

  • Filippo Salustri

    Dexter is one of the best shows out there!  Imagine, a good show that the network beancounters haven’t cancelled yet.  You *need* to watch it.

  • AxelQ

    Some buddhists believe in gods, and those agnostics would be agnostic atheists. You can be an agnostic theist too, it’s just not as common. So Dexter is an atheist, possibly an agnostic one and possibly gnostic.

  • Jesuschrist

    Dude, everybody is shitting on your comments, and you said you watched the entire series 3 times

  • Woodechoon2000

    Dexter isn’t a atheist? At best he’s agnostic. As for hating religion he put his son in a catholic school so he could have. The whole point is that Dexter due to his anti social disorder cannot understand religion.

  • Agnostics believe in a higher power, and a creator. Athiests are the ones that have no belief in a “creator”. Don’t spout off “facts” unless you’re absolutely sure you know what you’re talking about. This is not written in anger, it’s constructive criticism. That is all.

  •  clearly you’re the one that doesn’t know what an agnostic is. Someone who believe in a higher power and a creator is a theist.

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