Well I think the entire concept of regretting one's own atheism is ridiculous.  I can regret my atheism as easily as I can regret my height.  I was born an atheist, and I grew to be this tall ::makes height gesture::.  Nobody converted me to a religion when I was young, and nobody stunted my growth or cut my feet off.  I had nothing to do with it.

EXACTLY! People should always realize, it is the writer who decides what happens in TV-Shows. Alternatively the Writer could have chosen for the Atheist to feel superior, because he hasn't been "tricked" by the Aliens.

Especially since he didn't see anything, why would he regret it? He doesn't know what he has missed. And seeing everyone else staring in amazement would make me rather uncomfortable, especially knowing there is actually nothing to see.

 it's like someone regretting buying an Iphone  because he can't see "the most amazing video ever" since it's on Youtube only

and by the way, i thought Babylon 5 was one of the better Sci fi Shows.

When you play around with symbolism, good and evil, and so on, you end up creating stories that end up having a message behind them.  Tolkien's background ended up having a message come through, even if the intention wasn't there.

I also find it interesting with the Matrix Trilogy the creators weren't trying to tell an allegory, just have a story, but they borrowed symbolism and so on, they end up looking like they had a message they were telling.

Where did people get the idea that Tolkien's Middle Earth isn't full of religion?

The universe is created by Eru Ilúvatar, who is equivalent to the head god (or the only one, depending on which way you view it all). Eru creates the spirits, called the Ainur, which can be equated either with minor gods or angels. Of the Ainur, there's the Valar, who basically represent elements (the king of the Valar is Manwe, who is lord of the air, and his wife is Varda, queen of the stars), and there's the Maiar, who are essentially their servants.

Morgoth, the main "bad guy" of the entire series, is the evil Vala... think Lucifer. Gandalf is actually a Maiar.

A lot of it isn't specifically revealed in the Lord of the Rings trilogy itself, but it's definitely part of the backstory.

Quite true. Plus, one can't deny that a writer's personal convictions (including religious ones) and view of life will influence his/her work.

you mean just like the people who wrote the bible? 

yay someone that knows more about LotR than was in the movies, and you saved me having to correct him. And you actually remembered all the names (or could be bothered looking them up) etc 

Depends on what is considered behind the word "inspired".  Architypes have powerful meaning in conveying messages, even if the writer may not be aware.

as a example i will use it in a sentence:

"the People who wrote the Bible were "Inspired" by the Gilgamesh Epos, and various other sources"

An accurate representation of most atheists would be some oversensitive pretentious a'hole who is always complaining about other people's beliefs, insulting people who don't agree with his views, and makes strong attempts trying to drive his views down everyone else's throat. Not exactly a character that I feel would be popular on any TV show.

While many religious people are often intellectually impaired; believing in something without actually understanding the philosophy behind it; I find that atheists very often take the cake when it comes to having a poor understanding of the subjects of philosophy revolving around human culture. Each side has severe flaws, because each has made their decision on what they feel is correct, and close themselves off to everything else; and are therefore intellectually impaired on the subject.