Glen Larson, the creator and producer of the original series, is a devout Mormon and many of the concepts in both the old and newer series are grounded in Mormon theology. This FAQ points out 7 parallels, many from the original series. The last page of this article on Salon is much more interesting. Look for the sub-title, “What’s this all this confusing religious stuff?” I’m not sure the part of the article I quoted below is firmly grounded in Mormon doctrine, but it sure is interesting:
The Cylons, unlike the humans, are monotheistic and believe in “one true God.” Humanity, in their view, has forsaken God and, thus, sinned. So God directed humanity to create the Cylons. In order to please their God, the Cylons then murdered their creators.
The next two sub-sections in the article also include astute observations. They talk about how Cylons are a young culture. They have evolved from a “unified front” into individuals with independent agendas. It connects their obsession with flesh and Earth and reproduction with the religious commandment, “be fruitful”. And here I was thinking they were written to be oversexed robots to appeal to an undersexed audience.