Many of my friends watch Dr. Who and are self-proclaimed 'Whovians', the name given to devoted followers of the show (I am certainly not at this level, but maybe in the future...?). Before beginning the series for myself I had high expectations because of the descriptions my friends and others that I know gave me, and additionally I quite enjoy publications regarding the worlds of fantasy and sci-fi, so suffice it to say that I expected to at least appreciate Dr. Who. Though the first series (they aren't called seasons, thanks to BBC) is clearly lower quality than any of the following, I immensely enjoyed what I saw. As I continued watching, my enjoyment of the show only increased with each episode, and by the time I reached David Tennant (most viewers' favorite Doctor), I think it would be safe to say that the show had not only reached my expectations but exceeded them. I'm going to attempt to complete a large portion of the show throughout Christmas break (attempting to complete the entire show seems a bit ambitious), so each evening I am watching at least one episode. Tonight, I watched episode two of series two, titled 'New Earth', and I was absolutely blown away. Besides the obvious increase in acting in quality, probably largely due to the shows growing popularity and monetary income at this point in the publication, the episode had incredibly overwhelming moral undertones, many of which can easily be correlated to those within Christianity. Now, I do not know if Dr. Who is published by Christians or if any moral lessons are intentional or not, and in fact my guess would be that they are not, but it's still intriguing to me to ponder such morals that arise, to try to 'see Jesus within Dr. Who', and as I was watching the episode tonight that is what I did, and as I related the content to my faith various questions and points came to my mind, many of which I would like to share.
To give a brief explanation for those who are not familiar with the show, simply put (incredibly watered down) Dr. Who is a sci-fi series about a time-traveling Doctor who embarks on various adventures in which he fights nefarious aliens and other strange creatures, all the while accompanied by a helpful sidekick. That being said, various elements are weird, for lack of a better word, so if that isn't your cup of tea, then try to stick with me through this post to focus on the moral undertones rather than the form in which they take.
In episode two of series two, the problem is such: the Doctor comes upon a hospital in what is called 'New Earth', and the physicians of the hospital seemingly hold the cure to every known disease in existence. Later in the show the healers are unmasked to be ironically evil, as the Doctor uncovers their villainous secret that has been the cure to their 'healings' and facade of success all along. To summarize, a point in the show comes in which multitudes of infected human beings are running rampant, and the entire hospital undergoes quarantine. As the diseased are walking around in zombie-like fashion, everyone else is running in the opposite direction from them for fear of infection. One character, Cassandra, enters into the mind of one of the diseased beings (for reasons I will not explain here). Upon exiting the body and entering her previous one, her immediate reaction is 'I went inside her head. They're so alone. They're reaching out just to hold us. All their lives, they've never been touched'. After this dramatic moment, the chaos continues as the unclean persist to run rampant and the clean merely run away from them. All hope seems lost until the Doctor, the ultimate problem-solver and critical thinker, conjures up a way to quite literally shower every cure on all of the diseased, bringing instant relief and healing to every infected person. What's more is this: when one person is healed, the anecdote transforms him or her from the inside out, so that all he or she needs to do is touch another person to pass on the healing cure for that person to be affected as well. In the end, the Doctor gives an eloquent speech about his role, his calling if you will, declaring 'I'm the Doctor and I cured them!' for it is in his very nature to bring healing, as he is indeed 'the Doctor'.
After a brief, or perhaps not so brief, explanation, a personal reflection is this: in this episode that I watched tonight, the Doctor reminded me strongly of Jesus. He came into a harsh world in which corruption was present, and perhaps lines can be drawn between the New Earth represented in the episode to the society in which Jesus lived, but that is a thought for another time. What struck me is the moral lesson associated with the diseased in the show, for they are considered unclean-untouchable, they are even called. However, the Doctor knows that the only way to give them life again is to reach out a helping hand, and so as every other person is running in the opposite direction, Dr. Who intentionally reaches out and brings healing.
This is exactly the role of Jesus in the society in which he was a member of. He was hated because He ate with tax collectors, so imagine the response of other people when they saw Him interact with lepers, touch the blind, and extend a hand to the 'untouchables'. He overstepped social barriers, broke down walls that the flesh put up, and chose not to indulge in any immediate repulsion that most people would've fallen captive to in the presence of those who were different outwardly or blatantly infected. This negative response (which is purely psychological, by the way) to that which is different, perhaps ugly, or even downright repulsive is defined by Richard Beck as the 'yuck factor', a term that he discusses in depth in his novel, Unclean. This inner emotion within a person is also termed 'disgust', and it is one that is dehumanizing, at best. It's probably worse than dehumanizing, but I'm not sure what the word would be for that. This emotion within a person is what produces bigotry. Many people use this psychological response to justify responding negatively to a person or a situation, and to quote Beck, '...disgust justifies exclusion, violence, and extermination'. To indulge in the inner emotion of disgust is to indeed induce 'the yuck factor', to allow oneself to be captive to a flesh-spurred gag reflex.
Why bring this up? Why discuss the importance of 'the yuck factor'?
Because we all fall captive to it at some point in our lives, and quite honestly I do not find this to be of Jesus.
To indulge in the inner gag reflex does not lead to love. In fact, it has only ever proven to yield way to feelings of repulsion being directed and projected upon another person/group of people. From demeaning comments being thrown toward a child on a playground to hateful mindsets toward the gay community to the genocide of World War II, all of these happenings and more are justified by believers and nonbelievers alike-by humans like you and me-based upon an inward, psychological emotion that we declare as empirical evidence. Allowing this feeling of disgust to reign over our mindsets and actions only teaches us to hate, and I'm fairly certain that Jesus calls His followers to love.
Many also use this emotion, this gag reflex, as a way to justify theology or beliefs. I'm not sure where or why this began, but this should not be the case. Basing any logical reasoning off of a feeling or a gag reflex, declaring an act, idea, or a person to be sinful, wrong, or bad is simply bad logic. It's bad theology, and it's unbiblical.
Jesus did not respond to any person or group of people upon the basis of a gag reflex, or any other emotion, and that's the fascinating beauty of it all: love is not based on a mere feeling. Love is a choice, and the life of Jesus exemplifies this perfectly in the Scriptures. He loved every single person, even the ones labeled untouchable in society.
One last comment and then this post will wrap up. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but a Jesus-revival has taken place within the Catholic Church (for once, it seems that the media has only encouraging comments to make about her), and the spotlight has fallen upon Pope Francis, who quite honestly is becoming one of my favorite people. Daily he wows the world with his actions, the latest one being that he supposedly sneaks out at night to personally feed the homeless community. The Pope has also shown to speak against idolizing money, inequality (which he argues 'spawns violence'), and economic mindsets that set out to exploit rather than serve. To top it all off, he has been shown to embrace, kiss, and pray over lepers and those that are labeled outcasts in society. In an interview, when asked to describe himself, the Pope's only words were 'I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner'.
I'm not saying that the Pope is perfect, but I indeed think we could all learn a few truths from him, the first being to take Jesus literally and seriously.
Perhaps a few questions to ask ourselves are these: who do I label as unclean? Who are the ones I view as untouchable? Why do I do this, and how can I overcome my inner response to other people that I define as not worthy of love?
Then, a reminder is this: Jesus came for the sick, and that includes me and you, for we are all sinners. We are all the unclean. The is the Gospel-this is the Good News!
I'm fairly certain that the producers of Dr. Who did not intend for such meaningful morals to be extracted from their show, but then again perhaps they indeed did. Regardless, I might as well find the truth while it is there to discover. Perhaps I have over-analyzed it, but I find aspects of Dr. Who incredibly paralleling to the Gospel.
On another note, you really should give the show a try if you haven't yet. It's quite good.
