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CULTURE

A Dr Who guide to tolerance

TONY WATKINS on the new Time Lord’s Christian virtues

At last, the familiar blue box has rematerialised on our screens on Saturday evenings. After an absence of 16 years (apart from a one-off reappearance in 1996), the Doctor is back making a new generation of children cower behind the sofa.

There are an amazing number of Doctor Who fans around – middle-aged people who remember William Hartnell’s first appearance in 1963, through to teenagers who have only ever seen it on video. They have been pleading with the BBC for years to bring him back. Now the BBC has not only agreed but invested heavily in the series which will run to mid-June. The team involved have succeeded brilliantly in updating the programme while staying true to the original vision.

One of the central messages of Doctor Who has always been tolerance. The Doctor (played for this series by Christopher Eccleston) doesn’t want to fight; he wants peaceful co-existence between alien species. He wants to celebrate difference. He does confess to a particular fondness for humans and has rescued them from disaster many times, but he is just as quick to help others – like the terrifying ghostly Gelth (episode three of the new series).

It would be easy to dismiss this as simply jumping on one of the great bandwagons of our society, but tolerance has characterised the Doctor since the beginning (despite his impatient grumpiness in some incarnations). The great thing about the Doctor is that he’s sharp enough to understand what tolerance really means – in contrast to our culture which seems to have forgotten, despite being preoccupied with it.

For most people, tolerance means accepting every idea and lifestyle around. Think what you like, do what you like – we’ll all go along with it. Christians are frequently condemned for being intolerant because we don’t go along with it – we believe in the uniqueness of Christ and in moral standards.

But this isn’t intolerance. To say that we firmly believe certain things are true and right does not mean that we don’t value and respect people with whom we disagree. True tolerance is not about accepting beliefs, values and behaviours, but about accepting people despite what they say and do.

It means valuing people despite profoundly disagreeing with them. The Doctor understands this – instead of destroying aliens, he would much rather befriend them. What he doesn’t realise is what a Christian virtue this is.

Tony Watkins is project director for The Damaris Trust

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		CULTURE A Dr Who guide to tolerance TONY WATKINS on the new Time Lord’s Christian virtues At last, the familiar blue box has rematerialised on our screens on Saturday evenings. After an absence of 16 years (apart from a one-off reappearance in 1996), the Doctor is back making a new generation of children cower behind the sofa. There are an amazing number of Doctor Who fans around – middle-aged people who remember William Hartnell’s first appearance in 1963, through to teenagers who have only ever seen it on video. They have been pleading with the BBC for years to bring him back. Now the BBC has not only agreed but invested heavily in the series which will run to mid-June. The team involved have succeeded brilliantly in updating the programme while staying true to the original vision. One of the central messages of Doctor Who has always been tolerance. The Doctor (played for this series by Christopher Eccleston) doesn’t want to fight; he wants peaceful co-existence between alien species. He wants to celebrate difference. He does confess to a particular fondness for humans and has rescued them from disaster many times, but he is just as quick to help others – like the terrifying ghostly Gelth (episode three of the new series). It would be easy to dismiss this as simply jumping on one of the great bandwagons of our society, but tolerance has characterised the Doctor since the beginning (despite his impatient grumpiness in some incarnations). The great thing about the Doctor is that he’s sharp enough to understand what tolerance really means – in contrast to our culture which seems to have forgotten, despite being preoccupied with it. For most people, tolerance means accepting every idea and lifestyle around. Think what you like, do what you like – we’ll all go along with it. Christians are frequently condemned for being intolerant because we don’t go along with it – we believe in the uniqueness of Christ and in moral standards. But this isn’t intolerance. To say that we firmly believe certain things are true and right does not mean that we don’t value and respect people with whom we disagree. True tolerance is not about accepting beliefs, values and behaviours, but about accepting people despite what they say and do. It means valuing people despite profoundly disagreeing with them. The Doctor understands this – instead of destroying aliens, he would much rather befriend them. What he doesn’t realise is what a Christian virtue this is. Tony Watkins is project director for The Damaris Trust © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.