{"id":1141,"date":"2018-02-27T13:34:06","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T17:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2019-03-05T12:57:24","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T16:57:24","slug":"doctor-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/02\/27\/doctor-who\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Nonviolent Lessons from Doctor Who"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Hocking of asyourpoetshavesaid.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"

Andrew Hocking<\/p><\/div>\n

Andrew Hocking writes about <\/em>spirituality in movies, TV, and books<\/em><\/a>, frequently discussing <\/em>politics <\/em><\/a>and occasionally <\/em>Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

While television, and especially science fiction, typically glamorizes violence as a solution to problems, the titular Doctor in Doctor Who<\/em> continually seeks peaceful resolutions and guides others to do the same. Viewers committed to a consistent life ethic can find inspiration in him, and everyone can learn key principles of nonviolence though his moral successes and even his failures.<\/p>\n

The Doctor, a time-traveling alien who routinely changes his physical appearance (allowing for cast changes), regrets his actions between the “Classic Who” series (which ran from 1963 to 1989) and the new series, or “Nu-Who” (resumed in 2005).<\/p>\n

\"\" During the interval, he fought in the Time War between his species, the Time Lords, and the genocidal Daleks. To save the galaxy from ongoing war, he destroyed both races, killing 2.47 billion innocent children. Since then, he helps others (including the audience) choose the nonviolent path:<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I got it wrong, I\u2019m going to make you get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

This quote appears in the series\u2019 50th Anniversary Special, in which (Spoilers<\/strong>!) we return to the Time War and the moment when the incarnation of the Doctor that fought in that war (the \u201cWar Doctor\u201d) chooses to use the weapon called the Moment to kill all Time Lords and Daleks. He finds however that the weapon itself attempts to change his mind, connecting him with two later incarnations, the Tenth and the Eleventh Doctors, and a high-ranking military official on Earth, Kate Stewart. They find Stewart faced with a similar decision: whether to set off a nuclear weapon to destroy London but save the Earth from invasion by aliens known as Zygons. Three central themes flow from this situation.<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Identify with the Other<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To foster peace, the Doctor(s) temporarily wipe Kate\u2019s memory as well as the shapeshifting Zygon impersonating her. He comments, \u201cThe key to perfect negotiation\u2026 [is] not know which side you\u2019re on.\u201d Since neither knew if they are human or Zygon, they determine fair terms.<\/p>\n

Doctor Who<\/em> frequently emphasizes the message that we must identify with others and avoid an \u201cus vs. them\u201d mindset that dehumanizes people. The episodes \u201cThe Rebel Flesh\u201d and \u201cThe Almost People\u201d involve a corporation that, to save human lives while mining for acid, created \u201cflesh\u201d that can be reconstituted as avatar doppelgangers, or \u201cgangers,\u201d for the humans to control and work through. The Doctor believes the \u201cflesh\u201d might have awareness, and a solar storm removes any doubt, making the gangers completely autonomous.<\/p>\n

\"\"As always, the Doctor exhorts everyone to work together, but they fear one another. The originals first refuse to acknowledge the personhood of the \u201cflesh,\u201d calling them monsters and mistakes that must be destroyed. While these episodes speak to peacemaking, they also reference abortion, as the originals dehumanize the gangers as only \u201cflesh,\u201d referring to individuals as \u201cit\u201d instead of \u201che\u201d or \u201cshe.\u201d Furthermore, they use a euphemism for killing, \u201cdecommission.\u201d The Doctor rejects this: after one original kills a ganger, the outraged Doctor exclaims, \u201cYou stopped his heart. He had a heart! Aorta, valves, a real human heart!\u201d Following his reasoning, the heartbeat of an unborn child is a powerful sign of life in the womb.<\/p>\n

As the episodes continue, the originals and the gangers realize they think and feel like one another. One character laments the idiocy: \u201cWe\u2019re at war with ourselves\u201d (the realization we all need.) In seeing their common interests, they seek to help one another and find a win-win solution. In the end, the original who started the conflict seeks systemic change and justice for gangers.<\/p>\n

In personal and political conflict, learn from the Doctor and seek to identify with others. Reject dehumanizing terms. How can you work towards the rights of others and yourself at the same time? Try the mental exercise of pretending your identity is wiped and you don\u2019t know which side you are on. For instance, if you did not know if you would be the mother or the child, could you support legalized abortion?<\/p>\n

2) Who do you want to be?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the 50th Anniversary Special, the Moment asks the War Doctor if he\u2019s willing to live with himself after killing two species and shows him his future regret. In this, we find a selfish but powerful reason for doing the right thing: to feel better about ourselves.<\/p>\n

The question, \u201cwho do you want to be?\u201d, however, asks more than \u201chow do you want to feel about yourself?\u201d Our choices transform us. In the episode \u201cDalek,\u201d the Ninth Doctor discovers a Dalek who survived the Time War. In a panic, he immediately attempts to torture it to death. Later, even as the Dalek turns from violence, the Doctor still seeks to kill it. His companion asks, \u201cWhat are you changing into?\u201d<\/p>\n

We must grasp the political ramifications of the question, \u201cWho do you want to be?\u201d because you are what you vote. The episode \u201cKill the Moon\u201d addresses the topic of voting on matters of life or death. The Doctor\u2019s companion learns Earth\u2019s moon is actually an egg and the creature inside it is hatching, which might lead to the death of humanity. From the moon, the companion asks the world\u2019s populace to vote\u2014by turning their lights on or off\u2014if she should kill the innocent life. While humanity unanimously votes to kill, she cannot do it herself. Our conscience appears more active in our direct actions than in our voting habits.<\/p>\n

If you looked at your political stances, what kind of person are you? Could you personally do the actions you tell the government to do on your behalf?<\/p>\n

3) Find the Nonviolent Choice<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While people typically limit their options to passive surrender and proactive fighting, the Doctor exhorts us to proactively seek peace. In the two-part \u201cZygon Invasion \/ Zygon Inversion,\u201d a splinter group of Zygons break the peace treaty signed in the 50th Anniversary Special. The Doctor gets Kate Stewart and the Zygon leader back at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

Is it naive to believe that peace is always possible? Though peacemaking is not guaranteed to succeed, neither is violence. At the negotiating table, both human and Zygon have boxes with two buttons that will either bring success to their race or destruction. They just need to press the right one. As the Doctor explains:<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThis is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought, right there in front of you. Because it\u2019s always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who\u2019s going to die! You don\u2019t know whose children are going to scream and burn\u2026 How much blood will spill before everyone does what they always were gonna have to do from the very beginning. Sit down and talk!\u201d<\/p>\n

He continues to expose the naivet\u00e9 that violence brings peace:<\/p>\n

Doctor: \u201cWhen you\u2019ve killed all the bad guys, and when it\u2019s all perfect and just and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you? The troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?<\/p>\n

Zygon: \u201cWe\u2019ll win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctor: \u201cOh, will you? Well, maybe. Maybe you will win. But nobody wins for long. The wheel just keeps turning. So, come on. Break the cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be a peacemaker in your personal and political lives. This requires hard work, determination, and creativity. Seek win-win solutions and support politicians willing to do the same. For instance, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict we need leaders who will seek a just agreement that satisfies both sides. In responding to the violence of abortion, we can find policies that both support women in crisis pregnancies and their children.<\/p>\n

Applying the Three Lessons<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Returning to the Special, the three Doctors have the choice again: do they kill all Daleks and Time Lords? The Doctor\u2019s companion, Clara, reminds him who he is, who he wants to be, and who he promised to be: a Doctor. They imagine the Time Lord children, afraid and suffering, and they choose to give those who they would kill a face. In hope, they determine to find a new path, rejecting violent or passive options. Working together, they save the Time Lords, and the aggressing Daleks destroy themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How can you apply the three lessons in this essay to your political beliefs and actions? To personal interactions with others?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s follow the Doctor\u2019s example: identify with others, be the type of person you want to be, and strive for peace. Then, let\u2019s help others do the same.<\/p>\n

==========================================================<\/p>\n

See the list of all our blog posts<\/a>, put in categories.<\/p>\n

For a short list of movies intentionally about nonviolence, see a past holiday issue <\/a>of our weekly updates, Peace & Life Connections<\/em><\/a>. Our Advisory Board member John Whitehead has written an article on movies with anti-war themes in\u00a0Peacemaking for Life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more of our blog posts commenting on dramas, see:<\/span><\/p>\n

Mothers and Daughters<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Hollywood Movie Insights<\/a> (The Giver<\/em>, The Whistleblower<\/em>, and The Ides of March<\/em>)<\/p>\n

The Darkest Hour<\/em>: “Glorifying” War?<\/a><\/p>\n

Movies with Racism Themes: Gosnell<\/em> and The Hate U Give<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

How Black Panther<\/em> Promotes a Consistent Life Ethic<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyone who wants to offer a movie or book review from a consistent-life viewpoint for us to consider for publishing, see the guidelines at the bottom of the list of all our blog posts<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Hocking of asyourpoetshavesaid.com Andrew Hocking writes about spirituality in movies, TV, and books, frequently discussing politics and occasionally Doctor Who. While television, and especially science fiction, typically glamorizes violence as a solution to problems, the titular Doctor in Doctor Who continually seeks peaceful resolutions and guides others to do the same. Viewers committed… <\/p>\n