Christian leaders look to Doctor Who for guidance

You know that non-Catholic Christianity in Europe has hit rock bottom when its leaders have forgotten what their mission is and are reduced to watching the sci-fi series Doctor Who to work out what the kids want.

Note to church leaders: Kids need you to give them direction, you do not get your direction from teenagers. Last time I checked, you get your direction from God.

Unless I've missed something.

Being a fan of the Doctor Who series (and being one of those people who can name all of the actors that have played the Doctor in order) I must confess that the parallel between Christianity and the scripts of the show had eluded me.

Episodes of hit TV show Doctor Who have been examined by church leaders in Britain as part of an attempt to make Christianity more appealing to teenagers.

A conference of Church of England vicars watched a handful of episodes from the sci-fi series to study its religious parallels, particularly its themes of evil, resurrection and redemption.

Similarities between the Doctor and Christ, as well as whether the evil Daleks are capable of changing, were also examined.

"There are countless examples of Christian symbolism in Doctor Who, which we can use to get across ideas that can otherwise be difficult to explain," The Sunday Telegraph in Britain quoted Andrew Wooding, a spokesman for conference organising group Church Army, as saying.

"Clergy shouldn't be afraid to engage with popular culture as for many young people television plays a large role in their thinking."

Not that it's unusual for the church to call on TV shows to help their cause. Just last year the Church of England enlisted the Simpsons...

The Church of England is getting help from the Simpsons to provide a more relevant way of teaching children about theology and to give a boost to dwindling congregations.

Mixing it Up with the “Simpsons”, a book to be released by the Church of England’s publishing company, will be sent to youth advisers in every diocese across the country next week, the Sunday Telegraph reported, with the hope of showing how Christianity is relevant to life today through issues tackled in the popular U.S. TV cartoon series. Clergy will be urged to show episodes of “The Simpsons” that focus on Christian themes such as love and punishment.

None of Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Catholicism or the Baptists have to resort to such populist drivel.

No wonder the Church of England is slowly dying in Western Europe.

It has forgotten what it stands for and where it gets its guidance from.

(Nothing Follows)