Sunday, August 10, 2014

Upgrades

...if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:9-13)


The Daleks and the Cybermen are the Doctor’s two most famous enemies, and both turn up in the season finale of the second series of New Who, a two-part story consisting of episodes “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday.” The Cybermen are the main villains in the story, suddenly appearing all over London, and indeed, all over the planet, in an attempt to take over the world.


The primary characteristics of Cybermen are their uniformity and their lack of emotion. Their mission is always to add to their own numbers by “upgrading” humans by turning them into what are basically organic robots, which to the Cybermen is a vast improvement over chaotic lives driven by an ever-changing array of feelings. In “Doomsday,” once the Cybermen are in place and starting to capture humans, the Cyberleader sends out a message to the world: 

“This broadcast is for humankind. Cybermen now occupy every landmass on this planet; but you need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear. Cybermen will remove sex, and class, and colour, and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us.”

It may seem strange to equate God with killer robots from a television show, but once you notice the similarities it’s really not a very difficult leap. God’s love is the great equalizer. Salvation is offered to everyone and everyone is capable of obtaining it -- all you have to do is believe. You don’t have to come from a certain place, you don’t have to be a certain ethnicity or gender or social class. And best of all, you don't have to give up any of your wonderfully messy human emotions.

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