Christians Protest over spoof Jerry Springer show

[aimee]

Good Morning Norwich,

Just read your post and wanted to ask what do you mean here:

" discourage those who threaten so called “Direct Action” (they are much more dangerous because they work from within the Church) "

What is the direct action and who are the ones that work from within the church?

 

[Norwich]

aimee:

What is the direct action and who are the ones that work from within the church?

One of the so called protesting christian organisations ( a web site called Christian Voice) posted the name, address and telephone number of the BBC producer on the net. The result was threats of physical harm, not only to him personally but also his staff, his family, his children and basically anyone associated with him. It is these sorts of people doing things of a very unchristian nature in either Gods or to a lesser degree in our name who are more dangerous than any play or film could ever be.
The christian Church supposedly left the days of the Spanish Inquisition in the 14th and 15th Century, we do not need this sort of counter productive behaviour in this day and age.
Protest? yes, make your feelings known? yes, but do not bring your behaviour into the gutter alongside those you are trying to condemn. That simply furnishes them with the excuse of being able to ignore you because you are neither sensible nor christian. I accept that rational argument may not have an effect on the BBC but, to see a dignified and rational response from Christians may well have a marked effect on the general public and they are the ones who are most important in issues such as these.

 

[FightingFat]

I always find these sorts of debate fascinating! We had a play banned a couple of weeks ago in Birmingham because it offended Sihks- remember that Norwich?

I am against censorship, I think true Christian freedom is limiting ones actions for the benefit of others, of course, this means you must have the choice there in the first place.

I watched the first 15 minutes of the ‘Opera’. It was a pastiche on that type of television program and that wedge of society- over here the genre has been commonly refered to as dumbing down. I didn’t think it was massively clever and I did think it was mildly offensive so I turned over and watched something else instead!

 

[Norwich]

FightingFat:

I always find these sorts of debate fascinating! We had a play banned a couple of weeks ago in Birmingham because it offended Sihks- remember that Norwich?

Yes, and like this one I don’t believe it did the Sihks cause any good at all. All this type of behaviour does is to give sustenance to those who want to foster discontent. For example how many would have read Salman Rushdies book if the Iranian’s hadn’t have decided to put price on his head. Yes, he did have to go into hiding but, boy!!! could he AFFORD it after those sales figures.
If you really want to have an effect on organisations like the BBC then ignore them, starving them of the oxygen of publicity and consequently viewers is by far the best weapon we have. Healthy distain is a wonderful tool. (wish I had the self control to apply it on this board occasionally).

 

[FightingFat]

One argument I heard that I thought carried some weight was that though no one should be ‘banned’ from seeing this play, a British Public Service forum was innapropriate!

 

[Matt25]

FightingFat:

I always find these sorts of debate fascinating! We had a play banned a couple of weeks ago in Birmingham because it offended Sihks- remember that Norwich?

I am against censorship, I think true Christian freedom is limiting ones actions for the benefit of others, of course, this means you must have the choice there in the first place.

I watched the first 15 minutes of the ‘Opera’. It was a pastiche on that type of television program and that wedge of society- over here the genre has been commonly refered to as dumbing down. I didn’t think it was massively clever and I did think it was mildly offensive so I turned over and watched something else instead!

The play in Birmingham was not banned. It was withdrawn from production a ban would imply that production was forbidden, it is not.

The play was not withdrawn “because it offended Sikhs” it was withdrawn because there was a risk to the health and safety of staff resulting from violent protests outside the theatre by a few hundred Sikhs. The Sikh community in Birmingham numbers thousands and that in the UK tens of thousands. To blame all Sikhs for the actions of a few is I think a dangerous road to start travelling down.

You are quite right that the object of the satire was dumbed down TV and the kind of people that appear on it. The figures of Jesus, God, Mary, Adam and Eve who appear in the second half are not the objects of satire aimed at themselves but the vehicle for it aimed at others. These characters incidentally are played by actors who played show guests in the first half emphasising that they are creations of Springers dying imagination and not the real people or entities in themselves.