BBC
Radio Leicester Thought for the Day
©
John Denney 10 January 2005
They
say 1.7 million viewers watched “Jerry Springer – the Opera” on BBC2 on Saturday
night. Doubtless, the controversy about
the programme led to more people than usual tuning in. Perhaps they wanted to count for themselves
the huge number of extreme swear words in the production. A BBC spokesman said that in fact only 300 or
so instances of extreme swearing occurred, not the thousands claimed. So that’s all right, then. Mind you, if you turned over to watch Billy
Connolly on BBC1, you would have heard more than a few swear words from
him. Between the two programmes, I’d
think that the Beeb’s cuss quota for the next few years has been used up. How standards have fallen.
But
the real hullabaloo was about the insulting treatment of God the Father, Jesus
Christ and the Virgin Mary. This is not
just a matter of free speech versus vested interests. Many Christians have been deeply offended by
the insolence shown to the object of their faith. And a record 45000 people made their
disapproval known before the broadcast.
Some even spoke of this as blasphemy – and indeed, it seems to fit the
definitions.
The
law of blasphemy is under examination right now. Is it needed?
Should it extend to non-Christian religions? Now, the law of blasphemy is not there to
protect God. God needs no protection
from us. It is not even there to protect
the feelings of Christians. There’s no
doubt but that the offence to Christians of the Jerry Springer musical being
broadcast on a publicly-financed public-service television channel is very
great. But Christians are supposed to be
able to turn the other cheek to abuse of their faith. (Maybe that’s why people with an
anti-religious agenda prefer to attack Christianity rather than other, more
militant, religions.)
No,
the fundamental reason for the law of blasphemy is to protect blasphemers themselves
from God’s wrath. It is a core belief of
Christians that there will be a Day of Judgement, when each and every one of us
– that’s me, and you – will be called to account by God for our actions and our
attitudes. Unrepentant sinners will be
separated out and, though it’s not popular to say so these days, consigned to
hell. That’s the very reason that God
sent Jesus – to save people from hell. Those
who have unashamedly insulted Him, and those who have assisted them in
broadcasting their blasphemies are in great peril.
Do not be
deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man
reaps what he sows.[1]