Culture Secretary says no to Springer ban
-16/01/05
PM Tony Blairís culture secretary, T
Culture Secretary says no to Springer ban
-16/01/05
PM Tony Blairís culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, who is a practicing Christian, has come out strongly against attempts to ban the controversial show Jerry Springer ñ The Opera, describing censorship as dangerous and Stalinist.
In an article in todayís Observer newspaper, Jowell declares her sympathy for people who have been offended by the musical and says she ìheartily dislikedî it. But she maintains that freedom of thought and artistic expression, as well as legitimate protest, is ìindivisibleî for a plural society.
Comments Jowell, a key Blair ally: ìWhen it comes to the rights of the artist, there is a stark choice: you side with Stalin or you donít.î The reference is to the Soviet dictatorís suppression of Shostakovichís famous opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and other art he disliked.
ìRecently, a huge amount has been written about the rights of Christians and Sikhs not to see their faith ridiculed or blasphemedî, says the government minister. ìAs a Christian, I understand the hurt that can cause. Yet the question is not whether people are right to be offended, but whether they are ever right to want government or police action to enforce censorship.î
She continues: ìThe central questions that a society has to face with regard to artistic freedom of expression are qualitatively different from Ö behaviour issues. The latter deal with when it is right to safeguard people from their own or others’ behaviour; the former when it is right to protect public or private sensibilities.î
Jowell declares that artistic responsibility, as well as freedom, is properly enshrined in the regulatory function of Ofcom, the BBC charter and laws about incitement.
However she declines to question the propriety of obscenity and blasphemy laws, while acknowledging them to be ëfuzzyí.
Tessa Jowell has also recently spoken out against 24-hour drinking insisting that pubs would not open round the clock under new licensing laws, putting her on the side of church groups. But her earlier support for an extension of the gaming industry brought fire from Methodists, the Salvation Army and others.
Also writing in todayís Observer, Worthing clergyman Chris Gardner joined the growing band of Christians publicly opposing the assault on the Springer opera, which includes Ekklesiaís director, Jonathan Bartley, those involved with the show, the Bishop of Worcester, commentator Simon Barrow, and the Christian Herald newspaper.
ìI found the programme entertaining, thought-provoking and discomfitingî, writes Gardner. ìThat alone seems like three good reasons to broadcast it.î
He suggested that those who spoke easily of “blasphemy” needed to think harder about the offence of God’s revelation through the crucixion of Christ and its implications.
Culture Secretary says no to Springer ban
-16/01/05
PM Tony Blairís culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, who is a practicing Christian, has come out strongly against attempts to ban the controversial show Jerry Springer ñ The Opera, describing censorship as dangerous and Stalinist.
In an article in todayís Observer newspaper, Jowell declares her sympathy for people who have been offended by the musical and says she ìheartily dislikedî it. But she maintains that freedom of thought and artistic expression, as well as legitimate protest, is ìindivisibleî for a plural society.
Comments Jowell, a key Blair ally: ìWhen it comes to the rights of the artist, there is a stark choice: you side with Stalin or you donít.î The reference is to the Soviet dictatorís suppression of Shostakovichís famous opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and other art he disliked.
ìRecently, a huge amount has been written about the rights of Christians and Sikhs not to see their faith ridiculed or blasphemedî, says the government minister. ìAs a Christian, I understand the hurt that can cause. Yet the question is not whether people are right to be offended, but whether they are ever right to want government or police action to enforce censorship.î
She continues: ìThe central questions that a society has to face with regard to artistic freedom of expression are qualitatively different from Ö behaviour issues. The latter deal with when it is right to safeguard people from their own or others’ behaviour; the former when it is right to protect public or private sensibilities.î
Jowell declares that artistic responsibility, as well as freedom, is properly enshrined in the regulatory function of Ofcom, the BBC charter and laws about incitement.
However she declines to question the propriety of obscenity and blasphemy laws, while acknowledging them to be ëfuzzyí.
Tessa Jowell has also recently spoken out against 24-hour drinking insisting that pubs would not open round the clock under new licensing laws, putting her on the side of church groups. But her earlier support for an extension of the gaming industry brought fire from Methodists, the Salvation Army and others.
Also writing in todayís Observer, Worthing clergyman Chris Gardner joined the growing band of Christians publicly opposing the assault on the Springer opera, which includes Ekklesiaís director, Jonathan Bartley, those involved with the show, the Bishop of Worcester, commentator Simon Barrow, and the Christian Herald newspaper.
ìI found the programme entertaining, thought-provoking and discomfitingî, writes Gardner. ìThat alone seems like three good reasons to broadcast it.î
He suggested that those who spoke easily of “blasphemy” needed to think harder about the offence of God’s revelation through the crucixion of Christ and its implications.