Springer Opera: Christians should face the music -09/01/05
Christians have missed a golden opportu
Springer Opera: Christians should face the music -09/01/05
Christians have missed a golden opportunity to debate important moral and ethical issues by pursuing protests against ëJerry Springer ñ The Operaí, screened last night on BBC2, the director of a Christian thinktank said today. Ekklesiaís director Jonathan Bartley said; ìDuring the opera, the character representing Jesus is challenged to respond to accusations of injustice and make sense of the worldís problems. His response is to say ërespect meí without giving any meaningful answer or explanation to his accusers.î ìThrough their protests, Christian campaigners have reinforced the very stereotypes of God and Jesus Christ that they are protesting against. Christians would have done far better to take the opportunity to engage meaningfully with the important moral issues of life, relationships, justice and the problem of evil, that the opera raises, î Ekklesiaís director continued. Christians who see some merit in the show and who oppose banning it from late-night TV have told Ekklesia that they do not wish to be named because of what one described as ìthe unhealthy climate of abuse against dissenters stoked up by moral panic tactics.î
Ekklesiaís director also suggested that the protests could well lead to charges of double standards and hypocrisy against the church. The protests against the opera come at a time when many Christian campaigners continue to protest against proposed legislation that would prevent incitement to religious hatred, on the grounds that it might prevent Christians from criticising other religions. Jonathan Bartley continued; ìChristians will now be seen as wanting to have their religious cake and eat it ñ happy to defend their right to criticise other faiths when it suits, but protesting vigorously when anyone raises questions about their own beliefs.î
BBC executives are being protected by security guards while the police investigate death threats made over the broadcast.
Security guards are contining to monitor the North London home of Roly Keating, the Controller of BBC 2, who received threats from protesters. The homes of six other BBC executives were also targeted after Christian Voice, an extreme Christian group, posted the addresses and telephone numbers on its website.
Other Christian groups involved in the protests against the Springer Opera came in for criticism too, after they inflated the number of swearwords used in the Opera. The show was reported to contain a total of 8,000 obscenities – but the total was reached by adding every swear word sung by each member of the 27-strong chorus.
The BBC said on Sunday that it had received just 317 calls since the broadcast, more than half of which had been supportive of The Opera. A spokesperson said this was a higher than average number of calls in defence of a programme.
Springer Opera: Christians should face the music -09/01/05
Christians have missed a golden opportunity to debate important moral and ethical issues by pursuing protests against ëJerry Springer ñ The Operaí, screened last night on BBC2, the director of a Christian thinktank said today. Ekklesiaís director Jonathan Bartley said; ìDuring the opera, the character representing Jesus is challenged to respond to accusations of injustice and make sense of the worldís problems. His response is to say ërespect meí without giving any meaningful answer or explanation to his accusers.î ìThrough their protests, Christian campaigners have reinforced the very stereotypes of God and Jesus Christ that they are protesting against. Christians would have done far better to take the opportunity to engage meaningfully with the important moral issues of life, relationships, justice and the problem of evil, that the opera raises, î Ekklesiaís director continued. Christians who see some merit in the show and who oppose banning it from late-night TV have told Ekklesia that they do not wish to be named because of what one described as ìthe unhealthy climate of abuse against dissenters stoked up by moral panic tactics.î
Ekklesiaís director also suggested that the protests could well lead to charges of double standards and hypocrisy against the church. The protests against the opera come at a time when many Christian campaigners continue to protest against proposed legislation that would prevent incitement to religious hatred, on the grounds that it might prevent Christians from criticising other religions. Jonathan Bartley continued; ìChristians will now be seen as wanting to have their religious cake and eat it ñ happy to defend their right to criticise other faiths when it suits, but protesting vigorously when anyone raises questions about their own beliefs.î
BBC executives are being protected by security guards while the police investigate death threats made over the broadcast.
Security guards are contining to monitor the North London home of Roly Keating, the Controller of BBC 2, who received threats from protesters. The homes of six other BBC executives were also targeted after Christian Voice, an extreme Christian group, posted the addresses and telephone numbers on its website.
Other Christian groups involved in the protests against the Springer Opera came in for criticism too, after they inflated the number of swearwords used in the Opera. The show was reported to contain a total of 8,000 obscenities – but the total was reached by adding every swear word sung by each member of the 27-strong chorus.
The BBC said on Sunday that it had received just 317 calls since the broadcast, more than half of which had been supportive of The Opera. A spokesperson said this was a higher than average number of calls in defence of a programme.