For instance, under Sharia, Islam has a special status and must not be criticized, while Muslims are free to criticize other religions.
In the West, we believe that all positions are open to criticism. You might expect, then, that Western news agencies would insist on fair and unbiased reporting.
Not so, says BBC Director-General Mark Thompson. Islam is different from Christianity, because Muslims take it so seriously, are extremely sensitive about Muhammad, are a minority, and may become violent if provoked. Hence, the BBC gives Islam special treatment over Christianity, and they justify their position with careful explanations, not realizing that the result happens to line up perfectly with Sharia.
Brilliant!
DAILY MAIL--BBC director-general Mark Thompson has claimed Christianity is treated with far less sensitivity than other religions because it is ‘pretty broad shouldered’.
He suggested other faiths have a ‘very close identity with ethnic minorities’, and were therefore covered in a far more careful way by broadcasters.
But he also revealed that producers had to consider the possibilities of ‘violent threats’ instead of polite complaints if they pushed ahead with certain types of satire.
Mr Thompson said: ‘Without question, “I complain in the strongest possible terms”, is different from, “I complain in the strongest possible terms and I am loading my AK47 as I write”. This definitely raises the stakes.’
But he added that religion as a whole should never receive the same ‘protection and sensitivity’ in the law as race.
Mr Thompson was making his comments during a wide ranging interview about faith and broadcasting, which included the furore provoked by the Corporation’s decision to screen the controversial show Jerry Springer: The Opera on BBC2 in 2005.
Hundreds of Christians rallied outside BBC buildings before and during the broadcast to protest about what they saw as blasphemous scenes such as Jesus Christ wearing a nappy.
At least 45,000 people contacted the BBC to complain about swearing and its irreverent treatment of Christian themes.
Many said that no one would have dreamed of making such a show about the Prophet Mohammed and Islam.
Mr Thompson has now appeared belatedly to accept their argument. In an interview, he said Islam was ‘almost entirely’ practised by people who already may feel in other ways ‘isolated’, ‘prejudiced against’ and who may regard an attack on their religion as ‘racism by other means’.
But he said that Christianity was ‘an established part of our cultural-built landscape’ which meant it was ‘a pretty broad- shouldered religion’.
He conceded that the broadcaster would never have aired a similar show about Mohammed because it could have had the same impact as a piece of ‘grotesque child pornography’.
In the interview posted online for the Free Speech Debate – a research project at Oxford University – Mr Thompson said: ‘The kind of constraints that most people accept around racial hatred, the fact that it may be in certain forms of expression or certain forms of depiction, may be outlawed because of the way in which they go to racial hatred and potentially the promotion and incitement of racial hatred.
‘I think religion should never receive that level of protection or sensitivity.
But I think it is wrong to imagine that it therefore goes into the general swim and that a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed is no more challenging than a debate about what two plus two equals.’
He added: ‘The point is that for a Muslim, a depiction, particularly a comic or demeaning depiction, of the Prophet Mohammed might have the emotional force of a piece of grotesque child pornography.
‘One of the mistakes secularists make is not to understand the character of what blasphemy feels like to someone who is a realist in their religious belief.’ (Read more.)
15 comments:
Nice to know my favorite English News Channel won't be changing anytime soon.
David did you ever see the BBC documentary with you in it? That's about as critical as it gets on BBC.
Dk
www.AnsweringAbraham.com
Dear brother,
sorry for the off topic
a post on recent claim of Turkish officials on a copy of Aramaic Bible
Many blah blah from Muslims
But, I think it is of East Syrian Christians. The script is very modern and with vowels
The golden letters also proves its very later origin, probably about 15/16th century
There is an image of Cross and some writings in the cover page
I think one of them is
"in the name of the father..."
Another one is
"in the 1500th year of our Lord" ie AD 1500
Aramaic Scholars may be able to give more details.
Thanks
sebsite
For the first time the media person
admits the spinelessness of western media. They are roaring lions to Christianity because it speaks the message of cross, but they are licking dogs to Islam, because it speaks the message of sword
sebsite
Muslims should actually feel sad, as opposed to happy, that news networks censor themselves over Islam. It means too many people that practice their faith cannot respect freedom of speech.
Double standard of BBC Network
Roaring Lion to Christianity
Licking cat to Islam
Because, the media persons are very clever
They know very well that
the Cross will not slit the heads
but sword will
sebsite
On Mark Thompson's admission
The media persons are very clever
They know very well that
the cross will not slit the heads
but sword will
thanks
Sebsite
A couple of things.
1st Muslims are claiming that this "Gosple" was found ten years ago and kept secret.
2nd Muslims claim that it denotes a Islamic JESUS
So Muslims in a Muslim country has a "GOSPLE" that denotes the ISLMAIC jesus and it is kept SECRET lol yeah thats beleivable.
What it does look like is as you said a mid evil Gosple of Baranabas forgery.
What is funny is that Muslim do not know how to read. Becasue the Gosple of Barnabas Jesus denies he is the Messiah and claims taht Mohamed is the comming Messiah. Yeah thats a Islamic Jesus alright.
@David Wood
What we need to do is out source our outrage to Muslims. They seem to be more effective at expresing outrage then we Christians.
"Mr Thompson said: ‘Without question, “I complain in the strongest possible terms”, is different from, “I complain in the strongest possible terms and I am loading my AK47 as I write”. This definitely raises the stakes."
So what say you Muslims. Osama Abdullah, KIM, 1mm, and all the others. Load up your AK-47 and complain to the BBC for showing your Prophet Jesus in a unfavorable light.
Wow David made it to PRIME TIME in the UK.
So what BBC Director Mark Thompson saying that using violence is OK to achieve a purpose
Then how will he criticize people using violence to achieve political, economic benefits!
He should be fired ...
Lets see, prophet Isa (Jesus) gets insulted no outrage by Muslims , if one “reprints fake MuuHammel cartoons (like the one from the “Pig squealing contest” Danish Imams used...) Muslims are outraged, yet they claim that their profeet was nothing more than a human. I could even understand when the “Christian Message “love the enemy and forgive him” gets twisted and distorted or made fun of that Muslims do not feel the need to protest. After all THIS is NOT the Message the “stoned-gawd" allah via Archangel “Gebreeel” gave to MUUHAM. But when the prophet-hood of Isa is target of ridicule, again no outrage. All this means of course that some profeets are “higher” and more honorable then others especially the supposedly “last” one...
Well, it is obviously time for Christians to make their voices heard. They are being drowned out by the hateful shrieking of Muslim mobs gleefully doing violence and damage if they fell the least bit slighted and not given the supremacy Islam promises them. It is time to assertively speak out against Sharia enforcement and unequal treatment. It is time to make enforcement of Sharia law crimes of sedition and to be willing to prosecute such crimes.
Mark Thompson is only following the same rhetoric as a certain Pennsylvanian judge.
Insult and mock Jesus and the average Christian barely flinches, insult and mock Mohammad and it's akin to ' child pornography ' to a Muslim as it attacks his very 'essence'.
Pathetic excuses to justify cowardice.
That is about the most tragic case of pathetic hem-haw I have ever read justifying media bias!
Mark Thompson is an Islamophobe, pure and simple.
Look up the dictionary definition of Islamophobe.
It says, – See , Thompson, Mark.
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