BBC Radio 4 holds that Christian extremists are more of a threat than radical Jihadists
Protect the Pope has the story:
BBC Radio 4 holds that Christian extremists are more of a threat than radical Jihadists
Tags: Christianity, Media, Religion Society
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Well we all make mistakes, and the BBC is peopled by fallible humans like the rest of us, but to get excited about something like this on a Radio 4 programme is pointless, and provides unmerited publicity.
As an atheist I felt bombarded by religious programmes across the network throughout Christmas, but I did not complain. Equally I have seen few if any congratulations to the BBC on its often wall to wall coverage of the Christian aspects of Christmas.
I guess I feel fiercely protective of the freedom for Radio 4 to dare to be different. If editors were to react to criticism every time a view is aired that does not accord with the views of a particular segment of the listeners it would be an utterly boring channel. As it is, it’s one of the best reasons for living in the UK, and I miss it every time I leave these shores. There are few radio stations anywhere in the entire World that can compare.
Please don’t emasculate Radio 4!!! End of rant…
January 3rd, 2011 at 4:44 pm
@Simian,
“and provides unmerited publicity.”
Not sure what you are saying here could you elaborate?
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:08 pm
I meant that this was a silly thing to say, and is best not given any oxygen by makng a big issue of it. In the same way that Pastor Terry Jones’ silly stunt did not merit worldwide attention, being the act of a man with a such a very small following. Such are the perils of the internet age. Giving too much value to things of little merit costs far more in human misery than could possibly be justified in makng an issue out of it.
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Hmmm…. This is pathetically ignorance and insensitive of BBC Radio 4.
When was the last time a fundie Christian group bombed a mosque packed with metal shards?
January 3rd, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Caral
Could we just say ‘pathetically ignorant and insensitive of’ the reporter/editor involved? Blaming R4 is rather like blaming the Pope for child abuse. There is a connection but it is at some considerable distance. Having the Director General censor every editor’s output 24hrs a day would bring the network to a standstill. These things happen. As long as people learn from them, as no doubt they will, given the uproar, then we move on, suitably chastened.
Incidentally I just heard a trail for a series of readings from one of the Gospels (John?) throughout next Sunday. Christianity continues to get lots of air time on R4!
January 3rd, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Not the jihadist stench of the BBC.
“The body parts were covered with newspapers until they were brought inside the church after some Muslims started stepping on them and chanting Jihadi chants”
“On the back of the Skoda was a sticker with the words “the rest is coming” (video of car explosion and Muslims shouting “Allah Akbar”)?
.”
Egyptian Security Guards Withdrew One Hour Before Church Blast, Say Eyewitnesses.
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Simian, the programme in question was with Edward Stourton with the religious and ethical news of the week.
For the programme to implicitly suggest that in acknowledging Islamic extremists equates to a hatred for all muslims is foolishness of the highest degree.
Whether Christianity gets airtime on BBC Radio 4 or not is completely irrelevant, as is your view that you were bombarded (not bombed I’ll add!) with religious programming at Christ’s Mass.
Although of course, as you suggest elsewhere it is not really jihadists or radical islam that are murdering the Copts… it’s just tribal!
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Caral
I don’t disagree with you! My point about being bombarded with religious programmes is that contrary to some people’s opinion, the BBC is really not institutionally anti-religion, and devotes much air time to explaining various aspects of Christianity. Only this evening there was a repeat of a programme celebrating the 400 year anniversay of thre King James Bible.
I don’t for one minute condone any of this killing, no matter by whom or for what reason. It is utterly wrong and frankly evil, whether its tribal or any other outrageeous reason.
January 4th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Simian
You have sold out, and sound just like the guys on the radio 4 programme. You trivialise the slaughter of innocents by jihadists and islamic extremists as tribal or ‘an outrageous reason’.
I am have been quite sickened by your posts on the site over the last few days.
January 4th, 2011 at 10:27 am
Caral,
I genuinely do not understand your comment. If that’s your reaction to my posts then I think that either I’m not effectively communicating my thoughts or you’re intepreting what I write in a way that is not intended. I’m assuming you’re aware that I’m a Humanist and that informs my views.
What is it about my posts that has sickened you? What makes you think that I trivialise murder?
January 4th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
@ Webmaster: I had to listen to the programme a couple of times to work out what the problem was. It was all so muddly and kinda woolly that I have to say I wouldn’t have reacted to it at all if I’d heard it without having read your blog entry.
It seems fluffy, badly-thought-through – well-meaning but lacking analysis or rigour.
The Muslim guy made a good point about the dangers of Islamicist rabble-rousing on the Internet. As he said, Islam doesn’t have the same structures of authority as Christianity, so it’s intrinsically easier for extremists to flourish.
January 4th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Islam doesn’t have the same structures of authority as Christianity, so it’s intrinsically easier for extremists to flourish.
That’s really coincidental.
I thought about this very thing when I wrote the post about Pope Benedict issuing an invitation to leaders of all the world’s religions to meet with him in an attempt to halt violence between religions.
I actually wanted to say exactly what you just said, but couldn’t find the right phraseology without sounding really negative.
But it is a very salient point, in that there is no “Pope” of Islam and so it’s rather like trying to negotiate with a many headed entity, which is near to impossible.
The fragmentation within Islam potentially leads to a propensity for extremism.
Food for thought…..
January 5th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
@ Webmaster: This fragmentation is what’s behind the mass killings in Pakistan, and the sectarian violence in Iraq. My understanding of Islam is that rather than having no Pope, they have at least half a dozen – all of them right, all of them infallible. No wonder the various groups loathe each other; each convinced their group holds the truth.
Add to that the fatwah and hadith – rules and judgements made by living clerics which then take on the status of Holy Writ to their followers. In Christian terms it’s as if people were still adding to the Bible today. Can you imagine the rows?
Another key to understanding Muslims is that they have a massive taboo against criticising other Muslims to outsiders, regardless of how much they may privately deplore their actions. It’s only when you know this that you can translate what seem like quite feeble criticisms of terrorism by moderate groups into what, given this taboo, is very strongly worded and the closest we’re likely to see to outright condemnation.
Extreme Islam is very bad for the economy. Oil provides wealth but without the picture is bleak indeed. The poverty and lack of innovation we see in fundamentalist states is just as noticeable to the locals. If we are so godly, they think, how come it is the infidels who are rich? This sense of outrage and of injustice fuels the rage of fanatics against the prosperous peaceful West.