BBC’s Mark Thompson says less chance Christians will kill you for mocking them
BBC director-general Mark Thompson (Catholic, since you ask) says in an interview for the Free Speech Debate, a research project at Oxford University, that Christianity gets satirised and mocked more than other religions because it is “pretty broad shouldered“. He says other faiths have a “very close identity with ethnic minorities”.
“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.”
Adding:
“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.”
So would the BBC air an opera on Mohammed, as it broadcast Jerry Springer: The Opera?
“Essentially the answer to that question is yes. The idea you might want to… think quite carefully about whether something done, in quotes, in the name of freedom of expression, might to the Jew, or the Sikh, or the Hindu, or the Muslim, who receives it, feel threatening, isolating and so forth, I think those are meaningful considerations.”
Iowahawk sums up:
BBC chief: it’s important to show sensitivity to religions if there’s a good chance they’ll kill you
Deos this bias affect the BBC’s news output as well..?
Posted: 27th, February 2012 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
