January 6, 2005
By Tim Finch, UK Christian News, England
ASSIST News Service
LONDON, UK (ANS) -- The BBC in the UK is planning to screen a program this coming weekend, Saturday January 8th, which has been causing a lot of advanced concern from Christians all across the UK. The program, Jerry Springer The Opera, is a televised version of a London theatrical performance, which depicts Jesus Christ, God the Father, Mary, Adam, Eve & Satan all appearing in hell in what is claimed to be an exceedingly blasphemous play.
Secular press even reports that the show is blasphemous, with the Internet based www.londontheatre.co.uk site stating "[After four visits]...it still remains deliciously wicked, blasphemous and down right salacious, there is nothing to prepare you for this irreverent mixture of low brow lyrics and high brow operatic scores'" (Alan Bird, 22 July 2004). Popular British tabloid The Daily Mail, wrote on December 3rd 2004 "The BBC is to screen the most expletive-strewn program in TV history. More than 8,000 obscenities will be broadcast when BBC2 shows a screen version of the musical Jerry Springer The Opera in January." Apparently the figure of 8,000 expletives far out runs its nearest rival on UK terrestrial television which only had a paltry 246 in comparison.
A Christian activist group, Christian Voice, run by Stephen Green, is organizing the protests to take place on Friday 7th and Saturday the 8th January. With protests confirmed outside BBC London, BBC Birmingham, BBC Manchester, BBC Plymouth, BBC Glasgow, BBC Cardiff and BBC Norwich, the organizers hope that Christians in the UK will send a clear message to the internationally famed television broadcaster that the program is in no way endorsed by the Christian community.
Citing a recent large protest by Sikhs, Green, in a recent email newsletter to Christian Voice supporters says "It is interesting that this story should break a week after four hundred Sikhs felt strongly enough about the play Behzti (Dishonour), which depicted sex abuse and murder in a Sikh temple, to protest outside (and inside) the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. There were some arrests, but you have to admire their willingness to stand up for their religion. Is Almighty God sending Christians a challenge? Is He testing how strongly Christians feel about the sacred name of Jesus Christ? Is He asking how much we love Him?"
Christian Voice, along with other UK based Christian organizations, have been using email and Internet to communicate to Christians up and down the land urging them to phone, write or email the BBC in advance of the production requesting them to change their schedule and replace the planned program with something else.
Christian Voice have published a website with further information http://www.christianvoice.org.uk/Springer1.html.
Tim Finch, 35, is editor of UK Christian News, a small news agency in the UK making occasional Christian TV News reports and program for broadcast. He can be contact via e-mail at tim@timfinch.co.uk/.
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05010027.htm