BBC bias on full display

By David C. Jennings —— Bio and Archives April 7, 2013

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British licence fee pounds were hard at work on Good Friday as the BBC broadcast a show representing Jesus Christ as married to Mary Magdalene. To determine this on your own is one thing, but for the state owned broadcaster to do this, using money extracted from its people for the sole purpose of running itself, it is something else.

Good Friday is the day when Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus and everything that is substantiated by that event. For the BBC to determine to run a show that challenges the core of the biblical accounts at that time, reveals the hatred and disdain that exists amongst BBC executives for the gospel message. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali criticised the programme saying “It is highly provocative in terms of its content for Christians on Good Friday and it attempts to sexualise Christ in the most offensive way (at a time when) Christians are thinking about Christ on the cross. I am concerned about the misuses of very obscure Gnostic gospels to impugn the integrity of the Bible.” In March the BBC came under fire for broadcasting a radio programme that said the way Britain treats gay people is like the crucifixion of Jesus. On the contrary, gay people and some other ‘minorities’ enjoy protections that others do not, whilst the BBC again displays its complete ignorance as to the relevance of the gospel message.

Whereas the BBC lefties who run the show at Broadcasting House clearly and frequently display their political and religious stripes, anti-Christian bias is seen throughout British made television programming. Former MP Ann Widdecombe made a programme looking at why Christianity is the butt of so many jokes on British television. The ex-Conservative minister said she did it to illustrate “where the joke stops and how much further it might go”. A joke about putting chutney on communion bread was illustrated which we can see the funny side of, but such humour would not be broadcast or tolerated by the BBC if it were directed, for example, at Muslims or gays. According to BBC Producer Roger Bolton the television side of the BBC in the hands of “secular and sceptical” executives who ignore religion while bosses “view religious coverage as a rather tiresome obligation to be minimised rather than a rich and promising area to explore”. The state-owned broadcaster has also displayed consistent anti-Israel bias over the years. Douglas Davis, London correspondent of The Jerusalem Post, accused the BBC of just that. He wrote that the BBC's coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict was a "portrayal of Israel as a demonic, criminal state and Israelis as brutal oppressors" and resembled a "campaign of vilification" that had de-legitimised the State of Israel. Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph has criticised the BBC for its coverage of the Middle East. In 2007, the newspaper wrote, "In its international and domestic news reporting, the corporation has consistently come across as naïve and partial, rather than sensitive and unbiased. Its reporting of Israel and Palestine, in particular, tends to underplay the hate-filled Islamist ideology that inspires Hamas and other factions, while never giving Israel the benefit of the doubt." Broadcast chiefs are not prone to forget their advocacy of global warming science (known to the enlightened amongst us as global-alarmism). The BBC has been criticised for hypocrisy over its high carbon footprint, in view of the amount of coverage it gives to the topic of climate change. Presenter Jeremy Paxman argues that the Corporation's correspondents "travel the globe to tell the audience of the dangers of climate change while leaving a vapour trail which will make the problem even worse. The BBC's coverage of the issue abandoned the pretence of impartiality long ago”. The BBC is government owned but essentially independent and self-running. The argument for this would be political independence, against would be the obvious lack of accountability. At one time there was a stronger argument for the services that were provided by a state regulator. But with the myriad of media now available, coupled with the state’s inability to guarantee impartiality, the very existence of the BBC should be brought into question. Britain is supposed to be a democracy! The legitimate question then is: do the people want to continue to support a state –owned broadcaster for £145.50 / year? Would subscribers to Sky Dish or Virgin Cable buy the BBC channels a-la-carte for £12.12 /month? It doesn’t seem like any government in Westminster is going to give them that choice anytime soon.