:: Encore Theatre Magazine ::

Encore Theatre Magazine

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::Front Page::

:: Sunday, January 09, 2005 ::

Jerry Springer the Opera was on last night. Did civilization crumble?

Dear BBC,

I am writing to complain about the disgusting feast of irrationalism and prejudice broadcast this morning on Radio 4, under the title Sunday Worship (presented live from the St Stephen's Centre, Edinburgh).

Throughout this programme, false, meaningless and unreasoning claims were presented as unquestioned facts: that God is the 'Father of light', is that he is made manifest in precious metals, and is a 'friend of the earth', for example. None of these are possible or true and it is deeply offensive to my profoundly-felt human reason that such nonsense should be pedalled as facts.

Many of the stories were presented using beautiful music, it's true, but I think you can have beautiful music without offending people. People have a right to express themselves, but no one has a right to offend deeply-held beliefs.

The peculiar moral views of 'Christians' are well known - including their repellant views on homosexuality, marriage and the value of unthinking faith - but I don't see why their message of hate should be perpetrated to reasoning licence-payers. Further, it is deeply offensive that these silly prejudices should be wrapped up in pretended compassion for the homeless, victims of the Asian tsunami, and the environment.

I particularly objected to "the Lord's Prayer". What people believe in the privacy of their own home is their own affair, but to hear this patchwork of falsehood repeated 800 times by this large Edinburgh congregation is just a slap in the face to reasoning people.

Yours faithlessly

Theatre Worker

:: posted by Theatre Worker at Sunday, January 09, 2005

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