home
radio
Pray| Showing page 33 of 38 1... 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 | Last update: Wednesday 25th March |
| I had understood from news sources such as BBC Radio 4, bbc.co.uk, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph that 'Jerry Springer:The Opera' contained elements that were clearly blasphemous in any ordinary understanding of the word. Having now watched the show in its entirety and the hour-long introductory broadcast, my conclusion was that the blasphemy was far, far worse than even the most detailed news reports had led me to believe. Here are a few specific examples out of many - although words even now do not convey the offensiveness of these elements in their context: *The introduction of and dialogue with the Jesus figure containing all kinds of abuse, insults, profanity and deliberate mockery of the Lord's Name. *The ridiculing of the figure of Jesus on the Cross, dressed to imply sexual perversion. *The repeated mockery of the wounds (stigmata) of Jesus, linked to acts of crudeness. *The singing of "Jerry eleison" as a contemptuous travesty of an act of worship. As I understand it, the current legal definition of blasphemy is as follows: "Every publication is said to be blasphemous which contains any contemptuous, reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous matter relating to God, Jesus Christ, or the Bible, or the formularies of the Church of England as by law established. It is not blasphemous to speak or publish opinions hostile to the Christian religion, or to deny the existence of God, if the publication is couched in decent and temperate language. The test to be applied is as to the manner in which the doctrines are advocated and not as to the substance of the doctrines themselves. Everyone who publishes any blasphemous document is guilty of the [offence] of publishing a blasphemous libel. Everyone who speaks blasphemous words is guilty of the [offence] of blasphemy." (article 214 of Stephen's Digest of the Criminal Law, 9th ed., 1950 - confirmed by Lord Scarman, 1979, and the European Court of Human Rights, 1996) | |
| Media | Part of Antony Pitts, Senior Producer, BBC Radio 3, resignation statement as a result of the showing of 'Jerry Springer:The Opera' - 9th January 2005 |
| Glowing figures showing CD album sales at an all-time high may have made happy reading for record company executives yesterday, but they masked the continuing decline of the CD single. Sales of CD singles fell by 11.7%, hit by the growing popularity of downloads - songs bought from online stores. This week, the record label Universal showed its confidence in the online market when it announced that tracks from five new artists would be released just as downloads. | |
| Entertainment | The Independent – 27th November 2004 |
| Britain's children are becoming a nation of square-eyed loners, according to a survey released today. More than two-thirds of children spend more time playing alone than with friends. | |
| Young People | The Sentinel – 29th October 2004 |
| Most people are unaware of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in the home, according to a survey published today. Two-thirds of those questioned in the poll admitted they knew little to nothing about carbon monoxide. | |
| Health | The Sentinel – 29th October 2004 |
| Selling Paracetamol and other painkillers in smaller pack sizes has cut suicide rates, according to research today. Paracetamol overdoses dropped by nearly a quarter in three years following legislation in 1998. | |
| Health | The Sentinel – 29th October 2004 |
| The large number of parents working at weekends is having an adverse impact on family life in Britain, according to a study today. Around 1.4 million parents of children under 16 are now working regularly throughout the weekend. | |
| Family | The Sentinel – 2nd November 2004 |
| Three in every five workers suffers from stress at work, according to a survey released today by the TUC. The number of workers suffering from stress is increasing, with 58% now complaining of being stressed at work. The survey shows the main causes include increased workloads, staff cuts, long hours and bullying. | |
| Work/Employment | The Sentinel – 2nd November 2004 |
| Nearly three out of four garages do not do a good job servicing cars, according to a report out today. Of the 48 vehicles anonymously submitted, 35 did not get a good service, the Which? Magazine investigation showed. Two out of three garages failed to pick up pre-existing faults in the cars, such as nails in tyres. | |
| Work/Employment | The Sentinel – 4th November 2004 |
| Drivers are losing £7.2 billion on the value of their cars by not looking after them, according to research published today. Caring for your four wheels can make a £1,000 difference to the price of the car, according to esure. | |
| Money | The Sentinel – 3rd November 2004 |
| Bridget Jones-style singletons are a growing force in the housing market with the number of women buying their first home alone more than doubling in 20 years, according to figures published today by the Halifax. | |
| Housing | The Sentinel – 3rd November 2004 |
| Peer pressure can be a key factor in pupils choice of school meals, a charity claimed today. A desire to fit in, and the type of food available are other key factors behind children's choices according to a Barnardo's report. | |
| Food and Drink | The Sentinel – 9th November 2004 |
| Internet porn can be more harmful to society than crack cocaine, according to evidence submitted to a US senate committee. The Science, Technology and Space sub-committee is looking at creating awareness campaigns about the dangers of pornography addiction caused by 'erototoxins'. | |
| Drugs/Alcohol/Addictions | Computing – 2nd December 2004 |
| A new class described as the "forgotten poor" - working age adults with no children - is on the increase in Britain, a report to be published today says. More than 3.9 million childless adults live below the poverty line - 300,000 more than when Labour came to power in 1997. While poverty among children and pensioners has declined, rising numbers of single adults are blighted by low pay, homelessness and poor health..The report found that last year 12.4 million people were living in low-income households (defined as 60% of median income), compared with 14 million eight years ago. About 200,000 households were accepted as homeless by their local authority in 2003, a rise of 25% on 2000; two thirds involved childless people. | |
| Social Issues | The Independent – 1st December 2004 |
| Almost half of prisoners addicted to drugs fail to complete rehabilitation courses designed to help them kick the habit, the Home Office has admitted.Eight out of 10 arrivals at some inner-city jails have a serious drug habit and prisons are struggling to rehabilitate addicts already behind bars, Home Office figures indicate. Paul Goggins, a Home Office minister, said that of 4,703 inmates who started intensive drug treatment programmes in 2003-04, only 51% finished them. | |
| Drugs/Alcohol/Addictions | The Independent – 25th November 2004 |
| Kate Adie still hasn't reconciled herself to the demands of being a war correspondent in the 21st Century. A few years back, the magisterial reporter, accused TV networks of dumbing down their news coverage, by recruiting people with "cute faces, cute bottoms, and nothing inbetween." She also claimed to have been sidelined at the BBC as an "old trout". On Tuesday, Adie was approached by a guest at the Foreign Press Association Media Awards, and asked why she isn't on television any more. "I don't report any more because there isn't any reporting any more," came her reply | |
| What famous people say | The Independent – 25th November 2004 |
1... 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Bookmark
Tell a friend
