Splinters

BBC boss defends screening "Jerry Springer - The Opera" after receives 40,000 complaints. Why is it that when people get religion they misplace their sense of humour? I hope to God (ho ho) the BBC don't cave in on this - they have yet to actually air the show. BBC Director General Mark Thompson is right - there is nothing blasphemous or insulting towards God in Jerry Springer - The Opera. There is, however, a lot of swearing. A glorious amount, in fact. In one memorable scene, the Devil's entrance on stage is greeted with a chorus of "What a cunt, what a cunt, what a cunting cunting cunt!". Jesus may not use the same phrasing, but I'm sure he'd agree.

I love Jerry Springer. Some might not. That is their prerogative, but their fuddy-duddy offense at "bad words" being heard on television is not enough of a reason to entertain their calls for a ban. It's Life Of Brian and The Last Temptation Of Christ all over again. In a supposed democracy, sometimes you just have to deal with things you don't particularly like going ahead. This principle seems to be getting lost as everyone adopts a pose of righteous self-entitlement for their own views. This is why the recent Sikh violence over the play Behtzi was wholly wrong - the mob rule of the minority won the day. Similarly, the Christian activists are very good at making a lot of noise (clearly they've been getting some lessons from the States), but they represent only a tiny fraction of the country's population. Their agenda should not dictate what the rest of us are and are not allowed to see.