We can't treat Islam the same as Christianity, says BBC chief

BY MARK GREAVES
THE BBC SHOULD treat minority religions such as Islam more sensitively than Christianity, the corporation's director-general has said.
Mark Thompson was addressing criticism from comedian Ben Elton, who said the BBC "let vicar gags pass but not imam gags".
Speaking at a lecnire for the religion think-tank Theos, Mr Thompson said: "What Christian identity feels like it is about to the broad population is a little bit different to people for whom their religion is also associated with an ethnic identity which has not been filly integrated. There's no reason why any religion should be immune from discussion, but I don't want to say that all religions are the same. To be a minority I think puts a slightly different outlook on it."
Mr Thompson, a Jesuit-educated practising Catholic, insisted that the BBC would show programmes that criticised Islam if they were of sufficient quality.
His comments came after a lecture in which he defended the BBC against the accusation that it was "anti-God".
He said it was a criticism he had originally heard from his mother, who warned him that the BBC was "antiCatholic" when he first got a job there in the late 1970s. But Mr Thompson argued that the complaint was groundless. He said: "I believe that the BBC has maintained the daily and weekly presence of religion on its services with more consistency and commitment over decades than any other British media organisation."
He said the BBC engaged with Christianity not as a "story" or "controversy" but as a "lived experience", citing programmes such as Songs of Praise and the Daily Service. He compared this to ITV, where financial pressures had put religious coverage in "steady retreat".
Mr Thompson also pointed to programmes such as The Passion, broadcast at Easter, to demonstrate that interest in religion was growing among BBC commissioners.
"I believe it is pretty unimaginable that the BBC [joined in 1979 would have dreamed of spending so much money on such a piece or of placing it in the middle of the evening on BBC One," he said.
Mr Thompson said his faith played a part in his judgments as BBC director-general. He also said he had never watched the Monty Python film Life of Brian because he was "sensitive about depictions of the Gospel story".
In recent years the charge of antiCatholic bias has been directed at the BBC by some of Britain's most senior Church leaders. In 2006 Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor wrote to Mr Thompson suggesting that the BBC seemed to have a "persistent bias" against the Church.
His letter followed a Panorama documentary which claimed that Pope Benedict XVI had issued a "secret edict" instructing the world's bishops to put the interests of the Church before the safety of children.
The Cardinal said the documentary had caused "enormous distress" among Catholics and that its accusation.s were "malicious and untrue".
His letter followed similar criticism from Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham in 2003 after a spate of offensive programming, including another Panorama documentary and a satirical cartoon called Popetown which was eventually pulled.
Mr Thompson's admission that minority religions should be treated differently was strongly criticised by Christian and media groups.
Stephen Green of Christian Voice said: "Mr Thompson seems to be saying that because Islam is a minority religion it should be treated with kid gloves. This is ridiculous. All religions should be treated equally and with the same approach I think the reality is that the BBC treats Islam and Muslims differently because it is terrified of offending them."