The Bash Britain Corporation
The Skimmer 10:44am
The BBC's version of the Nativity this Christmas will depict Mary and Joseph as asylum seekers rejected by brutal Britain. Yes, once again the Beeb plays fast and loose with history so that we can all think the worst of our country. So let's remember some facts. First, this country's record in giving genuine asylum seekers refuge is second to none, a matter for pride rather than disparagement. Second, Mary and Joseph were not in any sense asylum seekers, nor were they dirt poor. They were a Middle Judean family who had gone to Bethlehem to participate in a census (primarily for tax purposes) but arrived so late all the inns were full (hence the resort to the stable). None of this matters, of course, to the cultural secularists who dominate BBC drama. You'd have a bit more respect for them if they also did a story about a bit of an oddball -- let's call him Mohammed -- who thought he had a hot line to God, was a bit too keen on waging war and not at all queasy about massacring Jews -- but we doubt you'll see that on a BBC screen any time soon.
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Austin Barry
December 8th, 2007 2:04pm Report this commentThe BBC is beyond redemption. Time for public funding to stop.
Cogito Ergosum
December 8th, 2007 2:08pm Report this commentIndeed the original inhabitants of Mecca had the common sense to reject "the prophet" and run him out of town. Then he achieved revenge with the aid of tribal country folk always ready to take the townies down a peg or two.
simon hb
December 8th, 2007 2:23pm Report this commentAn interesting, passionate piece, let down only by the BBC Three Liverpool Nativity being set in "a fictional state, Herodia" (press release) rather than Britain and the immigration crackdown being used a modern parallel to the tax census in the Biblical story. Yes, once again The Spectator plays fast and loose with facts so we can all think the worst of the BBC.
The Secret Person
December 8th, 2007 4:12pm Report this commentsimon hb, if you'd read the press release carefully, you'd see Herodia is in fact the name of a character. It is set in a 'fictional state' though. Another point, surely people from Liverpool would be seeking asylum elsewhere. Sorry, came over all Boris Johnson for a moment.
Charlie D.
December 8th, 2007 4:33pm Report this commentI have no objection to putting the story in a modern setting and playing it out live. However putting an intrinsicly different slant on the story is nonsensical and does not aid understanding of the Nativity.
Kate.
December 8th, 2007 5:11pm Report this commentMy God this is outrageous!
Ben
December 8th, 2007 5:22pm Report this commentI think you'll find that Mary and Joseph were indeed asylum seekers afterwards - what with fleeing to Egypt etc.
Max Kaye
December 8th, 2007 7:34pm Report this commentNo chance of a BBC kiddies TV show with a teddy bear named named Mohammed then?
TGF UKIP
December 8th, 2007 9:22pm Report this commentNice one, Max Kaye!
Baz
December 8th, 2007 10:42pm Report this commentThe once great BBC - now all cheap'n'tearful reality shows and dogmatic propaganda. Funded by us whether we agree or not. I'm seriously considering getting rid of my TV set when my licence expires.
Martin
December 8th, 2007 11:35pm Report this commentI got rid of my TV three years ago, what a liberation.
Rasputin Speaks
December 9th, 2007 7:40pm Report this commentBBC Bolsheviks Broadcasting Communism
Roger Thornhill
December 10th, 2007 10:31am Report this commentBBC: chock-full of self-loathers.
Marcus
December 10th, 2007 12:53pm Report this commentOf course the stupid thing is, if the BBC really wanted to use the Chrsitmas story to highlight asylum seekers, they could have read on a few verses and used the flight into Egypt...
Anon
December 10th, 2007 12:56pm Report this commentTo the author: Never, ever, go to Sudan.
Serf
December 10th, 2007 3:40pm Report this commentFunny how they miss the real meaning of Christmas. Taxation. Poor Joseph & Mary suffered the indignity of sharing sleeping quarters with animals, all for the sake of increasing taxation. The reality doesn't fit their lefty world view though.
DaveHill
December 10th, 2007 9:44pm Report this commentYou're a twit, mate.
Jack Bloxam
December 11th, 2007 11:00am Report this commentMartin got rid of his TV three years ago. I know how he feels after just two weeks. I gave it up because I have better things to do and because I refuse to pay for the propaganda that the BBC feels it has a remit to broadcast.
Thomas R.K. Fry
December 11th, 2007 3:12pm Report this commentFor all you people who think you're clever. The stable ONLY appears in Luke's gospel and the flight to Egypt ONLY appears in Matthew's. It wouldn't therefore be a question of reading on a few verses, but of being familiar with the whole New Testament, which is indubitably beyond the ken of the head of religion at the BBC.
Shiva
December 13th, 2007 8:06pm Report this commentCoponius' census of the Judaean population was in AD6. Jesus, a Galilean born naturally in Nazareth, would have been about ten years old. 'Bethlehem is invented to fulfill Micah 5.1 and the Flight into Egypt Hosea dammit can't remember the ch/verse. Read Mark's Nativity, the first and most authentic. (joke - there isn't one)
Mike
December 14th, 2007 1:50am Report this commentAnother reason why I'm glad I don't have a telly.
john problem
December 15th, 2007 11:24am Report this commentIt's like the little boy who said to Churchill who objected to his whistling 'You don't have to listen, Mister.' Watching telly is a matter of choice. Anyhow, I hear Rupert Murdoch is making an offer for the Beeb.
Dave
December 18th, 2007 8:33am Report this commentSo after all this fuss, were you one of the 700,000 people who watched it this weekend? Iain Dale got very upset too and he had the good grace to admit he hadn't bothered tuning in. As a Christian I thought it was moving and pretty special. Exactly what the BBC should be doing at this time of year.
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