´óÏó´«Ã½

Given your enormous outout Will I'm beginning to think that ´óÏó´«Ã½ stands for the Bill Broadcasting Corporation

Not enough hours in the day to keep up and keep track of it all! Though I'm not knocking it - I for one am very appreciative of 'your enormous output' William. ;-)) Just a pity I can't make the dinner (still can't RJB) and shake your hand to say thank you in person....one day perhaps! :-) Keep up the good work!
(oh and if you (or anyone) ever lay your hands on a copy of your documentaries (dying for a drink, sorry for ur trouble, losing religion) I'd love to borrow/buy them - tried through web to source a copy and no joy so far. They would be reliably returned). :-)

Re SS & SML

It was interesting to hear the author of the shack speak about how his experiences informed his writing. I read the book a few years ago when people were raving about it and have seen the film. I wouldn't rave about it - it is ok up to a point and probably useful for those coming from a more traditional Christian perspective and at least conveys a God of love. However, it is still limited by the Christian view and salvation through Jesus and a number of other points that for me render it flawed, constrained and limited.

SML: abortion debate: interesting! Virginia Ironside lost the plot a bit - the others incl Susanna were very shocked and a bit lost for words re her pillow remark. She might regret that one!
Like a lot of things in life - things are not always as straightforward as they seem. The arguments re abortion were pretty much standard without really any new material for discussion particularly from the church side. For me, someone who is supposed to be representing God/Christ on earth ( Rev Jepson) should be less judgmental and more compassionate re the human condition and in this case women who have an abortion. Pretty much stereotypical responses from those who think they know better and in my view are just relaying religious views without consideration for the lived experiences of many women. There is always a bigger picture in my view.

I too am appreciative to William for his excellent and learned work on the ´óÏó´«Ã½. However it's a pity that the old controversial chestnuts of gays, science, atheism, and humanism, over shadow and dominate all too frequently much of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ religious output. This output perhaps shows a public conditioning agenda, from editors or producers which is self-serving and centred on the fructuous interface of belief and unbelief, with a bias towards unbelief. Whilst this area cannot be neglected, many other aspects of religion and voices are not so often heard. The recent interview with William Young, on his 2008 book, The Shack, as one example, missed an opportunity to put a voice such as Rev Gary Gilly, of Southern View Chapel. Garry Gilly has been in NI in the past and has produced a thoughtful review of this particular book. His 2008 review is still on his web site. In the same vain we have a host of local events and issues of concern which are of concern to people of faith and which are not adequately covered. Let me give some other examples. Recent walking tours, organised by the Ulster Historic Churches Trust, took place in Cookstown and Newtownards. They sought to highlight the need to preserve our Ecclesiastical Heritage through promoting best practice preservation methods. I think that this work is vital. However, it could also be asked, is the church the building, the people or the denomination? In other words, in regard to our Ecclesial heritage, what are we actually preserving? Why are church histories all about Ministers and buildings? Perhaps Professor Laurence Kilpatrick UTC could explain. The same question of course could be asked of the National Trust. Given the child abuse scandal and the amount of compensation involved, when will we see a programme on the ethical issue of the extent of Catholic Church ownership of land in Belfast? Has anyone asked the question? Where can I see a copy of their church accounts? When will we see a programme on the expenses of Presbyterian Ministers attending Board meetings, in the light of the PMS crash? Why is voting the PCI General Assembly weighted in favour of Ministers? When are going to see a Elder elected Moderator in the Irish Presbyterian Church? What are the activities of the local Church of Scientology in Belfast? How are they financed, are they growing, given the recent ´óÏó´«Ã½ Panorama investigation? What is the state of the Brethren movement in NI? What problems do they face? What successes have had? How do they view Government Equality legislation, given that they are the group most likely to be involved in street preaching and tract distribution in NI? What about the Evangetical Presbyterian Church, Baptists, Independent Methodists, Free Methodists, the Church of God, Jesus Saves Mission, Church of the Nazarene, Moravians etc. Are they all invisible? Have they no opinion?Not forgetting other faiths of course. How often is local man Calum Webster, the NI spokesman of the Christian Institute, a regular on the programme, compared for example, to humanist Brian McClinton. How often is Professor Stephen Williams asked to contribute to your programme on ethical subjects compared to an obscure Oxford academic? Religious programming in NI needs to deal more locally and widely with where religious and non-religious people are in their lives. It must not just deal with press releases from liberal pressure groups, or authors pushing their latest book. When we debate religion and ethics in NI we need to be more searching in determining just what we could discuss than the usual bland of back slapping ecumenicalism, or the sterile debate on religion verses science we so often hear.