大象传媒

Father Ted鈥檚 troubles.

Brenda, an evangelical lesbian here in the UK: 鈥淚t鈥檚 for the good of the church whether its true or not. He鈥檚 cleared the decks. If this is true, and it鈥檚 a big if, then the views he has do not allow for the actions he took.鈥�

Wayne: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about hypocrisy. It鈥檚 about them presenting a way of life which is just not true. Gays are told they鈥檒l go to hell and now we see the condemners are gay themselves. It鈥檚 time they started looking in the mirror . . .鈥�

Ros has pressed Wayne on whether we should withhold judgement until we have all the facts; 鈥淓ither he鈥檚 straight or he鈥檚 not. There鈥檚 clearly more than meets the eye.鈥�

John: These evangelicals are in complete denial. They鈥檙e in denial about the humanity of gays . . .鈥�

Again, Ros reminds us that these are unproven allegations . . but John reckons there is a political angle to all this.

John: 鈥淧astor Ted has been a powerful political force. This man is connected to George Bush. He鈥檚 stepping aside to give George Bush half a chance in the elections next week.鈥�

Brenda is unhappy with the stance of evangelicals in the US: 鈥淭here seems to be an obsession with lesbian and gays. It does not make for a healthy ability to relate to people.鈥�

John: 鈥淲e had the commies as the enemy and when they went we had to find a new enemy: deviants, i.e. drugs addicts, gays, people who don鈥檛 tread the normal path.鈥�

An e-Mail and a text have just come in:

Peter
鈥淎s a gay man, I am actually sorry for Haggard. One of the functions of anti-gay stereotypes in our society is to socialize boys and girls to be 'real men' and 'real little ladies'.鈥�

Gabriel in Nigeria
鈥淓ver since the church in the USA ordained a gay bishop, the anti-Christ has been born. The priest should not resign, for greater is he in him than he in the world.鈥�

Some more e-Mails:

Helen, Virginia, USA
I am sick of the hyposcrisy of fundamentalist, evangelical Christians who oppose abortion and stem cell research but think nothing of killing innocent people in a war for oil.

Max
Despite what did or did not go on I thought he was a disgrace anyway. He's completely hijacked the name "evangelical" and tried to grab power through politics.

And a text:

Gabriel in Nigeria
Ever since the church in the USA ordained a gay bishop, the anti-Christ has been born. The priest should not resign, for greater is he in him than he in the world.

Wayne: 鈥淭his comes on the heels of the Foley scandal. They鈥檙e finally paying the price for their hypocrisy. I think the timing is a coincidence but if it鈥檚 political then I have no problem with that.鈥�
Peter is in Boston: 鈥淚 think the person who came forward did so in the context of an election. Yes, he should have resigned but as a Christian myself, but if you鈥檙e living a lie you鈥檙e not free.鈥�

Felix is Ghana: 鈥淭he pontiff should decide on it. It鈥檚 not a political matter.鈥�

. . . and a text from Uganda:

鈥淚T IS NOT SURPRISING.THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF CASES OF EVANGELICALS INVOLVED IN SEXUAL SCANDALS. I AM SORRY ABOUT THE DOUBLE LIFE MANY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE LIVE.鈥�

An e-Mail just in:

Thomas, Washington
鈥淚 am a gay man who finds this hypocrisy quite sad. I hope this opens up a dialog between gays and evangelicals.鈥�

Meka: 鈥淭he position he occupies required the highest standard of moral integrity.鈥�

Theresa in London: 鈥淚 can remember somebody standing for president and standing down because of rumours about his family. They were nasty about it. Whenever something bad is said people would go back to the source then they should go back to the source.鈥�

Another text . . . the communications are really hotting up on this issue:

Ella. Nairobi
In America anything goes. Why the fuss?

Seamus in Arizona : 鈥淗e had no choice. The election is imminent and the Republicans don鈥檛 need any more bad news.鈥�

It鈥檚 the halfway point. We鈥檙e breaking for the news. Join us in 5 . . .

Tom: 鈥淲hen I first heard his denial of a relationship, it was funny the way he worded it. It says on Google that one hour ago he admitted to some of the allegations. Where there鈥檚 smoke there鈥檚 fire.鈥�

Tom, a Christian, recently openly admitted being gay to his congregation: 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a negative and it still isn鈥檛 a negative. Some of my Christian friends said it went against their beliefs.鈥�

Naples violence.

Stefano, a listener, is our man in Naples: 鈥淎 lot of people were killed but this isn鈥檛 abnormal. They recently freed 45% of the prisoners and it appears a large majority were freed by mistake. We have to change the mind of the people in Naples. Too often the normal people make a shield between the policeman and the criminals. There are two Italys, one where there are laws and one which is like the wild West.鈥�

Life with Lil鈥� Kim.

Peter Simpson is a brave guy. He鈥檚 explaining how he snarfled himself into the world鈥檚 most secretive regime using a combination of guile and cunning and outright deception!

But we鈥檙e glad he did. He鈥檚 just back from the DPRK and you phoned in to ask questions. Peter鈥檚 answers were riveting . . .

鈥淜im is able to stem the flow of information in. The people are subjected to one voice. It鈥檚 comes across in the radio, TV the extensive public address system. They only have one train of thought.

鈥淭here are some rumours of a power struggle. There might be some dissent. Any attempt by these people to work their way up is quickly crushed.鈥�

Dillon is in Malaysia: 鈥淒o the youth get to listen to chart-topping hits in North Korea?鈥�

Peter: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e keen on football. Music is revolutionary opera and karaoke is big. Singalongs are primarily about how great North Korea is.

鈥淭he air is clear. There are very few cars. There are no mobiles. I saw about four ad billboards. That鈥檚 their token gesture to the mass branding we have in the West.

鈥淭hey are aware of what鈥檚 going internationally. On day one you have to go to Man Soo Hill, I think that鈥檚 how you say it, the monument to Kim鈥檚 father. We laid flowers and bowed. That鈥檚 where I heard a tinny PA voice and saw down in the valley an amphitheatre which was packed with people wearing black clothing. This was a celebratory rally for the nuke test. This was staged.

鈥淭he majority of North Koreans look at the South and feel they are connected.

鈥淭he odd thing is that you think they鈥檙e offices or houses. The shops have no signs. The only one I went to was one at the hotel. We were promised a visit to a market where farmers are allowed to trade where apparently you can buy DVDs but not players! There is an opening up. It鈥檚 a snapshot of China in the 1980s. It鈥檚 very much in its early stages. Small, medium enterprises need to come in and kickstart the country. We need to engage.鈥�

That鈥檚 it for tonight. Have great weekend.