Thanks to Gordon, but (again) not its Gordon, for bringing to my attention the news that the Christian-Zionist and fundamentalist station Genesis-Revelation TV is moving its broadcast licence to Spain. The shift means it can dodge around the complaints it receives from casual viewers via Ofcom when it offends Ofcom regulations for British broadcasters. Ofcom has been actually quite generous in recognising it is a Christian (according to a narrow understanding) television station, but it asks for basic ethical and representative recognition of those others it is talking about. Presumably now these will be subsumed under the Genesis-Revelation own ethic that can be so offensive to those outside the walls of the Church Without Walls.What puzzles me about Genesis-Revelation TV is how it can spend on new plant and equipment in New Malden, London, and yet operate under a licence from
another country; how is it that God TV and its money-begging activities can link with the North East of England with all its well-living American culture characters and yet operate outside Ofcom strictures for British stations?Genesis-Revelation TV is a curious double TV channel (soon to be single again and just Revelation TV). On the one hand it has been a homely and communicative support for its sympathetic audience that has an umbilical connection with its shambolic and penniless presentation, financing itself through donations to its trust. Despite its rampant and dangerous Zionism and its ridiculous Creationism, it has rejected the Prosperity Theology seen on other channels. Its shift to Spain in terms of its licence might see it become more remote, and allow it to become more politicised too in terms of a right wing stance (that Ofcom has prevented so far) prior to the British General Election, so it will presumably promote these little Christian parties with less resistance than would have been the case. What the station doesn't perhaps realise, in its striving to present just one angle, is that its best programmes have been when another view has been present, even if they have set it up with presenter and guest versus the one other, such as the programme with Mandi Schrader regarding Paganism and also the female bishop of the Metropolitan Community Church regarding homosexuality and the Bible.
[This is my one thousandth post to this blog.]
3 comments:
Actually, they have actualluy come down on the side of the word of faith movement. They had someone on who criticised people like Benny Hinn (who'se programme they show). The next day they issued an apology which you can see here:
http://www.archive.org/details/RevelationTvsLesleyCondorRebukesJustinPeters-11thFebruary2010
It used to be in Youtube but RTV had it pulled as a copyright infringement.
I dread to think what they are going to start saying once the gloves are off. And you can be sure they have had to pay God TV for their new EPG number. Sky stopped issuing new EPG numbers in 2007 and anyone who has spare ones can make serious money from selling them to other broadcasters.
Presumably then they will sell two separated and higher numbers for the lower 'next to God TV' better status number, much paid out and much get paid, which probably means yet another two of these awful stations. It is bizarre to think that EWTN is the only reasonable religious TV station in the Christian grouping, and you listen to that for a maximum five minutes with its pope-licking Americana output. At least Revelation TV talks to some fairly desperate people and communicates, and then there is always the puzzle as to how you can make a programme by reading out terrible tabloid newspapers as if they are worth reading out at all, just as a way to convince themselves that the last days are among them (of the middle tabloid press just maybe, you hope).
12 March 2010 14:14
I think its the whole evangelical thing of having to prove how bad the world is to justify the need to separate from it.
Its part of the same thing as pushing that life is totally pointless and not worth living unless you are "born again". Its clearly not true, but that doesn't stop people saying it.
Anyway, if they were moving to Spain in order to help the poor or the sick I wouldn't mind but it seems like they are doing it so that they can say nasty things about other people - which is not IMO a particularly Christian motivation.
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