Sean O’Connor
Editor, The Archers.
BBC Radio 4
5 April 2014
Dear Mr O’Connor,
As you have had a few months to settle into your new post, I
wonder if it might be the right time to bring the Archers into the twenty-first century
in one important respect.
We all know that the BBC in its Charter has a mandate to act as a propaganda
arm for mainstream religion, but perhaps
the time has come for BBC drama to be excused this duty - after all the Charter refers explicitly to religious services. There are many areas on the BBC radio where exaggerated
deference is still shown to Christian belief, and I suspect that most people are
ready to hear a more realistic version of village life.
Over the last thirty years or so, Ambridge has seen a
succession of vicars. They have all been attractive, dedicated, liberal characters – just as they are across all of Radio 4. If you know any vicars, or if you read national
or local newspapers, you will know that this does not reflect reality.
At one end of the spectrum, real
vicars are often barely Christians at all. To friends they will generally admit quite freely that they do not
believe in nonsense like the Virgin Birth or the Resurrection. Some of them
laugh at the simpletons who do believe such things. At the other end of the spectrum are conservatives, with no doubts at all, who espouse traditional Christian views: generally they barely conceal their homophobia, misogyny and racism. There are some very strange people indeed wearing dog collars - openly manipulating their female parishioners, hearing supernatural voices, speaking in tongues, preaching hell-fire, exorcising demons and so on.
In between, in the middle of the spectrum, real vicars are sometimes unpleasant characters. Some commit
frauds and other crimes. Some are pedophiles. Some beat their wives – so many
in fact that there is a special support organization dedicated to the support
of battered clerical wives. Others have adulterous affairs. Real vicars are often involved in
legal disputes with their own bishops, their own organists, their own choirs or
their own churchwardens. They are also often accused of having influenced the
wills of dying parishioners – a charge that has been common continuously over nearly 2000
years. Real vicars might watch porn and swear. A surprising proportion of vicars are atheists –
they have lost their faith but carry on a pretence because they could never
find another job in the real world (we know this because they will often admit
it after they retire). Non-belief is so common that there are confidential support organisations
for non-believing priests. Real vicars have skeletons in their cupboards. Some are alcoholics. Some take hard drugs. Some do little else but read out a standard sermon from the pulpit once a week. If your sole source
of information about the Anglican Church were the Archers, you would never
guess any of this. The picture painted is not merely 30 years out of date but also massively sanitized. Ambridge vicars are always caring, sensitive, responsible, liberal
individuals completely free of spite, sexual peccadilloes, human weaknesses and criminal tendencies.
The same is true of Ambridge villagers. Nearly all of them go to
church – unlike the residents of any real village. At major Christian festivals like
Christmas and Easter we are always treated to unadulterated Christian propaganda –
listening in on Church services scripted to be as moving as possible. Ambridge
must be unique in Britain in having a conventional church that appeals to young people. Not one of the
youngsters in Ambridge regards the Church as an absurd anachronism - another strong contrast to reality. The sort of
characters who really might attend church, old women like Peggy Archer, are now made out to be wholly sympathetic. They
are not like real church-going eighty year-olds, people like the embarrassing grannies many of us are familiar with: vicious, vocally Christian, anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist, still opposed to women priests, streaming with bile, and incandescent with
rage at the idea of same-sex marriage. Some years ago, poor old Peggy was vaguely bemused by the idea of women vicars, but she soon came round to the BBC's approved progressive liberal view. She is also unrealistic quiescent about having openly homosexual relatives. She exhibits not a hint of anti-Semitism or racism.
Unlike the
real world, there no noticeable friction between High Church Anglicans and Low
Church Anglicans. In Ambridge, Christians all rub along in perfect harmony without
ever accusing each other of being obscurantist flesh-eating Papists or heretical Presbyterian iconoclasts, as
they do in the real world. There is not a single Catholic believer in Ambridge for Anglicans to
accuse of pseudo-magical hocus-pocus, as in real life. No Christian burns effigies of other Christians every year as they do in real villages, such as Lewes. Neither do we ever hear of a single wing-nut Evangelical or Pentecostalist in Borcetshire. No Christian parents indoctrinate children with Fundamentalist nonsense, a common and increasing problem in the real world. In Ambridge as in the rest of the Radio 4 fantasy-world, BBC Christians all fit onto just one quarter of the real-world Christian spectrum. We never hear of the quarter in the super-woolley end represented by in the real world by the likes of Bishop Richard Holloway, nor the half of the spectrum at the other end represented by traditionalists obsessed by sin and sex. There is not a single creationist in Borcetshire.
Again, unlike real villages, Ambridge boasts only one atheist – Jim – an eccentric
who, despite his rationalism and education, never voices any rational argument against
Christianity, and is easily manipulated by the vicar. Caroline who used to be a non-believer, now never voices any religious opinion. In the real world dozens of characters in a village like Ambridge would have abandoned their faith over the last thirty years. In Ambridge the total tally of apostates is nil. No one ever criticizes the Church, or laughs at Christian
doctrine, or ridicules church-goers – not even in private – another unique feature of Ambridge. No-one ever
complains about the constitutional advantages or massive tax breaks enjoyed by
Churches. No one ever mentions all the exemptions negotiated by the Churches for
themselves, excusing themselves from complying with equality legislation. In
Ambridge, no one is ever forced to sell their house because of chancel repair liability, having to pay legally-enforced arcane
Church fees of hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund repairs to the local church –
another scandal restricted to the real world.
Joe Grundy used to hold the traditional belief that the
Bible was true in a literal sense: Adam and Eve, Noah’s Flood, Talking Donkeys ... all of it. When and why did he stop believing all that? And when did he abandon his
Methodism? Did the Methodist membership collapse in Ambridge as it did
everywhere else, but without anyone noticing? Why do we not see Anglican Church membership collapsing too, as it is in almost every real village across the country?
When Alan, the present vicar, married Usha, a Hindu, there were two
interesting consequences, one scripted and one in real life. The scripted one
was some strange soul-searching by Schula and others. No-one objected for racist
reasons. No-one lost their faith as a result. No-one threatened the vicar with
violence. In the real world many Christian listeners were outraged and wrote in
to the BBC to complain about the unrealistic blasphemy of an Anglican vicar
marrying someone other than another Christian. These real Christians (who
apparently had no idea that in real life several vicars had already married
members of other religions) provided a striking counterpoint to Ambridge
Christians. A bit of thoughtful soul-searching for Ambridge Christians. Nasty-minded foam-flecked bigotry from real-life Christians. If you look at the news on the BBC you will see that in the real world, there are plenty of racist, misogynist, homophobic Christians making anonymous death threats to pretty much anyone not fitting their model of a traditional Christian. In the real world men like John Sentamu, the black Archbishop of York, receive excrement and anonymous abuse through the post. Like women vicars, their crime, according to their fellow Christian correspondents, is to occupy Church offices while not being white men. In Ambidge, neither female vicars nor Usha, the vicar's Hindu wife, receive offensive mail. Usha once experienced a racist incident, but of course it was not religiously motivated. There are no right-wing extremist Christians in Ambridge, just as there are no rabid religious types casting around for excuses to challenge equality legislation. Such unattractive beings intrude only into the real world, not into Radio 4.
So, please Mr O’Connor, may we have a more realistic, up-to-date, unsanitised version of Christianity in Ambridge in the future. Apart from anything else you have been missing hundreds of interesting story lines that resonate with reality.
Yours faithfully
James McDonald
jordan 6 black infrared
ReplyDeletenorth face coats
hermes belt
fitflop outlet store usa
under armour outlet
burberry scarf
gucci shoes
coach handbags
burberry sale
kevin durant shoes
north face jackets
converse shoes sale
coach factory outlet
air jordan 14
coach factory outlet online
louboutin outlet
fitflop sale
nike nfl jerseys 2015
north face outlet store
ugg boots
reebok outlet
michael kors handbags
christian louboutin sale
north face jackets clearance
new kevin durant shoes
nike clearance
toms outlet
dior handbags
michael kors outlet store
fitflops clearance
kate spade sale
jordan 12
ugg boots
coach purses sale
gucci outlet
wholesale jordans
canada goose clearance
1030wjl
1 columbia outlet
ReplyDeletenike air max
polo shirts
polo shirts for women
north face outlet 70% off
cheap michael kors handbags
air jordan retro 6
salvatore ferragamo outlet
north face clearance
mbt shoes clearance outlet
reebok shoes outlet
polo ralph lauren factory store
celine handbags
christian louboutin shoes
michael kors handbags
fitflops online
jordan 6
ralph lauren extra 25% off
michael kors outlet
air jordan 11
coach factory online sale
jordan shoes
kd shoes
coach handbags outlet
coach shoes for women
gucci outlet
abercrombie and fitch outlet
ferragamo shoes outlet
air jordan 11 legend blue
michael kors factory outlet online
michael kors store
all jordan shoes
ugg boots sale
fitflop sandals for women
gucci outlet
cheap canada goose coats
nike running shoes
1030wjl
fitflops mizuno shoes fitflop shoes mbt mizuno running shoes fitflop sale cheap ray bans ray ban outlet oakley sunglasses outlet discount ray bans cheap oakley jordans 2016 nike free 5.0 nike basketball shoes 2016 Nike free Run Nike Outlet lebron james shoes 2016 authentic christian louboutin outlet christian louboutin outlet christian louboutin sale mizuno shoes cheap louboutin shoes red sole shoes christian louboutin
ReplyDeletecartier watches
ReplyDeletemichael kors outlet clearance
cheap jordan shoes
ray ban sunglasses
ray ban sunglasses outlet
true religion sale
oakley sunglasses
gucci belts
coach outlet
true religion outlet
fitflops shoes
air max 90
kate spade handbags
louis vuitton outlet
abercrombie and fitch
air jordan shoes
lebron 11
lebron 12
celine bags
toms outlet
lebron shoes for kids
coach factory outlet
oakley canada
toms outlet
nike roshe one
coach factory outlet online
adidas yeezy
ralph lauren
michael kors outlet clearance
kd 8 shoes
chenyingying0707
ecco shoes
ReplyDeletecanada goose sale
designer handbags
louis vuitton bags
polo ralph lauren outlet online
uggs outlet
adidas gazelle
birkenstock shoes
uggs outlet
michael kors outlet clearance
celine handbags
reebok outlet
converse shoes
north face uk
pandora charms uk
mont blanc pens outlet
ugg outlet
cheap jordans
coach outlet store
louis vuitton purse
yeezy boost 350
yeezy boost 350 black
canada goose uk
michael kors outlet online
yeezy 350 boost
adidas nmd
cheap ray bans
adidas nmd
vans shoes
tiffany jewelry
yeezy boost 350
2016822yuanyuan
coach factory outlet
ReplyDeleteugg boots
michael kors handbags
coach factory outlet
toms shoes outlet
cheap nfl jerseys
uggs outlet
true religion
kate spade outlet
gucci outlet
20161110caiyan
ugg australia
ReplyDeletemichael kors outlet online
true religion jeans outlet
oakley sunglasses outlet
polo ralph lauren
north face
louis vuitton outlet stores
pandora bracelet
uggs for sale
ugg boots
2016.12.1chenlixiang
In a hilarious 2002 episode of the cult British TV comedy “Absolutely Fabulous,” Edina (Jennifer Saunders) channels Michael Kors Handbags Paris Hilton’s signature “Oops, my undies are showing!” style in a Juicy Couture velour tracksuit with her thong sticking out. So when it came time to outfit Eddy for the upcoming “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie,” out Longchamp Friday, costume designer Rebecca Hale searched for today’s equivalent of the butt-floss-baring look.“We actually contemplated making a fake camel toe, but it was just so disgusting,” says the English wardrober. Instead, Hale had a massive Kim Michael Kors Bags Kardashianesque rear carved out of foam for Bubble, Edina’s ditzy, trend-crazed personal assistant. “At one stage, I wanted to have her bottom [so huge] that when Bubble bent over Eddy could put her wine glass on Longchamp Sale it,” she adds.Bubble’s getup is one of many over-the-top looks Hale created for the movie to comment on society’s vapid obsessions, from do-nothing reality TV personalities to their cartoonish female forms, which are held up as Coach Outlet body ideals.“Everything is very tarty these days,” says Hale, referring to the frontless and transparent “naked” styles popular on the red carpet. “Nothing Longchamp Bag is left to the imagination.”Hale also uses the film to pay tribute to British fashion — mixing established labels like Vivienne Westwood with up-and-coming brands such as Ashish (known for its sequined party togs) and chain store cheapies from Topshop and Oasis.In the case of “Eddy,” the Champagne-swilling publicist who squeezes her jiggly middle-aged body into tight trend pieces, that michael kors outlet might mean unfortunate outlines. “She’s not afraid to do double muffin, and the trousers are always a size too small,” says Hale. “She has to look awkward and constrained.”Patsy (Joanna Lumley),
ReplyDeletefor beginners like me need a lot of reading and searching for information on various blogs. and articles that you share a very nice and inspires me .
ReplyDeleteobat telat datang bulan
obat aborsi
cara menggugurkan kandungan
obat telat bulan
obat penggugur kandungan
adidas uk
ReplyDeletecoach factory outlet
pandora charms sale
cheap oakley sunglasses
canada goose
adidas yeezy
ralph lauren outlet online
ray ban sunglasses
nike air max
longchamp outlet
20170119caiyan
cheap oakley sunglasses
ReplyDeletetimberland outlet
michael kors handbags
valentino shoes
golden state warriors jerseys
polo ralph lauren
michael kors
toms outlet
mbt outlet
rolex watches
20172.24wengdongdong
nike air max 90
ReplyDeletemichael kors outlet online sale
michael kors bags
true religion jeans
reebok outlet
prada bags
nike outlet store
coach factory outlet online
nike roshe run
michael kors outlet
chenyingying20170318
JIANBIN0407
ReplyDeletenfl jersey wholesale
cheap oakley sunglasses
polo ralph lauren
ralph lauren
fitflops sale
instyler ionic styler
swarovski outlet
michael kors factory outlet
mulberry uk
burberry outlet
cheap ray bans
ReplyDeletecoach factory outlet
louis vuitton
polo shirts
christian louboutin
bottega veneta outlet online
coach handbags outlet
pandora outlet
christian louboutin shoes
coach outlet online
20170526ck
This is a very good article material and it is very useful for us all. thank you . cara menggugurkan kandungan
ReplyDeletecheap jordans
ReplyDeletetrue religion jeans
ray ban sunglasses
cleveland cavaliers jersey
futbol baratas
adidas nmd runner
hermes belt
football shirts
adidas shoes
cheap oakley sunglasses
20170703caihuali
adidas shoes
ReplyDeletetrue religion outlet
michael kors outlet
ugg boots
polo ralph lauren outlet
oakley sunglasses
ugg outlet
coach outlet
ugg uk
uggs slippers
chenlina20170912
Yes, men have been brutal with one another, but blaming all Jewish persecution on the Catholic Church is like blaming President Obama for all of the Jihad activity in the America, or George Bush for inner city ghetto speech. Now lets get down to polemics; If we want to demonstrate all the evil done by Atheists, all one need do is mention the 25 million killed by Stalin. I could go on, but you get the point. I noted some interesting anomalies for your site and similar sites; that they all somehow lead to the evil done Jews! Now considering all the supposed evil committed by the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Calvinists, one could find other ethnicity that was debauched by the crusading Christians, but we don't. Its always about the Jews. This tells me that many of your detractors of Religion are in fact ethnically Jewish, but deadheads when it comes to Moses. It is interesting that the book: "Jerusalem" by Simon Sebag Montefiore - of English Gentry - friend of Bill Clinton - with provable roots to the Sephardi - write just like you do! As a matter of fact, his explanation of Barsoma the Monk of Jerusalem [pg.161] is extraordinarily similar in syntax to your own. It is a well attested fact that many so called Khazara Jews in America are Atheists. George Soros - another enabler Jewish Atheist - is helping keep the lid on the the sex fiends and pedophiles of Hollywood. The connection is just too revealing. Maybe after 2,000 years of being pissed off, you secularized Jews who really hate God, would figure that your propaganda becomes the seven times curse for you!
ReplyDeleteCoach Outlet Store Online Kate Spade Outlet Cheap Jordans Coach Purses Coach Outlet Kate Spade Outlet Nike Air Max Shoes Red Bottom Shoes Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 Adidas Original
ReplyDeletecoach outlet
ReplyDeletecheap air jordan
giuseppe zanotti shoes
fred perry polo
michael kors purses
michael kors outlet
michael kors outlet online
oakley sunglasses
ray ban sunglasses
true religion outlet
shenyuhang20180601
nike cortez
ReplyDeletemichael kors outlet
cheap nfl jerseys
oakley sunglasses
adidas yeezy
vapormax
adidas nmd
true religion
nike air max
nike air max
20180619xiaoke
ReplyDeletemichael kors outlet clearance
off white outlet
coach factory outlet
moncler coats
g-star jeans
dsquared2 jeans
true religion outlet store
uggs outlet online
canada goose jackets for women
stuart weitzman shoes
2018814 LEILEI3915
ReplyDeletemichael kors outlet clearance
canada goose
michael kors outlet online
michael kors handbags
nhl jerseys wholesale
kate spade outlet
ralph lauren polo
coach factory outlet
coach outlet store online
kate spade handbags
Thanks for sharing the information
ReplyDeletePengobatan Untuk Mengatasi Difteri
Pengobatan Untuk Menormalkan Penyempitan Uretra
Obat Untuk Menghilangkan Benjolan Di Leher
Pengobatan Atasi Abses Peritonsiler
Agen QnC Jelly Gamat Di Bangkalan Madura
Pengobatan Atasi Fibrosis Paru
Thanks for the information, this is very useful. Allow me to share a health article here, which gods are beneficial to us. Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteCara Mengatasi Diare
Obat Sariawan Alami
Obat Penghancur Batu ginjal
Cara Menghilangkan Varises
Obat Sakit perut melilit paling Ampuh
Cara Mudah Menghilangkan Keloid
christian louboutin boutique
ReplyDeletecoach outlet online
ugg boots
off-white
michael kors outlet
kate spade outlet
coach outlet
coach factory outlet
polo ralph lauren
cheap nfl jerseys
yaoxuemei20180911
I really enjoyed your blog Thanks for sharing such an informative post.
ReplyDeleteclipping path
clipping path service
background removal
raster to vector
Article very interisting, thanks for sharing information
ReplyDeleteCara Efektif Mengobati Kaki Keseleo
Pengobatan Atasi Penyakit Kencing Manis
Cara Mengobati Benjolan Di Leher
Pengobatan Atasi Bursitis
Cara Alami Mengobati Polip Usus Tanpa Operasi
Pengobatan Atasi Luka Lambung
Given article is very helpful and very useful for me, thank you
ReplyDeleteCara Mengobati Kaligata Tips Menyembuhkan Patah Tulang Obat Kanker Payudara Obat Bisul Alami Obat Mata Glaukoma Cara Menghilangkan Cairan Di Paru-paru
Great post, really inspiring
ReplyDeleteCara Mengatasi Gejala Tipes Cara Mengatasi Asma Cara Mengobati Esofagitis Cara Mengatasi Hidronefrosis
ReplyDeleteشركة تنظيف شقق بالدمام شركات تنظيف شقق بالدمام
شركة تنظيف شقق بالمدينة المنورة شركة غسيل شقق بالمدينة المنورة
شركة تنظيف شقق بالرياض شركات تنظيف شقق بالرياض
شركات تنظيف بجدة
I can only express a word of thanks. Because with the content on this blog I can add knowledge I, thank has been sharing this information. Do not forget to visit our website to share information and knowledge about health.|
ReplyDeleteCara mengobati vaginitis |
Cara mengatasi ulu hati |
obat klamidia di apotik |