Broadcasting Association rejects O'Briain complaint

bnt

After Dara Ó Briain appeared on The Late Late Show to talk about the new Three Men in a Boat series, the Broadcasting Association of Ireland (BAI) received a complaint. (Not complaints... complaint, singular.) The BAI looked at the complaint, consulted the RTE, and rejected the complaint. The full document is here.

Sounds boring, but the complaint is hilarious in itself, and includes the following:

By appearing in the tree stump, Our Lady is clearly showing she is an integral part of The Tree of Life and earns the title CoRedemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate by being the Second Coming of the son to us all which is happening in Ireland right under the noses of Mr. Tubridy and Dara Ó Briain, both of whom suffer with Spiritual Blindness which should be cured fairly rapidly. The tree stump also plays a major role in the Sainthood for Pope John Paul II.

Um... if you're going to stare at the sun, you have more to worry about than "spiritual" blindness! I was pleasantly surprised at the forthright language used in the BAI response. There are some references to the Catholic Church's scepticism about the Stump, but there's also this:

It is widely accepted that facets of society can be, and regularly are, subject to scrutiny through humour. While such humour may not appeal to all tastes, the Committee must respect the right to freedom of expression.
...
As religion is a facet of Irish society, one could expect that associated issues could be targeted and subjected to humour. The Code of Programme Standards acknowledges this fact and while it requires broadcasters to ‘take measures to prevent undue offence in the treatment of religious views, beliefs or images during programme material’ it also states, ‘this is not intended to prevent critical scrutiny of religion’.

Well, I call that progress of a sort. :cool:

Galvasean

What was it the guy who makes Itchy & Scratchy said, "One screwball cannot make a difference, now matter how nutty she is."?