Giving a platform to a bigot

It's a while since I've complained to the BBC, but the Pope's Easter message being broadcast was enough to get me riled. "Giving a platform to a bigot" is how I summarized it in under 20 words. This is the extended special edition:

The views of the Pope are homophobic, sexist, possibly anti-semitic and extremely dangerous when it comes to the spreading of HIV. Why is someone who would be marginalized if he was a political leader, or condemned if he was a Muslim cleric, given 34 minutes to air his views at the expense of the license payer, with no-one given a right to reply? You decided to let Nick Griffin on Question Time as an elected MEP, but the Pope has no right to a platform on similar grounds so how can this be justified?


Update:
I got a reply from the BBC. This is their justification:
Dear Mr Chafey

Reference **************

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the BBC One programme ‘Urbi et Orbi’.

I understand you’re unhappy because you believe the Pope’s views are homophobic and that the BBC shouldn’t broadcast him on its network.

Given that the occasion was Easter, this was a live broadcast from St Peter's Square in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI gives his Easter message and blessing "to the city and to the world".

We would also check our broadcasts, in that they don’t breach editorial our guidelines, however it would be more difficult in a live rolling environment. Yet the Pope represents hundreds of millions of Catholics across the planet and as Catholics make up a big percentage of the UK population, we need to reflect the interests of our audience while also trying to offer various other interests across our network, for viewers who may not prefer to watch the programme.

I appreciate that you may continue to hold a different view and I'd like to assure you that I've registered your complaint on our Audience Log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that’s made available to all BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive board, channel controllers and other senior managers.

The Audience Logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions on future BBC programmes and content.

Once again, thank you for contacting us.

Kind Regards

**********
BBC Complaints






Is this adequate justification? Your views please...

10 Worst Popes

It's fair to say that Popes having...issues while in office is not a new thing. In fact current Pope Ratzinger doesn't come close to being the most controversial Pope, despite protecting paedophiles, clear anti-Semitism and continuing the Catholic Church's modern conquest to spread not religion, but AIDs. Even with these things he is still a progressive visionary compared to many of his predecessors. But that's only like saying someone's the least-obnoxious contestant on The Apprentice. It's not really a compliment.

For the list of '10 Worst Popes' follow this link: http://www.oddee.com/item_96537.aspx

Reading that list it's really hard to believe what went on. And impossible to judge who is the worst. The website decides Stephen IV is worst, but really, exhuming a body is a victimless crime. Benedict IX's behaviours are certainly surprising, but again, selling the Papacy is not that immoral compared to the others on the list. It's like lumping Bernie Madeoff and Stalin in the same category. Madeoff is bad, but ultimately his crimes were only financial. John XII is probably the worst in the list on religious grounds, due to the amount of sex he had, and I think worshipping pagan Gods and toasting the Devil are frowned upon in the Church. But don't quote me on that. However, Popes rejecting their own moral rules and having lots of sex while in power is actually quite common (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sexually_active_popes, several have actually died during sex). In the list, I think Alexander VI's sexual morality was the worst. Fathering a child with his daughter is...well...needs no comment, nor does the whole orgy, naked boys in cakes thing. Urban IV and Innocent VI were also quite bad, with the amount of murder and torture they were responsible.

Thank God our morality doesn't come from religion, eh?