Posted on 12/29/2010 7:50:37 PM PST by Coleus
THE BBC has angered Christians with a TV drama in which the Virgin Mary is branded a prostitute and sex cheat. In The Nativity, written by EastEnders scriptwriter Tony Jordan, 15-year-old Mary is attacked by people who do not believe her claim that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph accuses her of “whoring” and even suggests that her pregnancy might have been the result of rape.
The Church of England has described the four-part drama, which goes out before the 9pm watershed from tomorrow, as “a gritty interpretation”. But Stephen Green, of the ministry Christian Voice, said: “There is no justification for any of this in the gospels. They do say Joseph was suspicious, but that was it. “It doesn’t suggest any physical or verbal abuse. “It’s typical of the fertile imagination you need for something like EastEnders.
“The kids that do nativity plays in school will be perplexed that someone has come up with this revisionist, puerile idea. “The BBC can’t help themselves. Three quarters of our population are Christian. At the BBC, this proportion is reversed. “You have a huge proportion of militant, liberal atheists who are keen to dump on Christianity.
“They wouldn’t mock the birth of Muhammad , or anything to do with his life story. They wouldn’t ridicule Hinduism or Sikhism, but Christianity is their big target.” Defending the drama, Mr Jordan, 52, said: “The story is told using modern language and the characters have modern attitudes. “Personally, I believe in the immaculate conception but I think it’s perfectly understandable if people struggle with the concept. I think the questions asked in our drama are the kind that any man watching a prime-time TV drama in 2010 would quite reasonably ask.
“I think it perfectly believable that Joseph should get angry with his betrothed and only agree to take her with him to Bethlehem when she risks being stoned by angry neighbours. “If my own wife came to me and said: ‘Tony, I’m having a baby which isn’t yours but, don’t worry, I was visited by the Angel Gabriel and it’s actually God’s baby,’ I think I would feel more than a little miffed.”
“Don’t forget that those who wrote the gospels were doing so from a distance of 200 years. I am doing the same thing – interpreting an event that took place a long time ago – and I don’t see why my version of the story shouldn’t be valid, too.” Actress Tatiana Maslany, 25, who plays Mary, said: “If you took the names Mary and Joseph out, it could be a story about any two people in love.
“It isn’t so much about the belief in God, but the belief in enduring love, in love that can hold people together even in the most difficult circumstances.” Garrow’s Law star Andrew Buchan, who plays Joseph, said: “Joseph is a real man in our story. He’s like a guy in 2010 who goes away and comes back to find his wife or girlfriend pregnant.
“Of course he’s going to think she has slept with another guy and challenge her.” A Church of England spokesman said: “Tony Jordan’s adaptation presents a gritty interpretation of the events of the first Christmas. “We hope it will bring home the story of Jesus being born in a humble stable to many new viewers.”
Write:
BBC Complaints
PO Box 1922
Darlington
DL3 0UT, England
So the BBC is putting on a teleplay that coincides with Hitler’s views of Mary and the birth of Jesus.
Way to go! [sarcasm off]
Can’t wait ‘til these ankle biters do the story of Mohamed. Of course that will be done with the utmost respect.
I can’t wait for their Mohamed was a Pedophile show.
One of the oldest lies about the Bible...
!
A reminder that not all Barbarians were civilized. Pity.
Diversity: Insult Christians, exult Muslims - that’s the Liberal ticket today!
The UK, and other associated Commies (EU, USA) are destined to suffer at the Just Hand Of God Almighty in the very near future - you can take that to the “bank”
Christians who remain stead fast in their Faith shall be rewarded with eternal life, through the Kingship Of Christ, IMHO
I don’t think this dumbass knows what the Immaculate Conception is. He seems to be using the term to refer to Mary conceiving Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I think the questions asked in our drama are the kind that any man watching a prime-time TV drama in 2010 would quite reasonably ask.
________________________________________
Except it doesnt take place in 2010...
and wheres Joseph’s cell phone ??? His DonkeyMobile ???
Wheres the TSA that Mary must pass for her pat down to get on the plane for Bethlehem ???
From the description, I can’t judge whether the portrayal is offensive or not. It all turns on whether in the end the drama makes clear that Jesus was “incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary” as the Creed says, and whether in the later episodes Joseph is persuaded that the child is of the Holy Spirit. After all the hymnography of the First of the Royal Hours of the Nativity includes the sticheron:
Joseph spoke thus to the Virgin: “What is this doing, O Mary, that I see in thee? I fail to understand and am amazed, and my mind is struck with dismay. Go from my sight, therefore, with all speed. What is this doing, O Mary, that I see in thee? Instead of honor, thou hast brought me shame; instead of gladness, sorrow; instead of praise, reproof. No further shall I bear the reproach of men. I received thee from the priests of the temple, as one blameless before the Lord. And what is this that I now see?”
(The Royal Hours are the morning service appointed in the Orthodox Church for the Vigil (Eve) of Christmas and Theophany and for Good Friday. The service was originally instituted so the Emperor could hear the Hours on those occasions without interrupting the affairs of state four times during the day, and consists of the prayers of the hours with some psalms replaced with others more appropriate to the feast, readings from the Old Testament, Epistles and Gospel added to each hour and some extra hymns, one of which I quoted in its entirety.)
Well, Jordan’s adaptation has secured him a place in hell.
Christmas is the atheists busiest time of the year.
Pray for the Tea Party Congress
Bloody silly assertion. It's obvious that St. Luke interviewed the Virgin Mary--Holy Tradition says that he even "wrote" several icons of her from life, one, a small icon carved in mastic overlaid on wood, is preserved in the Monastery of Simonas Petras on Mount Athos.
Now it is true that the oldest extant manuscript of the Gospels date to about 200 A.D.
I will quietly wait until this purposeful provocation gets the same response as the cartoons of Mohammad. Waiting.
.
Wow. I guess what my Brit friend says is true. Jesus was not born in Great Britain because they couldn’t find 3 wise men.
Shades of Sam Kinnisson
I wouldn’t worry: if this was the one I downloaded, it’s boring. Without publicity no one will watch it.
And Mary did risk being called a prostitute for being pregnant.
The only insulting part is the miscasting of the Mary character: Mary is not believable. I’ve lived in the third world rural areas for much of my life, and the actress acted like a 20 something 20th century city girl.
At least in the movie “the Nativity”, it was boring, but the actress was believable as a glowing, teen aged Mary.
I’m sure the bombings are beheadings will happen any minute....any minute now.....
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