Bishop incident “was not mugging” says the BBC. OK. What was it, then? The Beeb, not normally so solicitous of Christian men of the cloth, ain’t telling.
The Guardian is.
The Rt Rev Tom Butler, 66, one of the Church of England’s most senior bishops and a pillar of Thought for the Day on the BBC Today programme, says he has no idea. Others say he was seen sitting in the back of a Mercedes chucking children’s toys out of the window and announcing: “I’m the Bishop of Southwark. It’s what I do.”
I like that slogan.
On the BBC Talk About Newsnight Blog that referred to ex President Jimmy Carter and his new book.
I clicked the link under one of the contributions (there was only a link, no actual comment) and it led directly to a porn site.
So much for the moderation of the blogs by the BBC.
What is the point of moderation if something like this is allowed through!
Perhaps if it had been not PC enough it would have been more likely to be stopped than porn.
The blog mysteriously disappeared a short time later and as yet it has not returned.
I wonder if they will deny its existence.
Did anyone else catch it?
I immediately e-mailed to complain, no response as yet though…
Now, Natalie, is this thread being being conducted in a Christian spirit of fellowship and outreach? We should hang our heads if it’s not.
Though one has to point out that it’s only a fortnight or so since “Bishop” “Tom” was on TFTD arguing that the C of E, being catholic, reformed and something else, had the God-given of leading the universal church, even on matters where there’s pointed disagreement between CofEs and RCs – on priestesses, homosexualist clergy, that sort of stuff. In short he was arguing that a couple of millennia of prayer and teaching and thinking about the nature of mankind, of saints and sacred tradition are as nothing when set against the opinions of Rt Rev “Tom” Butler. Struck me as pretty arrogant at the time. After this story it’s just very funny.
“God-given task”
Sorry about that.
Now that’s the sort of religious leader I could follow.
The nice thing is that this happened just as this man and his modernist accomplices were blackmailing Rowan Williams to stop the expulsion of the Episcopalians from the world Anglican body. I hope this will considerably reduce his stature and his bargaining position.
The BBC did at least have the grace to reply and apologise for the link and they have agreed it was not acceptable.
I wonder if posting here helped things along, perhaps more Beebers read this than let on.
However the buck passing statement that the moderation was done by a third party and no mention as to what was being done to stop a repition of this did not fill me with confidence…
This is actually typical BBC. It is disinformation specifically to create a fog around the events which are certainly known to the person(s) who wrote the ‘report’. It’s lies, what the BBC does.
“… moderation was done by a third party…”
What’s that supposed to mean?
Is it done by some 3rd party filtering software?
A help desk located in India?
Enquiring minds need to know…
“… moderation was done by a third party…”
So what are we paying a licence fee for if the Beeb aren’t doing this sort of thing themselves?
PS What was he doing in a Mercedes? Is a Jaguar not good enough for a British bishop?
Then again Berk in a Merc sounds better…..
and meanwhile, a 45 year old chap gets kicked to death in Henley on Thames (of all places…)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/default.stm
not a mention…
Sounds to me like the Right Reverend had one too many at the Irish embassy. Well at least he wasn’t driving.
Do you have AA in Britain? Blackouts and bizare behavior suggest his excellency might need help before pink elephants start parading down the chancel during services.
Roxana,
Yes we have Alcoholics Anonymous – though the initials AA are more usually used here for the Automobile Association, causing me to do a double-take at your comment.
To be fair to the bish, I doubt he needs treatment. My guess is that his problem is in a sense the opposite: a life in which a small glass of sherry counts as living fast and dangerously. (Nowt wrong with that – I’m just the same these days.) So when faced with generous Irish measures of booze in the glittering atmosphere of an embassy party, he lost it.
All very embarrassing in a man of his age and position. But he deserves to be laughed at, not disgraced. And that is what is happening – the story is in all the papers, nearly all using the same joky tone as the Guardian uses. The BBC can’t seriously believe that there is some legal issue stopping it reporting what has already been said everywhere else.
“Jonathan Miles:
On the BBC Talk About Newsnight Blog that referred to ex President Jimmy Carter and his new book.
I clicked the link under one of the contributions (there was only a link, no actual comment) and it led directly to a porn site.”
Sure it wasn’t “The Archers” website?
>> dave t:
>> “… moderation was done by a third party…”
>> So what are we paying a licence fee for if the Beeb aren’t doing this sort of thing themselves?
Moderation of the BBC’s user generated content is outsourced as a cost-saving measure.
Natalie: Good point. If this was a one time thing the Rt. Rev. doesn’t need treatment. Hopefully in the future he will be more cautious about imbibing Irish whisky.
I agree the story is funny, if a bit embarassing for the Rt. Rev. Certainly nothing to make a scandal about. But I suggest the next time he attends a party at the Irish Embassy he takes along a minder.
Here the Automobile Association goes under the name triple A, for Automobile Association of America – which of course wouldn’t apply in Britain!
The Rt Rev is one of the BBC’s mouthpieces for the multi-culti nightmare that some of us are waking up to. The Rt Rev is a liar and a drunkard: he should be pursued and mocked in the hope that his shame, if he has any, will include abstaining from mouthing off on Radio 4.
Allan@Aberdeen: hear hear. He would be my local bishop, were I unlucky enough to be Anglican. I have despised him for years, for reasons that have nothing to do with his being a drunkard, and everything to do with his being a fifth column for the worst kind of Episcopalian-type modernist and a hired mouth for each and every faddish cause you can think of. And frankly, if people just laughed at him and let him go, it would be a big missed opportunity to clear house in the Anglican Church.
I know schadenfreude is not a Christian emotion, but it’s hard to resist over Bishop Tom.