*Sir Patrick Moore read “The Story of the Solar System,” when he was just 6 years old.
There was a wide range of topics of which most of these focused on moral issues.
After Songs of Praise, Religious Documentaries are the most popular Religious broadcasts. They are designed to appeal to everyone as they cover such a variety of topics such as euthanasia, abortion, capital punishment and refugees.
Broadcasting of religious documentaries are sporadic.
Each programme begins with a short documentary and a studio discussion about the issue. They attract approximately 2 million viewers.
On Channel 4 the programme “Witness” used to be shown on Thursday evenings at 9.00 pm. It investigates issues such as ‘The individual search for truth,’ ‘Black churches in South Africa’ and ‘Modern Nazis.’
Recently BBC 2 has been broadcasting a number of documentaries on Islam. Including the beliefs, way of life and Islamophobia.
‘The Big question’ which is shown on channel 5 on Sunday mornings, is aimed at young people. This show consists of a presenter who reads out a quote, and a studio full of teenagers who sit on different sides of the studio to indicate whether they agree or disagree with the statement. In turn, some of the views are shared. The contents of the show vary from the usage of mobile phones to religious issues.
A popular moral Issue that is covered by a number of soaps in teenage pregnancy. In Coronation Street, the girl (Sarah) is only 13 years old but she decides to keep the baby. With her mothers help, Sarah returns to school in order to finish her education.
In Brookside Adele, a 15-year-old girl is pregnant. Her Stepmother being a strict Catholic does not want her to have the abortion as she considers it murder. She insists that she and Adele’s father can pass the baby as their own. However, Adele is set for an abortion and goes through with it.
In Eastenders, a teenage girl Sonya becomes pregnant. She has the baby and gives it away for adoption.
Abortion is the deliberate removal of the foetus from the Uterus. There are three types of abortion depending on how far the mother is in the pregnancy. If she is in the first trimester - which is up to 12 weeks a suction method is used. This consists of the uterus being opened gradually and the contents (foetus) is take out by a tube that is connected to a vacuum pump. A spoon like instrument is used to make sure nothing remains in the uterus. If the mother has passed this stage and is in the second trimester the same method is used, however this results in bleeding and much pain for the mother. After 15 weeks, a small amount of the liquid in the uterus is taken out (amniotic fluid) and a salt solution is put in its place. This makes the mother go into labour and the foetus being too young to survive dies. The final stage where abortion is allowed is when the foetus is removed in a similar way to having a caesarean.
Some people believe that women should have the right to choose whether they want a baby or not. There are organisations like ‘Voice for Choice’ that campaign to make abortions easily allowed by all. They reason abortions by saying that a child may be too expensive, a person may not have any family to support them and they might not have anywhere to live. The baby could have been conceived as a result of rape and having the child would be a constant reminder to the mother.
However, other organisations like ‘Life’ argue that it is murder and that you are killing an innocent baby and if you do not want the baby you can always give it up for adoption. Many mothers become very depressed and cannot live with themselves. They argue saying that the foetus is a living thing – at eight week’s all organs are present and they can move from three months.
Christian views fall into two main categories, Protestants and Catholics. Catholics are led by the pope and are very strict where as Protestant churches have their own leaders with each sect – including Church of England, Methodists or Baptists, having slightly different views.
Catholics believe that abortion is never allowed no matter what. They say that it is the will of God that the baby was conceived and therefore abortion is strictly prohibited. Protestants believe that abortion is only allowed if the baby is going to be severely handicapped or if the mother’s life is in danger.
I believe that abortion is another name for murder. The foetus is living as it has six of the seven characteristics – the same as a one-month-old baby. It moves, respires, is sensitive to touch, grows, excretes and removes nutrition from its mother. The only characteristic it lacks is the ability to reproduce. Nevertheless, a child of eight years cannot either. If a foetus is a living human then surely the deliberate termination is murder. I agree with the morning after pill, being a form of contraception, as I believe that the foetus is not yet living, as it has not yet started to take nourishment and has no form. Even if the baby was conceived due to rape I do not believe it is fair to punish an unborn, innocent child for a crime its father committed. If someone feels that they would not be able to bring up the child well there are other alternatives like adoption.
In the film ‘Ghost’, life after death is considered. One of aspect is whether psychics should make money from their ‘gift.’ Some psychics do not even have a gift at all and sometimes take advantage of grieving clients.
However, the main issue shown in the film is the existence of the spiritual world. When it is first introduced, many of the characters are very sceptical but by the end, they and some viewers truly believe in the next life. The film finishes with the main character entering a tunnel of light symbolising him reaching heaven and entering the next life.
Christians have two basic ideas about life after death.
The first one is resurrection; where after death nothing happens until Judgement day, when the dead will be brought back to life and given an immortal soul.
The second idea is immortality of the soul; where everyone has a soul, which survives death and goes to a spiritual place where God is.
Christians have different views on life after death depending on which sect they are part of.
Evangelical Protestants would say: The soul waits until the end of the world (Judgement Day) where the dead will be raised and will join the living in Gods presence. God will judge everyone and a good Christian will go to Heaven and bad Christians/Non Christians will go to Hell for eternity. These beliefs are based on the teachings of St Paul 1, Corinthians 15.
Other Protestants (including Church of England, Methodist) believe in The immortality of the soul. After death, souls go immediately before God to be judged. The good go to Heaven and the bad go to Hell, but some believe in an after-life for all religions depending on how you lived your lives.
Roman Catholics believe in both ideas. Pure souls go to Heaven and those that have sinned go to Purgatory. This is a place between Heaven and Hell where souls are cleansed of their sins. Those that are not sorry for their sins and non Christians go to Hell for eternity. In the future Jesus will come back to earth and souls will be reunited with their bodies. God will make a new Heaven and Earth and Judge everyone again; Souls in Heaven and Purgatory and those in Hell will stay there forever.
“Television always presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world.”
In some ways, I agree with this quote. A classic example is the programme ‘Songs of Praise.’ It is old fashioned were hymns are sung by a majority of older people. It is designed to only relate to religious Christians that are unable to attend church.
Religion is often associated with cultures and traditions – both of which seem old fashioned.
Religious people in soaps are also often portrayed as busy bodies that are too nosy and always quoting references from the bible. An example is Dot Cotton from Eastenders or Harold Bishop from Neighbours. Edna Birch from Emmerdale is also not afraid to voice her own opinion and is also always giving references to the bible in her day-to-day life. She goes to church regularly even to her families expense.
It is the influence of the media that causes people to form stereotypical views of what religious people think, act and believe. They are often called intolerable and religion is all too often blamed for wars and violence. However, most of the time it is a few individuals who choose to use a religions name in order to voice their own personal prejudices.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam do not allow abortions. Today in the modern world, the number of teenage pregnancies is rising and it is this that causes the rising number of abortions. Television dramas and soaps such as Brookside use this to try to show religious people as out of touch with the modern world.
However, certain programmes are broadcast like that ‘The Heaven and Earth Show.’ It is in this show that modern, moral issues and problems are debated every week.
There are also modern documentaries that deal with modern issues such as euthanasia and abortion.
The Vicar of Dibley is a comedy, where the main character is a fun, exciting person who is very in touch with the modern world. Younger presenters are now being used in programmes (SOP) to challenge stereotypes.
I would say that I believe part of this statement to be true. Although there are some characters in soaps that appear to be out of touch with the modern World, there are also a variety of informative programmes like documentaries that often show accurate accounts of religions and what the beliefs and teachings are.
