Last week Jeremy Clarkson got himself into hot water for saying that strikers should be shot in front of their families and racked up an impressive total of 31,000 complaints in response. So now the BBC have shelved his appearance on QI this week (saying that they are just rescheduling it later in the series) for fear that it will prompt a backlash from viewers. The cynic in me wonders why they are worried about a backlash: why don't they just call it “aritistic integrity” as they did when 46,000 complained about “Jerry Springer: The Opera” and its open assault on Jesus Christ some years ago and the programme was still aired? But that would be to get a dig in where there is no place for one here, so I will say no more on that, and simply observe that the BBC should hardly be surprised at the recent episode since Mr C has a pretty impressive track record of verbal gaffes, blunders and basically offensive remarks. He was acting within character, really.
I confess that I enjoy his boorish repartee on “Top Gear”, but then there are a couple of counterweights on the studio floor in the persons on James May and Richard Hammond, and his opinionated banter is confined (largely) to cars and other petrolhead related matters. But give him free rein and, well, he has free rein and takes the opportunity with gusto and familiar effect. He's good for a show, but not the sort of person you would want for a dinner companion.
All of which reminds me that the New Testament has more to say about the way we speak than virtually any other topic, yet it is the one area about which we are likely to take the least care. We live in a culture which applauds outspoken brashness and celebrates quick-fire wit. Just look at the sort of characters who make it big in TV comedy for example: no fading wallflowers there, no careful, deliberate thinkers who need time to frame their answers. Only those who can shoot back an immediate response with cutting humour to bring an opponent down to size. You could point out that TV comedy can hardly function with people who are boring; they have to be sharp or people would turn them off. That's true as far as comedy goes, but it is also an example of what is going at large. There is very little room for gentleness and respect in our soundbite culture. People expect it to be shown to them, of course, (and they really hate it when they receive the opposite) but there are relatively few examples of it around; it is the opposite that sells the papers, gets the ratings and attracts all the publicity.
It is therefore instructive that the Bible, and the New Testament in particular, spells out the destructive power of the tongue. It is James who points out that the tongue is a small part of the body, yet one which exerts influence out of all proportion to its size: a small spark that can set a forest on fire; an organ that can corrupt the whole course of a person's life. Fail to control it and you lose control of the whole of your life. And James is not alone in urging control over the way we speak. Paul, also, urges followers of Jesus to bridle the way they speak both out of respect for God and for other people, but I'm not sure that Mr C brings those two groups into consideration when he opens his mouth.
But you cannot build a society where people exercise no control over the way they speak. The consequence will be that people exercise no restraint in their speech and just devour each other – which it seems is what we are getting. The tabloid press may be taking a beating at the moment for their destructive gossip mongering style of journalism, and there are all sorts of ideas afloat for regulating the press, but it sold papers: evidently somebody enjoyed eating people for breakfast. Jeremy Clarkson got his knuckles rapped, and will be out of favour for a while, but in reality his style is what our society basically wants. Christian self-control in speech doesn't automatically make entertaining programmes, and yet it is one of the ways in which we must show that the gospel is not just different, but infinitely better.
I confess that I enjoy his boorish repartee on “Top Gear”, but then there are a couple of counterweights on the studio floor in the persons on James May and Richard Hammond, and his opinionated banter is confined (largely) to cars and other petrolhead related matters. But give him free rein and, well, he has free rein and takes the opportunity with gusto and familiar effect. He's good for a show, but not the sort of person you would want for a dinner companion.
All of which reminds me that the New Testament has more to say about the way we speak than virtually any other topic, yet it is the one area about which we are likely to take the least care. We live in a culture which applauds outspoken brashness and celebrates quick-fire wit. Just look at the sort of characters who make it big in TV comedy for example: no fading wallflowers there, no careful, deliberate thinkers who need time to frame their answers. Only those who can shoot back an immediate response with cutting humour to bring an opponent down to size. You could point out that TV comedy can hardly function with people who are boring; they have to be sharp or people would turn them off. That's true as far as comedy goes, but it is also an example of what is going at large. There is very little room for gentleness and respect in our soundbite culture. People expect it to be shown to them, of course, (and they really hate it when they receive the opposite) but there are relatively few examples of it around; it is the opposite that sells the papers, gets the ratings and attracts all the publicity.
It is therefore instructive that the Bible, and the New Testament in particular, spells out the destructive power of the tongue. It is James who points out that the tongue is a small part of the body, yet one which exerts influence out of all proportion to its size: a small spark that can set a forest on fire; an organ that can corrupt the whole course of a person's life. Fail to control it and you lose control of the whole of your life. And James is not alone in urging control over the way we speak. Paul, also, urges followers of Jesus to bridle the way they speak both out of respect for God and for other people, but I'm not sure that Mr C brings those two groups into consideration when he opens his mouth.
But you cannot build a society where people exercise no control over the way they speak. The consequence will be that people exercise no restraint in their speech and just devour each other – which it seems is what we are getting. The tabloid press may be taking a beating at the moment for their destructive gossip mongering style of journalism, and there are all sorts of ideas afloat for regulating the press, but it sold papers: evidently somebody enjoyed eating people for breakfast. Jeremy Clarkson got his knuckles rapped, and will be out of favour for a while, but in reality his style is what our society basically wants. Christian self-control in speech doesn't automatically make entertaining programmes, and yet it is one of the ways in which we must show that the gospel is not just different, but infinitely better.
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