But more seriously. . .

In a comment piece in the Independent, DJ Taylor, himself a Christian, defended the BBC's broadcast of Jerry Springer - The Opera. Indeed, he watched and enjoyed the show, but he asks the following:

Would the BBC, you wonder, care to commission Behtzi (the play that was shut down by Sikh protests in December) for its Saturday night schedule, or a comedy satirising the Koran? No, because the ethnic minorities thereby offended take these things seriously. . . . A similar, though less widely reported, spat of this kind took place three or four years ago in Glasgow, when the local branch of HMV was found to be selling a T-shirt advertising the oeuvre of a death metal band called Cradle Of Filth and emblazoned with the slogan "Jesus is a cunt". HMV declined to withdraw the garment on the grounds that they were opposed to censorship. . . . Would HMV have been equally eager to stock a shirt printed with the words "Mohammed is a Motherfucker" or "Vishnu Sucks"?

It's an interesting point and the answer is, of course, no on both counts. They wouldn't dare. A mixture of political correctness and a genuine fear of reprisal would keep them well away from such areas. Christianity, meanwhile, always seems to be fair game. It's a blatant double standard that needs to be acknowledged.