US Religion

For some reason that is not immediately obvious, a US christian websites has decided to have a rant about the BBFC not taking religious 'profanities, eg 'Jesus!' and 'Goddam' seriously enough. The websites asks:

When is a religious profanity no longer profane ?

Sixty years ago, religious profanities typically were forbidden in Hollywood movies, as the Protestant and Catholic film offices held sway on issues of acceptability in the Golden Age of film.

Today, however, in one Western nation [UK], such profanities fail to register even the slightest concern with the primary movie-rating agency [BBFC], which rarely mentions such expletives in its warning nor takes them into account when determining ratings.

In a recent response to a WND reader, a representative of the BBFC, whose tagline is Age ratings you trust, explained the policy:

While we recognize that such terms [profanities] may be offensive to those who hold religious beliefs, our public consultation has found that most respondents found these terms acceptable at 'U' [the rating described as 'suitable for all'].

The focus of the whinge seems to be the 12A rating for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Concern arose over the BBFC evaluation of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. It included this language warning: There is occasional use of mild bad language, including 'son of a bitch,' 'shit' and 'piss.'

There was no mention, however, of religious profanities in the film, like those cited in the MovieGuide review. Based in Hollywood, MovieGuide reviews films from a Christian perspective. Its analysis of Batman v. Superman warned of five strong profanities (using Goddam or Jesus) and two light profanities.

The BBFC rated the Batman film 12A, for moderate violence and threat. In the U.S., it is rated PG-13.

WND end with a delightfully ludicrous sound bite with a few choice words about the BBFC:

MovieGuide founder Ted Baehr has followed the BBFC for decades. He told WND the organization is much more anti-Christian than the nation at large:

Added Baehr: The British Board of Film Classifications has often established itself as a pseudo elitist body that ignores the reality of families and the human condition. At least, the BBFC should consist mainly of mothers with children. Better still, as I argued before the U.K. Parliament years ago, they need to establish standards that prevent the sociological, psychological and religious dangers of movies and entertainment that destroy susceptible youth, as many of the Oxford studies show.

Christians are 'shocked' that American frequent porn users neither feel guilty or are uncomfortable about their porn use.

A study, entitled, The Porn Phenomenon was commissioned by evangelist Josh McDowell. It found that 89% of daily pornography users are comfortable with their use of porn. This is compared to 77% of weekly users and 70% of once-or-twice-a-month users who said the same.

Only 3% of daily users said they wished they no longer used pornography, while just 7% of monthly users and 12% of once-or-twice-a-month users concurred.

Practicing Christians, on the other hand, were found to be nearly half as likely to be comfortable with their pornography consumption than non-Christians. Only 39% said they were comfortable with their level of porn consumption, while 73% of non-Christians said the same. Sixty-one% of practicing Christians said they wished they used less porn -- or none at all -- compared to just 27% of all others.

The comprehensive study, which was conducted by The Barna Group, was conducted through four online surveys that were designed to represent the general American population. Nearly 3,000 people participated in the study.