CASE NO: 41/2011 – NEL VS MULTICHOICE CHANNEL 126 – RELIGION

The Complainant in this case states that Jesus is being mocked in profane comedy.  The complaint is that he, as a Christian, is offended in his religious beliefs. In the broadcast the focus is on the irony of two sets of monks of different Christian denominations coming to fisticuffs on a Christian holy site in Jerusalem.  When one commentator asks what Jesus would think of this, the camera is focussed for a fleeting moment on a figure with a beard who says something with parts of it bleeped out.  The broadcast must be judged in context, which in this case is comedy.  There is no provision against blasphemy in the Code of Conduct.  A complaint of blasphemy has to be judged in the context of hate speech which is defined as the advocacy of hatred based on religion (in this case) and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.  In this case no evidence could be found of any of these elements being present. The Tribunal concluded that the broadcast was not a contravention of the Code and the complaint was therefore not upheld.