the trouble with mrs robinson

And so I join the ranks of the hundreds of other blogs and newspaper articles this week to begin with the phrase: “here’s to you Mrs Robinson.” I almost didn’t. It was almost too easy - but how many other times will I get the chance to use a Graduate reference with such delicious relevance?

Most of you will already know the story, but for those who don’t here’s a bit of exposition - I’ll try be brief.

Peter Robinson (aged 61) is Northern Ireland’s First Minister. He has a wife, Iris (aged 60). She is also a member of Parliament - as well as being an MLA and a Councillor. She is therefore quite a high profile politician in our little land - no more high profiled than when she publicly declared homosexuality an abomination a little over a year ago.

The problem is, as it turns out, that around the time she was proclaiming moral judgement she was also popping behind her husband's back for a spot of adultery with a young man called Kirk McCambley, aged (at the time) 19. [insert personal choice of Mrs Robinson seduction quote where appropriate.]

There was also some fuss about accounts and how she has broken parliamentary rules by not declaring some rather large loans she managed to secure for her toyboy’s business plans. She also didn’t declare her interest when Mr McCambley applied to the local council to lease that business - a council on which Mrs Robinson sat. It’s all a bit murky and the ramifications for her and her husband (if it is discovered that he knew about these breaches and did nothing about them) will be better discussed elsewhere.

Truth be told I care little for the woman. I felt slight sympathy when I heard she was quitting politics due to mental health issues - I felt even more when it was announced that she had attempted suicide. I still feel a little uneasy at the way people are querying the legitimacy of the suicide claims - it would surely be incredibly cynical to use something like that as a counter for anticipated bad press. I'd like to think even our politicians are above that. All of this is sordid and a touch sleazy - but I care not for the details of a stranger’s personal life - even if they are a public figure.

The problem with Mrs Robinson in my world became apparent when I opened facebook.

Mrs Robinson Jesus loves you more than you will know. Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

You see, the Robinsons are devout Christians. And the more I read the more I found my non-christian friends reveling in the opportunity to use this story as evidence that Christians are a bunch of war-mongering, red-necked, child killing hypocrites.

So infidelity isn't as much of a sin as homosexuallity(sic) then Mrs Robinson?

And this does worry me. It feels like if someone in the public eye professes to be a christian they are scrutinized and any flaw is further proof that christianity is the root of all evil.

If that is christian love then I think I'd prefer to be gay.

So here's to you Mrs. Robinson....HA HA HA (so apparantly its an abomination to be gay but she can waltz around cheating on her wifebeating husband?) Not the f***ing Waltons after all are we?

how I love it when people fall flat on their faces. isn't it great when the holy aren't holier than thou.

It's as if we go round telling everyone how perfect we are and make a point of letting them know how holier we are than they are. The quotes I put here are from friends of mine. They make me wonder how my friends see my faith. I knew they were atheists - but I always assumed they had a certain respect for my beliefs.

I can't keep up. OK so Homosexuality=bad; hypocrisy, homophobia, greed, lying & adultery = good? Is that right?

How does this work in reverse? If every time I saw someone spill out of a pub and start a fight with a stranger I went "atheists! aggressive bunch" would that be fair? If every time a non-christian was accused of fraud I pigeon-holed everyone as greedy, would that be justified.

I am no DUP supporter - and truth be told I've never really had much of a liking for the Robinsons. They're not perfect - they've committed some major sins. But, actually, I'm not perfect - I'm far from it. Luckily though, although I need to set an example and be aware of how others perceive me, I am not the role model to which the christian world aspire - nor are the Robinsons. Our role model is free from sin - flawless.

So don't paint us all with the Robinsons' brush - and don't paint them with my brush. We none of us are perfect - but maybe we'd get a bit closer to it if we concentrated on our own problems rather than glorying in others'.

red face day

Yesterday the BBC admitted further cases of fake phone-ins involving high profile programming such as Children in Need, Sports Relief and Comic Relief. Today the written press had a field day.

BBC Shame… Charities caught up in BBC phone scandal… Bear faced cheek…

As I do everyday I visited Young’s Stationers and Newsagent on Ballymoney Main Street. As I do everyday I read each and every paper’s front page to see which I want to pay good money for. As I do everyday I selected The Independent. I couldn’t get over the force of the anger directed at the BBC. Even the Daily Express decided against putting their usual Princess Diana story on the front page in favour of a story about Muslims not being terribly grateful for all the help they receive from the British Police… oh, and PHONE-IN SCANDAL AT THE BBC. The only paper without a front page comment on the controversy was The Independent (well, and The Star which had its obligatory Big Brother story.) Is it any wonder I’m a liberal?

I must admit that I am disappointed in the way programme bosses feel the quality of output overrides any sense of honesty in programme making. I despair that an organisation which places the word “trust” so high in its list of priorities has shown up so many flaws. But in all honesty I can’t say I’m overly surprised. In a media-savvy world where we are sold “sexed-up” stories on a daily basis, where presentation is a greater part of professionalism than content, where cynicism is a prerequisite for an evenings viewing; in a world like this it is hardly surprising that someone took the decision to create a fake contestant rather than admit that technical difficulties had ruined the competition. We live in a world where it is better to cover yourself and get away with something than it is to acknowledge weakness. The only problem occurs where we get found out; and that’s only a problem if enough people actually care. Unfortunately for the BBC, no matter what they do, millions of people care.

And so we find Auntie Beeb’s woes splashed over the front pages, and given ten minute slots in ITN’s news coverage (and possibly Sky’s – I don’t know, I don’t have Sky) Even the BBC themselves seem to be glorying in their own misfortune. FiveLive phone-ins have been dominated by the story, Newsnight had a special report and I can’t wait to see what Nolan has to say about it all. Meanwhile other, more important, stories are slipping through on pages eight and nine. Other media stories that I, personally, find more worrying.

There is no doubt that it has been a bad, BAD week for the BBC but did you notice, for instance, that reports have been disclosed (under the Freedom of Information Act) showing the close relationship between a certain Mr Murdoch and a Mr Blair during the run up to the Iraq War? Requests for this information had been blocked for four years until, as The Independent puts it, “the Government backed down in a surprise change of heart the day after Mr Blair resigned last month.” It’s hard not to imagine the paper’s Political Editor smiling as he typed that line.

Anyway I found the correlation between the Murdoch/Blair phone conversations and the content of The Sun’s comment page fascinating and a lot more shocking than people being defrauded out of their 10,000-1 chance of winning a flat screen TV by spending twenty minutes on a premium rate phone line after watching Richard and Judy – call me harsh but sometimes I think people deserve to lose. It worries me that Mr Murdoch (once described as the 24th member of the Blair cabinet) had such an apparent influence on our elected leader during the most controversial period of his premiership. When you read comments like this:

No big decision could ever be made in No10 without taking account of three men, Gordon Brown, John Prescott and Rupert Murdoch. On the really big decisions, anybody else could safely be ignored.Alastair Campbell’s Diaries

It makes you wonder if maybe, just maybe, Murdoch’s babies, The Times and The Sun, might possibly be publishing their attacks on the BBC with as much genuine relief as genuine outrage.