Corrie and the State of Faith

Ofcom has received about 100 complaints after a character in the soap-opera Coronation Street made 'anti-Christian' remarks during the Easter Sunday edition of the show.

Now I'll make it very clear from the outset that I did not watch the episode in question, and so I don't wish to comment on the specific details of the show. While I find it alarming that people feel 'offended' enough to make a formal complaint to a regulatory body about a character expressing his atheism in a soap opera ( a show which by it's very nature intends to reflect the varying views, problems and lives of contemporary British society) I also do not want to dwell on the validity of their 'offense' in this express circumstance.

What occurred to me most when reflecting on the significance of this story is the question: What does the individuals' need to complain about people expressing religious views that differ from their own say about the status of that person's faith? Indeed, perhaps their need to complain reflected the weakness and uncertainty of their faith rather than it's strength and conviction.

Challenges to Christian orthodoxy are nothing new. Since the founding of the Catholic Church in Rome the movement has schismed and factioned into a number of mainstream churches and countless smaller ones. Christian then, have always had to live with challenges and different interpretations of their faith from those of other faiths, Christians of other persuasions and the non-religious.

Exposure to other opinions is healthy for it stimulates reflection and greater understanding. Indeed what is the value of a person's faith if it cannot withstand criticism, either considered or vehement? Surely someone of strong faith who has utter conviction in what they believe has no need to feel threatened by differing opinions because, in they're heart they are absolutely certain that they are doing the right thing. Those who are secretly questioning their faith, who are unsure that they are on the right path are the one's more likely to feel defensive and 'offended', because although they might not want to admit it, the questions voiced by the actor in the TV show are the same questions they are asking themselves and to which they are struggling to provide satisfactory counter-arguments.

Instead of jumping up and down on their sofas, perhaps people should think about why they were offended and reflect on what it means for the state of their faith.