Christian Voice championed street protests against the musical hit. (Reuters)

CAIRO, January 10 (IslamOnline.net) - A Christian lobby group intends to file a blasphemy case against the BBC over a decision to broadcast a “blasphemous” opera, a leading British news paper reported Monday, January 10.

Christian Voice also championed protests against the musical hit which was aired on  BBC2 on Saturday night, reported the Telegraph.

The BBC received 47,000 protest calls before and during the transmission of Jerry Springer - The Opera, the paper said.

Christian Voice national director Stephen Green stressed that if the opera “isn't blasphemous then nothing in Britain is sacred.”

The show has as its subject the confrontational American chat show and includes strong language and scenes depicting “Jesus, God, Mary and Satan.”

Green said the production was “much worse” than he expected, portraying Jesus as a “coprophiliac sexual deviant.”

“[Jesus] proclaims he is a bit gay, he has this shouting match with the devil - it's just foul-mouthed tirades against the devil and against his blessed mother,” he added.

Islam prohibits the visual representation of the prophets.

Like Christians, Muslims believe that Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) was born miraculously without a father. But unlike them, Muslims do not take him to be God or the Son of God.

Muslims also believe that Jesus was not crucified  and that God saved and raised him as someone else was crucified in his place.

Threat Calls

Members of various Christian organizations burn copies of TV licenses in protest at the BBC decision. (Reuters)

The BBC has defended its decision to broadcast the award-winning opera.

“We are pleased that a wider audience has been able to see an important piece of contemporary culture.”

The broadcaster also consulted with police over possible action against Christian Voice for publishing home addresses of 15 senior corporation executives and producers.

It employed a private security firm to guard the homes of the BBC2 controller, Roly Keating, and the director of television, Jana Bennett.

The two were flooded with “threatening” and “abusive” phone calls.

“We are not going to put up with dedicated public servants and their families being abused,” a BBC source said.

Admitting that his organisation had published private contact details, Green said the measure “reflects that we have no confidence in the current channels of complaint.”

Support

The Bishop of Manchester said he will complain fiercely to the BBC after watching the highly-controversial production.

“Following the transmission of Jerry Springer, my previously expressed concerns about some of its content being shown uncut on television - rather than in the theatre - especially by a public service broadcaster, are, if anything, stronger,” he said.

The bishop said “words, especially those spoken to Jesus, together with audience reaction, crossed for me, as a television viewer, the boundary between satire and ridicule.”

Sewa Singh Mandla, the chairman of the Council of Sikh Gurudwaras in Birmingham, said they stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the Christian protesters.

“We believe it is the duty of the media to project faith in a positive manner. To hide behind the cloak of fiction is not tolerable,” he said.

Mandla’s organisation recently forced the closure of Behzti, a play depicting rape and murder inside a Sikh temple.

The Muslim Council of Britain said that while “we understand and sympathise with the huge amount of concern this program has generated, we would not go along with the personal harassment of the board of the BBC.”