Big Brother Fiasco: Forgiveness, Ignorance and Racism

The British media has put a firm focus on Celebrity Big Brother over the past week with Channel 4's reality TV show pushing the public to vote for the eviction of the controversial Jade Goody over India's Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

The media has grabbed the issue with both hands with reports even building up the vote as something of a defining moment in the nation's history. Although this level of hype is hardly deserving, the issue has been so prominent that the nation's most powerful political leaders, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown have both added their comments to the heated argument, which has seen more than 40,000 viewers complain to Ofcom over alleged racist bullying targeted at Shetty.

Even more surprising, the show has sparked protests in some areas of India, and prompted some leading Indian politicians to speak out in condemnation of the treatment dished out to Shetty.

Such was the furore built up around the debate that those most disgusted by the apparent racism were urging the British public to make sure they voted against Goody in protest of her behaviour during the programme.

Indeed, we can see the seriousness of racism in every way, but surely a vote for either candidate would have been a vote for foolishness, and would have done nothing more than support the show.

The fact that so many millions tuned in to watch the eviction of Goody on Friday night revealed that to an extent Channel 4's tactic for ratings was successful. Can we really believe that Channel 4 had no idea things would turn out as they did when it put into the house someone as famously unrestrained in her vocal and unintelligent tirades as Goody with someone described as a "Bollywood princess".

Is Goody a racist for the way she acted in the house? It can be judged that way, but there is something we need to distinguish: condemnation of the sin and condemnation of the person.

Even if Goody's comments are judged by many as "racist", we must be careful that we are not too judgemental or that we are hypocritical. Of course sin should not just be ignored, but we must be careful not to bring judgement upon Goody too harshly, as Jesus tells us with the same way we judge others, we too will be judged; and for sure none of us here on this earth is without sin.

Moreover, before Goody left the house she reconciled with Shetty. She apologised and Shetty graciously forgave her and stated she did not believe Goody to be racist. If the one at whom the alleged racism was directed had the heart to forgive, then what issue does anyone else have in the matter?

Forgiveness should be easily forthcoming from us all towards Goody. So taking Goody out of the equation, there still remains one issue that needs to be tackled head-on: the sin of racism.

The Big Brother issue in itself does not deserve the media attention it has been given. Yet the issue of racism has once again reared its ugly head, and this is an issue that deserves our full attention.

This week the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, referred to racism saying that there was an "ugly underbelly in society only too ready to point the finger at the foreigner, or those who might not fit in".

He even went as far as comparing racism in society with the hospital superbug MRSA in the human body as he said it "is the worst enemy because it attacks directly community organs and all its component parts".

The Archbishop, who turned down an invitation to appear on Celebrity Big Brother, said it was everyone's duty to tackle racism head-on, both publicly and in private, from "whatever quarter it rears its vicious head".

"The events of the past week on our television screens have reminded us only too well of Dr King's famous dictum that 'ignorance is the root of all prejudice'," Dr Sentamu said.

Observing more worrying developments than what has happened on Big Brother, Dr Sentamu also told: "Much more worrying than the soap opera silliness of Big Brother, were the comments of the judge this week who, rather than chiding a defendant for racially abusive comments towards a police doctor, advised the defendant on how to insult Asian people in such a way that he didn't end up in court."

If nothing more comes from the Big Brother fiasco, let us all hope at least that there is now at a greater awareness of the scourge of racism so that this ignorance can be tackled at its root and that a wider education of the problem can see racism driven from our society.