Paper presented at Digital Religion conference 2012, New York

1. Portrayals of religious activism and
politicisation on British television
Ruth A. Deller (@ruthdeller)

2. Outline
• Looking at how British TV – with a particular focus
on documentary and current affairs – portrays
religiously motivated activism/politics.
• Considering how this presentation contributes to a
sense of ‘moral panic’ within British media about
the role of (particular forms of) faith within public
life – particularly Islam and Christianity.
• Part of wider media representations of
‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ forms of
religion/spirituality.

3. Background
• Part of wider public debates about secularisation,
fundamentalisms and the role of faith in public life.
• In a (recent) British context: ‘Veiling’, faith schools,
religious protests against arts/culture, embryo
debates, debates over marriage equality, Islam4UK
and Wootton Bassett, the bus debates, Occupy at
St Paul’s… to name a few examples.
• Drawing on previous research into representations
of religion and fundamentalisms (e.g. Poole 2002,
Plant 2006, Hoover and Kaneva 2009).

4. Background
• My focus on factual
programmes broadcast on
UK channels with a public
service remit (primarily BBC
and Channel 4) – but similar
discourses can be found in
the press and in fictional TV
(e.g. Britz, C4 2007).

5. Background
• PSB guidelines and remits include:
– Representing diversity
– Concerns over audience vulnerabilities and
susceptibilities (especially children)
– Not being abusive to religion or its ahderents
– Not allowing ‘recruitment’ by faith groups
– Everything should be 'justifiable editorially and
by the context' (Independent Producer
Handbook 2008: 4.45)

6. Moral panic?
• Moral panics characterised by media
stereotyping/demonisation of the 'threatening'
group, and re-articulation of the 'threat' by
prominent social figures or groups (see Cohen
1973)
• Often concerned with ‘threat’ to ‘vulnerable’
groups.
• ‘The developments after September 11 have
shown that the so-called world religions are
also increasingly regarded as the source of
social problems’ (Hjelm 2006: 63)

7. Dispatches – ‘In God’s Name’ (C4 2008)

8. ‘Them’ and ‘us’
• ‘Othering’ discourse (e.g. Said 1978) prominent
throughout. ‘They’ are always described as
different to ‘us’ – liberal, tolerant Britain.
• ‘They’ are often influenced by ‘other’ countries
(e.g. the USA, Saudi Arabia).
• ‘I believe many are possessed of views which
are at odds with mainstream, liberal Britain
about freedom of speech, education and
homosexuality’. (Dispatches: ‘The New
Fundamentalists’ C4 2006)

9. Abnormal adherents of faiths?
• ‘They are coming to what they see as their
promised land… making Aliyah is a spiritual
homecoming, fulfilling political and religious
desires… Zionism… the citizenship and rights of
these people have raised questions amongst
some of British Jews’ (Aliyah – The Journey
Home, BBC One 2008)

10. My Brother the Islamist (BBC Three 2011)

11. Generation Jihad (BBC Two 2010)

12. ‘Them’ and ‘us’
• ‘Media representations [of Islam] are
underpinned by a renewed accent on an
imagined 'clash of cultures' (Huntington 1996)
and by complacency about the benign qualities
of 'Britishness'’(Macdonald 2011: 128)
• This fundamentalist interpretation of Islam is
being taught in Britain's most important, and
supposedly moderate, mosque (Dispatches:
‘Undercover Mosque: The Return’, C4 2008).

13. What lies beneath…
• The Muslim Council of Britain [is] generally
regarded as the moderate face of Islam
speaking for the Muslim community. On its
website the MCB emphasises [that] it's working
for better community relations and for the
good of society as a whole…. [but] Several MCB
affiliates do have links to anti-Western
ideologies from abroad. (Panorama: ‘A
Question of Leadership’, BBC One 2005)

14. What lies beneath…
• ‘London Central Mosque… is the most
recognisable symbol of moderate, mainstream
Muslim life in Britain…the UK Islamic Mission *is+ a
major organisation dedicated to interfaith work’.
(Dispatches ‘Undercover Mosque’ C4 2007)
• ‘As soon as the interfaith group leaves, the same
preacher's tone changes. She now says Christian
teachings are vile’. (‘Undercover Mosque: The
Return’)
• Mosques as separate and secret (see Macdonald
2011)

15. ‘Holy Offensive’?
• ‘Some are campaigning to stop you watching
things that might offend them’ (Dispatches –
‘Holy Offensive’ C4 2005)
• Programme about Behzti and Jerry Springer:
the Opera protests in UK along with murder of
Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Described
as being about 'religious fervour versus the
freedom to express yourself’ that came with a
pre-show warning that it contains 'religious
references some viewers might well find
offensive.’

16. ‘Holy Offensive’?
• ‘In a post-9/11 world, who decides what is more
sacred, religious belief or freedom of speech? At
first we thought Rushdie was a one-off Islamic
affair [but now] others are entering the fray… is
this now a crisis for democracy?’
• Sikh protesters shown as non-English speaking.
English-speaking Sikhs shown as being in favour of
the play.
• Christians against JSTO seen in opposition to
mainstream, liberal CofE who hosted event with
actors.
• Sense that Muslims ‘got there first’ with protest -
and now they murder filmmakers.

17. Politically dangerous…
• ‘Governments celebrated these differences and
called it multiculturalism’ (Panorama: ‘True Brits’,
BBC One 2008)
• ‘They’ve secured access to the heart of
Westminster’. (‘In God’s Name’)
• ‘These are evangelical Christians worshipping in a
church in London. A happy, colourful branch of
our established church. But a rapidly growing
branch, too, and one which now commands real
political clout.’ (‘The New Fundamentalists’)

18. Politically dangerous…
• ‘The human fertilisation and embryology bill will also
improve the rights of gay parents and help embryo
research. Things Andrea believes are evil.’ (‘In God’s
Name’)
• ‘The danger that some evangelicals pose to freedom
of speech, sexual health and homosexuals in Britain
today is worrying enough, I suppose, but there's
worse to come when we investigate exactly what
other evangelicals are saying - to pupils in state
schools… Of course, parents who want their children
to receive this kind of education can pay… *but this+
is a state school, and if you live within the catchment
area, tough.’ (‘The New Fundamentalists’)

19. The nature of the perceived threat
• The exploitation of those deemed ‘vulnerable’:
women, children, gay people, the sick, the poor.
• Denial of ‘freedom of speech’ (to artists; does not
seem to apply to the protestors).
• Recurring themes include:
– Abortion
– Sex education (e.g. abstinence)
– Gay rights
– Evolution
– Women’s rights
– Disaffected young men (esp re: Islam)
– The alleged ‘failure’ of interfaith/multiculturalism

20. The terminology of moral panic
• ‘Religious hardliners’
• ‘Fundamentalist’
• ‘Clash’
• ‘Violent confrontation’
• ‘Angry’
• ‘Extremist’
• ‘Radical’
• ‘Militant’
• See Karim (2002), Macdonald (2003/2011),
Abbas (2001) etc.

21. The imagery of moral panic
• Protests and placards
• Burning of artefacts
• Shouting
• ‘Religious’ dress
• Eccentric / ‘extreme’ voices
• Charismatic worship
• Subtitles
• Police clashes
• Children
• Contrasts with ‘ordinary’ Britons
• When overseas: poverty, war etc.
• The 7/7 bus

22. Appropriation and response
• YouTube/video clips – not from BBC or C4 sources
• Atheist use of documentaries (e.g. via Richard
Dawkins Foundation site and atheist blogs, forums, YT
channels)
• Politically: appropriated both by the far right and the
left (!) as tools for arguing their agenda and criticising
the left/right.
• Religious groups: use as tool for criticism/rebuke of
media, use to distance their practices from those
featured, or one faith group criticising another, but
also recirculated by religious groups to get their
message across.

23. Conclusion
• Certain types of religious politicisation (e.g. protests, anti—
something campaigns) receive more publicity than others
(e.g. debt relief, charitable campaigns).
• (The wrong kind of) religious influence on
government, education etc seen as problematic and even
dangerous.
• Political activism is aligned with fundamentalism, and with
‘other’ countries. This is then contrasted with ‘normal’
British ideas/values.
• Representation is anchored by repeated phrases/words (e.g.
militant, fundamentalist, hardline), and certain imagery (e.g.
niqabs, charismatic worship) becomes conflated with these
problematic ideas.
• In refuting the ‘moral panics’ circulating within some faith
movements, new ones are created.
• These programmes as texts with contested ‘ownership’ –

24. References
• Abbas, T. (2001), ‘Media capital and the representation of
South Asian Muslims in the British Press: an ideological
analysis’, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 21 (2), 245-
257.
• Channel 4/Five (2008), Independent Producer
Handbook, available at
http://www.independentproducerhandbook.co.uk, accessed
Aug 2011.
• Cohen, S. (1973), Folk Devils and Moral Panics, London:
Routledge.
• Hjelm, T. (2006), ‘News of the Unholy: Constructing
Religion as a Social Problem in the News Media’ in
Sumiala-Seppänen, J., Lundby, K. and Raimo Salokangas, S.
(eds.), Implications of the Sacred in (Post) Modern
Media, Gothenburg: Nordicom, 63-76.

25. References
• Hoover, S.M. and Kaneva, N. (eds.) (2009), Fundamentalisms
and the Media, London: Continuum.
• Macdonald, M. (2003), Exploring Media Discourse, London:
Arnold.
• Macdonald, M. (2011), 'Discourses of Separation: News and
Documentary Representations of Muslims in Britain' in Brunt,
R. and Cere, R. (eds) (2011), Postcolonial Media Culture in
Britain, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 127-141
• Plant, R. (2006), 'Liberalism, Religion and the Public Sphere'
in Garnett, J., Grimley, M., Harris, A., Whyte, W. and
Williams, S. (eds.) (2006), Redefining Christian Britain: Post
1945 Perspectives, Canterbury: SCM Press, 254-266.
• Poole, E. (2002), Reporting Islam: Media Representations of
British Muslims, London: I.B. Tauris.
• Said, E. W. (1978/1995), Orientalism, London: Penguin