2 April 1998 Edition
Television: Other Worlds
By Sean O Donaile
The Devil-An Unauthorised Biography
Reputations-Yuri Gagarin
Premier Passions
Some say the divil is dead and buried in Killarney
More say he rose again and joined the British army
In the minds of many Lucifer is still alive and well and stirring his fires in hell. Republicans are well used to being demonised and ``The Devil - An Unauthorised Biography'' rightly claimed that this is the easiest way to attack one's enemies.
The labelling of republicans as ``evil terrorists and baby eaters'' by the British tabloids and establishment opened the way for state oppression. Probably the worst example was the murder of Pat Finucane by British agents following his demonisation by the RUC and a prominent Tory MP in parliament shortly before his murder.
Satan reached the pinacle of his career in the 15th and 16th centuries, promoted by the church and establishment, in order to pave the way for mass carnage in the name of God.
The way of God equalled social control; chaos and pandemonium was the way of the devil.
The Catharrs of southern France highlighted the hypocrisy of Rome through their strict adherence to religion and embarrassed the polygamous Popes and palace dwelling bishops. Hence they were labelled ``heretics'' and in 1209,12,000 crusaders drove all Catharrs from their land in brutal fashion.
Their leader was prone to collecting the lips of his victims and gouging out their eyes with the excuse that ``God will know his own''. Not surprisingly the ``devil worshipping'' Catharrs were wiped out.
There were no TVs in those far off times and Freddie Kruger was far from Elm Street, resulting in wilder imaginations and superstitions which the establishment used to good effect.
Martin Luther started the Protestant church after questioning the hypocrisy and indulgences of Rome but he was in fact more obsessed by the horny fellow and gave him a new lease of life.
He predicted dreadful torment in the afterlife but had his own peculiar method for dealing with Satan on earth....there were devils in my bed and I chased them away with a fart!
Now if I had've known that I could've skipped all those confessions!
As today, women were seen as a threat to the hierachial church, and society needed a scapegoat to vent its anger and petty jealousies on. Hence many women were demonised as friends of the divil for simple transgressions as refusing to share food with hungry neighbours or falling out with the wrong people.
During the great ``Witch Hunt'' 40,000 were murdered by clerics with the support of society.
80 year old Elizabeth Clarke would have fitted in well in West Belfast as, like many republicans, she was portrayed as ``evil'' and a devil worshipper.
Hence the excuse to extract confessions from her at the Castlereagh of the day, with the aid of thumbscrews and the racks. There were no Amnesty Internationals or CAJ's to come to her aid and she was hanged with 20 other ``crazy witches who supped with the devil''. Hitler put the words of Martin Luther to use when exterminating millions of Jews - ``they should be driven out like mad dogs'' - and clergy also played a role during the pogroms of Limerick in the early part of this century.
The Irish have long been labelled by their enemies as ``slobs and demons'' the most glaring cases being during the slaughter by Cromwell, 1798, the Fenians, the godless communists of the 1930s and only last week the bauld Rev Ian was seen outside Stormont on Sinn Fein's return with a banner saying ``Bloody and deceitful men will not live out their days''
If I'm not careful I'll be labelled as the Eamonn McCann of An Phoblacht; the atheist who knows more about religion and the afterlife than the bishops.
Reputations was interesting, if only for the footage of the early space race when the Russkies were outracing the Yanks, in their quest to reach the heavens, which was a bit unusual for devil worshipping commies. Yuri Gagarin's eventful but short life was charted in the documentary, which reminded one of the early black and white days of Flash Gordon, but nevertheless created a sense of history.
The late 50s were a time of hope for Russians, with the death of Stalin and the sending of the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit in 1957, and Laika the dog, who wasn't told he was on a one way ticket.
After much training and impressing the right people, Gagarin, son of a peasant farmer was cast into space with a 50-50 chance of survival. After a bumpy landing, the jovial Yuri was feted as a hero and began a world tour, which was to last for years, where he indulged in some Oasis-style antics, consorting with young women and jumping out of hotel windows, much to the horror of his wife, who tried to redirect his life. He eventually re-entered the airforce and was accidentally killed in a mysterious aircrash only seven years after his historic jaunt. Neil Armstrong said, ``It was Yuri who called on all of us to follow the stars''.
Obviously Sunderland Football Club, weren't listening as their lack of stars and strikers saw them being ejected from the pearly gates of the Premier League.
Premier Passions gave a fly-on-the-wall account of the miseries of relegation for the club who unfortunately went on the stock market and moved stadium in the same season. This excellent news and people orientated series gave the views of everyone from a butcher, a schoolgirl, a millionaire, a manager and a shopkeeper, all of whom had one thing in common - the club.
Soccer is one of the key components of British culture but as the league becomes business-orientated the average supporters are being priced out of the game and in the case of Newcastle, exploited and ridiculed by their bosses. In fairness to Sunderland's executives there seemed to be a genuine passion and they suffered more than most at relegation, being held accountable by the shareholders and supporters alike.
The series concluded with the revival of the club's fortunes, gates of 40,000 and promotion to the Premiership on the horizon.
Alas, there seems to be little future for the small fish in the Premiership pond.
The Devil-An Unauthorised Biography
Reputations-Yuri Gagarin
Premier Passions
Some say the divil is dead and buried in Killarney
More say he rose again and joined the British army
In the minds of many Lucifer is still alive and well and stirring his fires in hell. Republicans are well used to being demonised and ``The Devil - An Unauthorised Biography'' rightly claimed that this is the easiest way to attack one's enemies.
The labelling of republicans as ``evil terrorists and baby eaters'' by the British tabloids and establishment opened the way for state oppression. Probably the worst example was the murder of Pat Finucane by British agents following his demonisation by the RUC and a prominent Tory MP in parliament shortly before his murder.
Satan reached the pinacle of his career in the 15th and 16th centuries, promoted by the church and establishment, in order to pave the way for mass carnage in the name of God.
The way of God equalled social control; chaos and pandemonium was the way of the devil.
The Catharrs of southern France highlighted the hypocrisy of Rome through their strict adherence to religion and embarrassed the polygamous Popes and palace dwelling bishops. Hence they were labelled ``heretics'' and in 1209,12,000 crusaders drove all Catharrs from their land in brutal fashion.
Their leader was prone to collecting the lips of his victims and gouging out their eyes with the excuse that ``God will know his own''. Not surprisingly the ``devil worshipping'' Catharrs were wiped out.
There were no TVs in those far off times and Freddie Kruger was far from Elm Street, resulting in wilder imaginations and superstitions which the establishment used to good effect.
Martin Luther started the Protestant church after questioning the hypocrisy and indulgences of Rome but he was in fact more obsessed by the horny fellow and gave him a new lease of life.
He predicted dreadful torment in the afterlife but had his own peculiar method for dealing with Satan on earth....there were devils in my bed and I chased them away with a fart!
Now if I had've known that I could've skipped all those confessions!
As today, women were seen as a threat to the hierachial church, and society needed a scapegoat to vent its anger and petty jealousies on. Hence many women were demonised as friends of the divil for simple transgressions as refusing to share food with hungry neighbours or falling out with the wrong people.
During the great ``Witch Hunt'' 40,000 were murdered by clerics with the support of society.
80 year old Elizabeth Clarke would have fitted in well in West Belfast as, like many republicans, she was portrayed as ``evil'' and a devil worshipper.
Hence the excuse to extract confessions from her at the Castlereagh of the day, with the aid of thumbscrews and the racks. There were no Amnesty Internationals or CAJ's to come to her aid and she was hanged with 20 other ``crazy witches who supped with the devil''. Hitler put the words of Martin Luther to use when exterminating millions of Jews - ``they should be driven out like mad dogs'' - and clergy also played a role during the pogroms of Limerick in the early part of this century.
The Irish have long been labelled by their enemies as ``slobs and demons'' the most glaring cases being during the slaughter by Cromwell, 1798, the Fenians, the godless communists of the 1930s and only last week the bauld Rev Ian was seen outside Stormont on Sinn Fein's return with a banner saying ``Bloody and deceitful men will not live out their days''
If I'm not careful I'll be labelled as the Eamonn McCann of An Phoblacht; the atheist who knows more about religion and the afterlife than the bishops.
Reputations was interesting, if only for the footage of the early space race when the Russkies were outracing the Yanks, in their quest to reach the heavens, which was a bit unusual for devil worshipping commies. Yuri Gagarin's eventful but short life was charted in the documentary, which reminded one of the early black and white days of Flash Gordon, but nevertheless created a sense of history.
The late 50s were a time of hope for Russians, with the death of Stalin and the sending of the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit in 1957, and Laika the dog, who wasn't told he was on a one way ticket.
After much training and impressing the right people, Gagarin, son of a peasant farmer was cast into space with a 50-50 chance of survival. After a bumpy landing, the jovial Yuri was feted as a hero and began a world tour, which was to last for years, where he indulged in some Oasis-style antics, consorting with young women and jumping out of hotel windows, much to the horror of his wife, who tried to redirect his life. He eventually re-entered the airforce and was accidentally killed in a mysterious aircrash only seven years after his historic jaunt. Neil Armstrong said, ``It was Yuri who called on all of us to follow the stars''.
Obviously Sunderland Football Club, weren't listening as their lack of stars and strikers saw them being ejected from the pearly gates of the Premier League.
Premier Passions gave a fly-on-the-wall account of the miseries of relegation for the club who unfortunately went on the stock market and moved stadium in the same season. This excellent news and people orientated series gave the views of everyone from a butcher, a schoolgirl, a millionaire, a manager and a shopkeeper, all of whom had one thing in common - the club.
Soccer is one of the key components of British culture but as the league becomes business-orientated the average supporters are being priced out of the game and in the case of Newcastle, exploited and ridiculed by their bosses. In fairness to Sunderland's executives there seemed to be a genuine passion and they suffered more than most at relegation, being held accountable by the shareholders and supporters alike.
The series concluded with the revival of the club's fortunes, gates of 40,000 and promotion to the Premiership on the horizon.
Alas, there seems to be little future for the small fish in the Premiership pond.