Kathy Griffin's Jesus remark cut from Emmy show; John Lennox to Debate Atheist Richard Dawkins
Comic Kathy Griffin's offensive remarks about Jesus at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be cut from a pre-taped telecast of the show, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences said on Tuesday.
Griffin made the provocative comment on Saturday night as she took the stage of the Shrine Auditorium to collect her Emmy for best reality program for her Bravo channel show "My Life on the D-List."
In her speech, Griffin said that "a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."
She went on to hold up her Emmy, make an off-color remark about Christ and proclaim, "This award is my god now!"
The comedian's remarks drew fire from a leading Roman Catholic group, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which condemned Griffin's remarks as "obscene and blasphemous." Catholic League President Bill Donohue, called them a "vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech."
Donohue said it is a sure bet that if Griffin had said a derogatory remark about Muhammad, "there would have been a very different reaction." He called on TV academy president Dick Askin to denounce Griffin's "hate speech" and on Griffin to apologize.
According to the TV academy and E!, when the four hour-plus ceremony is edited into a two-hour program, Griffin's remarks will be shown in "an abbreviated version" in which some language may be bleeped. "Kathy Griffin's offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night," the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement Monday.
The program was in production and unfinished, an E! spokeswoman said. The main prime-time Emmy Awards air the next night on Fox.
Asked about her speech backstage a short time later, an unrepentant Griffin added, "I hope I offended some people. I didn't want to win the Emmy for nothing."
Griffin's reaction to the uproar over her remarks, according to a statement issued by her publicist: "Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?"
John Lennox to Debate Noted Atheist Richard Dawkins on the Existence of God
Christian apologist John Lennox will debate staunch atheist Richard Dawkins on October 3, 2007, at the Alys Stephens Center in Birmingham, Alabama. Lennox will argue the scientific evidence of God found in the universe. It is one of the few debates in which Dawkins, a spokesman for “New Atheism” and author of The God Delusion, has ever participated. During his time in the United States, Lennox plans to make himself available for comment on this important issue.
The debate comes on the eve of the U.S. release of Lennox’s book God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (coming in December 2007). In this thought-provoking book, Lennox employs impeccable logic, irrefutable documentation, and extraordinary Christian grace as he invites readers to reexamine claims that belief in God is incompatible with modern science.
The God Delusion Debate also marks a rare trip to the U.S. for John Lennox, whose scholarship is respected throughout Europe in both scientific and religious circles. During his time in the country, Lennox will be making appearances to discuss the relationship between God and science.
“A brilliantly argued reevaluation of the relation of science and religion, casting welcome new light on today’s major debates," says author Alister MCGrath of Lennox's new book. "A must-read for all reflecting on the greatest questions of life.”
John Lennox (MA, MA, Ph.D., D.Phil., D.Sc.) is reader in mathematics in the University of Oxford, and fellow in mathematics and the philosophy of science at Green College. He has lectured in many universities around the world, including Austria and the former Soviet Union. He is particularly interested in the interface of science, philosophy, and theology. He and his wife, Sally, live near Oxford.
The God Delusion Debate will also be broadcast via the Moody Broadcasting Network and its affiliates, but is being made available to any stations who are interested in carrying the broadcast.
Learn more about God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? from Kregel Books
To find out more about carrying the broadcast, please contact Wayne Shepherd of Wayne Shepherd Communications at wshepherd@ameritech.net.