Alternative Culture: The exposure of the lies of the BBC

 

Logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the world’s oldest national broadcaster and the United Kingdom’s public-service media organisation. It prides itself on being impartial, fair and accurate.

For decades, BBC News was seen as the most trusted news source in the world (Reuters Institute rankings 2015-2022). Its style—calm, fact-based, no shouting—is copied by public broadcasters in Canada (CBC), Australia (ABC), Japan (NHK), etc.

Yet in 2025, a scandal rocked the BBC, calling into question its integrity. A 19-page internal memo by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC's editorial standards committee, was leaked to The Daily Telegraph. Chief among the examples of clear bias was a misleading edit in a Panorama documentary titled Trump: A Second Chance?, broadcast in October 2024. 

The program spliced together non-consecutive parts of U.S. President Donald Trump's January 6, 2021, speech—specifically combining his remark "I’ll be there with you" (about marching to the Capitol) with a later phrase "fight like hell"—creating the false impression that he directly urged supporters to storm the Capitol and engage in violence

Other several examples of alleged systemic bias, including pro-Palestinian slant in BBC Arabic's Gaza coverage and suppression of stories critical of transgender activism (e.g., favoring "pregnant people" over "women"). Prescott accused the BBC of inaction despite internal warnings.

As a result, BBC Director-General Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned on 9 November 2025. The latest YouGov survey (covering this scandal) revealed that 50% of Britons feel that BBC is biased (31% feel that BBC shows left-wing bias while 19% view BBC favors the right-wing). 

To summarise: It is a state-funded broadcaster caught doctoring primary-source footage of a sitting world leader, followed by the resignation of its entire top tier, during a funding-review year, while facing a billion-dollar lawsuit. That combination makes it arguably the worst crisis in the BBC’s 103-year history.

Leeds Castle, 2011

What does this mean for Christians?
Again, the purpose of this blog is to look at the theological aspect rather than to blame or defend the parties involved.

First lesson is that the truth is sacred. Jesus himself states that he is the truth, and therefore Christians should seek to present information as honestly as possible.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

The Lord detests lying lips,

    but he delights in people who are trustworthy. - Proverbs 12: 22

The second lesson is to beware of institutional loyalty trumping Christ. We can love our church/denomination/ministry, but never more than we love Jesus and His truth. If we see patterns of dishonesty or favouritism, we speak up.

Many in the BBC were aware of the bias, but chose to remain silent to keep their jobs.

Better is open rebuke

    than hidden love. - Proverbs 27: 5

Lastly, we should pray for those in authority to do the right thing. The BBC shapes more worldviews than most pulpits. Its journalists, editors, and regulators are also children of God, and therefore need salvation and wisdom.  

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. - 1 Tim 2:1-2

Personally, it is a bit surreal for me that the scandal happened. Having studied and lived in the UK for 4 years, I often relied on the BBC for accurate information. This incident reminded me to "trust but verify".

Alternative Culture: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump

 

After the shooting, Trump raises his hand to encourage his base

On 13 July 2024, a person opened fire at presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Trump Rally in Pennsylvania. While Trump survived, two others (David Dutch and James Copenhaver) were wounded and one (Corey Comperatore) was killed. The secret service opened fire and killed the shooter. Trump later would attribute his safety to a chart (Trump shifted his head to look at it, causing the shooter to hit Trump's ear), the secret service, and God.

The purpose of this post is not to talk about the politics, security or even any conspiracy regarding the incident. This blog is a theological blog, and I will give my theological thoughts on this.

Is Trump the anti-Christ or the chosen one?
As with any major public event, there many Christians who are too hasty to condemn or praise Trump. 

Because of Trump surviving a head wound and Revelations 13, some point out that that he could be the anti-Christ, or the beast of the anti-Christ. 

One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. - Rev 13:3

On the other extreme end, some supporters see him as divinely chosen as he was shot at 6:11 pm. 

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil - Ephesians 6:11

As with any interpretation, Christians ought to be open but cautious. In fact, the Bible itself encourages believers to be wary of following such trends.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. - 1 John 4: 1-3

In my sceptical mind, I reject notions him being the anti-Christ because his wound was obviously not fatal. And I also reject the use of Ephesians 6:11 to support Trump as it is obliviously arbitrarily chosen. Why not John 6:11 or Hosea 6:11?

Was his survival the luck of the draw?

How did Trump see his survival?
On 19 July 2024, Trump gave a speech at the Republican National Convention. As part of his speech, he covered the assassination attempt from his point of view. I put a few quotes below:

"There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side."

"I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God."

"But if the events of last Saturday make anything clear, it is that every single moment we have on Earth is a gift from God. "

Trump felt that his survival was due to the intervention of God. In my opinion, his speech at the RNC surprisingly showed much humility as he thanked the Secret Service for protecting him and his supporters for not panicking at the event.

"Bullets were continuing to fly as very brave Secret Service agents rushed to the stage. And they really did. They rushed to the stage."

"This massive crowd of tens of thousands of people stood by and didn’t move an inch. In fact, many of them bravely but automatically stood up, looking for where the sniper would be. They knew immediately that it was a sniper. And then began pointing at him. You can see that if you look at the group behind me. That was just a small group compared to what was in front. Nobody ran and, by not stampeding, many lives were saved."

He also provided a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, a retired fireman who was killed, shielding his family from the bullets.

His speech was also more unifying than usual.

"As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America."

Now I do not know how much God intervened for Trump's survival, but I do know that whatever happens, God is in charge. 

"The lot is cast into the lap,
    but its every decision is from the Lord." - Proverbs 16:33

Looking ahead
Now whether America becomes more or less divisive from this incident, or whether Trump goes back on his speech of unity remains to be seen.

Regardless of outcome, know that God is ultimately in control.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?
    Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
    and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
 who brings princes to nothing,
    and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. (Isaiah 40: 21-23)

Theology 1.0: How did Christianity come to Myanmar?

 

Adoniram Judson was a missionary in Myanmar for almost 40 years

Myanmar (Burma) is a historically resistant to Christianity. It has banned most Christian mission work and religious material since independence in 1948, and burning of churches is reported in the southern regions.

Yet the number of Christians has grown (especially among the minority races) from 6% in 2016 to 8% to in 2023. Of this 8%, two-thirds are from the Baptist denominations. This is due to the efforts of Adoniram Judson.

Adoniram Judson
Although the Portuguese had made occupied parts of Myanmar during the early 1600s, their mission work stopped in 1613 after they were repelled by the Burmese.

In 1813, Americans Adoniram Judson and his wife Ann arrived in Burma after the British did not want them preaching to Hindus in British-controlled India. Despite suffering a miscarriage and the death of their two-week old child along the way, both Adoniram and Ann dedicated their time to studying Burmese and their culture. In 1817 he translated the Gospel of Matthew to Burmese.

Isolated from European or American help, Adoniram finally held his first public service in 1818, and had his first convert less than a year later. Although he unsuccessfully petitioned the Burmese king Bagyidaw to remove death sentences for Burmese who converted from Buddhism to Christianity, the Judsons managed to gain 18 converts by 1823. Adonriam also made his first Burmese translation of the New Testament.

Anglo-Burmese war
In 1824, the British Empire warred with the Burma. Despite not being British, Adoniram was jailed for being a Westerner.

Ann visits an imprisoned Adoniram

As the war went poorly for the Burmese, Adoniram was recruited by Burma to act as a negotiator and translator. He was freed when the war ended in 1826. That same year, Ann passed away and their third child passed away in 1827.

With the minorities
In 1827, Adoniram made contact with the Karen people. Unlike the majority Burmese population, they were not Buddhist but animistic, and were oppressed. He surprisingly found them receptive to Christianity, and focused his efforts to the Northern Karen tribes.

He finally translated the entire Bible to Burmese in 1834. He married Sarah Hall Boardman in the same year. They continued the minister in Burma until 1845. Sarah had fallen ill and was recommended to return to America. She died en route the same year.

Adoniram married a third time to Emily Chubbuck in 1846. Adoniram and Emily both travelled to Burma to continue the mission work there. 

In 1850, Adoniram fell ill and was recommended a sea voyage. He died the same year at the Bay of Bengal. By this time, Burma had about 100 churches and 8000 converts.

Today, Myanmar has the third largest number of Baptists worldwide, behind the United States and India.

Alternative Culture: Christianity Today and Trump

One of the more murky topics in Christianity is politics. Unlike other religions, Jesus did not established an earthly government or write a political thesis before he ascended back to heaven. Thus is it hard to argue for a political system, one way or another.

As a result, many of my Christian friends and I have differing political opinion. So it came no surprise to me when Mark Galli (editor of Christianity Today) wrote a critical article on the American President Donald Trump.

For this post, I am not arguing whether we should or should not support Trump, but to give a nuance view.

Galli's view

Galli argued that Trump should be removed for two reasons.

(A) That he illegally sought a foreign government's help to undermine a political rival

(B) His immoral behaviour while being President

Trump's supporters' view

To supporters of Trump, they argue that

(A) There was lack of strong evidence 

(B) They did not vote for Trump for morality; Trump's policies had protected the rights of the religious.

The bigger view

The most disappointing thing is that our American siblings-in-Christ have made support for Trump a "Christian" identity issue. This reminds me of what was written in 1 Corinthians 3: 4-5

For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

By making support of or against Trump a religious issue, our Christian siblings have split themselves unnecessarily. We have to remember that we are united in Christ.

Alternative Culture: Elizabeth Warren and genetics

After being taunted by American President Donald Trump about her alleged Native American heritage, American senator Elizabeth Warren showed the world her DNA results. She had expected praise and support from the public based on being 1/64 to 1/1024 Native American), but only received more ridicule.

In this post, I will briefly talk about why people play up their heritage. If you are looking for Democratic or Republican support, you came to the wrong blog.

Why is it important?
Knowing one's heritage can be a matter of life and death for many people. After all, claiming to be part of a powerful family may lead to great wealth, control and other privileges down the line. Even in today's day and age when we allegedly removed the nobility and caste, many still feel ancestry claims are important.


Adoption
Yet in Christianity, our past claims are not important. What is important is the offer that Christ extends to us by virtue of his mercy to to claim to be part of his family.


As in Hebrews 12: 22-24,

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 

And what is beautiful about this is that this offer is open to everyone.

Alternative Culture: Trump becomes the next president.

Map of the continental United States, from the board game Pandemic

In early November the unthinkable happened -- Donald Trump, a businessman with zero political experience was voted in to become the 45th president of the United States.

In this post, I want to get some theological reflections from this year's election. Before I get misunderstood, I am not a Trump supporter, nor am I a Clinton supporter. As an observer from Singapore, I would much rather see a Sanders VS Kasich election. If you are looking at a political analysis of a Trump presidency, go to another blog.

Theological observations
1) Liberal bias of the media

By watching the news alone, I would assumed that Clinton would win the election easily with 70% of the vote. After all, no major newspaper and news agencies openly endorsed Trump, especially with his seemingly divisive speeches. (Even Fox News, which traditionally supported the Republicans which Trump was representing, called the election result "unreal".)

However the media failed to reflect the reality on the ground. This should fuel our scepticism of the media's objectivity. This leads on to the next point.

2) The frustration of the masses

The key issues that were brought up were immigration, job security and trade. While there have been benefits of free trade agreements, the American masses do not feel those benefits. Trump may have been divisive in statements concerning political and social issues, but his economic promises were music to the ears of factory workers.

3) The importance of contingency plans

As Trump now begins to pull out of trade agreements and implement protectionist policies, my country of Singapore will feel the impact. We can ill-afford to be complacent and must adjust accordingly.

Conclusion
As Christians, we should be wary of what we read and what we hear. While we seek for news that that favour us, we should never be taken astray from the reality of the world and the truth of God's word.

And no matter what happens, God is in charge.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

-- John 16:33

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