Poor old Eamonn Holmes! Got it in the neck for some comments on his morning TV show about baseless conspiracy theories which link the coronavirus outbreak to 5G technology. OFCOM received 419 complaints from viewers after he said the media shouldn’t dismiss claims that 5G is spreading Covid-19 — despite the fact that such rumours have been widely debunked by scientists and public health authorities.
“What I don’t accept is mainstream media immediately slapping that down as not true when they don’t know it’s not true,” Holmes claimed Monday on the popular ITV breakfast show “This Morning.”
Yet it seems to me that what Holmes was doing was protecting the unquestionable belief of people today that “Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.”
Some years ago when I was vicar of a London parish, 2 am on Sunday morning I was awakened by booming music from our Parish Hall. Hurrying round I eventually located the host and made my complaint, pointing out that the contract she had signed required the Hall to be cleared by 11.30 pm. “But this music is my culture” she replied, and before I could point out that early morning sleep was part of the culture of our neighbours, she retorted, “So you’re saying that I’m not entitled to my culture, are you?”
“My opinion” “my culture” – all part of the unassailable ‘rights’ of each individual. And what happens when they contradict the facts, or interfere with someone else’s rights? Well, they mustn’t! After all “Truth, what is that? as Pontius Pilate remarked. And anyway, my truth might not be your truth.
So perhaps poor Eamonn Holmes will be rebuked – and not rebuked; and maybe even sacked – and not sacked. Who knows?
