Is it moral to knowingly cause harm? The question is pertinent because of the agreement of the Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC), referring to the TV3 program Està passant, which dedicated a gag to the Virgen del Rocío. The intervention of the CAC is motivated by 115 individual complaints and three collective ones, from e-Cristians, the Federation of Andalusian Cultural Entities in Catalonia (Fecac) and the Valents political party. It considers "that in the case analyzed there is no violation of the audiovisual regulations." It does so, despite concluding that "they may be unfortunate, and even hurtful especially as regards people who profess the Catholic faith."
What happens if we accept that a public body can inflict a wound, harm Catholics? What is the ethical alternative that this question raises?: conceive another comic story based on religious referents that are not hurtful. This solution does not limit freedom of expression, because there are innumerable possible stories. It is a question of creativity, not freedom. But for the authors, TV3 and also the CAC, the "grace" lies precisely in hurting.
The CAC assumes that moral pain can be caused to Catholics, but this same purpose applied to any other group would be inadmissible. If the suffering of Catholics is acceptable to public television and the institutions of this country, it means that the limits have been exceeded. A reality that is even more evident, if we remember that in January, and in another comedy programme, they played a joke in bad taste on the Partit dels Socialistes, and TV3 responded by firing the comedian and deleting the programme.
And abuse is also legal. In 2002, the "Criteria del Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya in the matter of treatment of religious facts in audiovisual entertainment programs" were established, which were blatantly violated by Toni Soler's program on the Virgin. The same Soler who two decades ago was the initial cause of those Criteria. Now, the CAC does not apply them because it does not suit them. How to qualify this type of behavior in public officials?
