why does dstv omit the word 'god'?

January 10, 2006: SIR — The pay television service, Multichoice's Dstv, erases the word "God" in the phrase "Oh my God" in many of the programmes in its channels! When characters in these programmes use the phrase, it comes out as: "oh my ---!"

At first, I thought it was the result of a technical problem but when it was repeated over and over again, I concluded that it is deliberate. While I commend Multichoice for being sensitive enough to extend such treatment to most forms of bad language, in Uganda, "God" is not an offensive or inappropriate word. I certainly cannot see how a phrase like "let's have sex" can be deemed to be less offensive than "oh my God".

God is so prominent in Uganda that no official or national function ends without a call to Him in prayer. He is in our national motto, 'For God and My Country' and the first stanza of Uganda's national anthem is a prayer to Him as seen in the opening lines, 'Oh Uganda, may God uphold thee ..." in Uganda "God" is a politically correct word and I find it offensive and disrespectful for Multichoice to keep erasing it as if it is some kind of scary infectious disease.

The Media Council ought to look into this. Another issue for the Media Council is the airing of two programmes on the same DSTV service with heavy homosexual content. They include A Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and The L Word.

These programmes might be okay in Multichoice's mother country, South Africa, but I think they have no place in Uganda. They glorify homosexuality which is a practice that is not only a crime here, but also socially unacceptable. With the recognition of homosexual relations in law and homosexuality becoming more fashionable in their country, DSTV and other South African companies are a possible platform for the launch of that abominable practice into Uganda and Africa in general. I suggest the Media Council censors programmes with homosexual content from Uganda's airwaves.

Martin Makara
Naalya