The TV Licensing inspector has finally knocked
on my door
After eleven years of running CUT, not paying the licence fee and campaigning that Catholics throw their TV’s out, a TV Licensing man finally knocked on my door. He didn’t know what he was letting himself in for. Poor man! “Mr Mazzeo TV Licensing” he said “According to our records you do not have a TV licence”. Ah, I said I’ve been waiting for you, do you know that I actually campaign against the TV? especially as the BBC is so anti-Catholic. I said, he is welcome to come in but I warned him that if he did I will record it on video and post it on line on our website. I know a thing or two about conducting interviews, creating a narration and making documentaries, this would be fun – I would give the whole episode a narration. But he stood outside looking slightly white by now. I’d always promised myself that when the TV licensing man did finally turn up I would ask him did he have an entry warrant. If he didn’t I’d tell him to go way and get one then I would video the whole experience. He would probably come back a few days later with the police I would then give a running commentary. However, as the local police sergeant is a friend of mine and we attend the same church, it’s probably just as well I didn’t, it would just be too embarrassing all round; and what about my long suffering wife who has often crept away from me in a store such as Currys when I start to expound to a hapless sales assistant on the dangers of the TV and children. Having the police knocking at the door especially as we’ve only been here for a few months, would mortify her.
I’m an atheist, I’m a Catholic but I’m and atheist – he said!
Back to the TV licence man, all he could come up with at the opening of my anti-Telly tirade was “I’m an atheist, I’m a Catholic but I’m and atheist”. I told him that can’t be both! He said he had been an atheist ever since as a young boy a priest came to his house and said that if he didn’t go to church he’d go to hell. After sympathising with him, but only slightly as his priest was right but there are ways and Ways of doing this and we should never forget the teaching on invincible ignorance. A good and orthodox priest will know how to teach this truth without putting people off. But you never know the full and real reasons why people give up their faith. If the priest came around to my house and said that I would have agreed with every word – but how many priests today are brave enough to teach the simple facts of the faith. Many of their congregations are able to brow-beat them into submission so that many are afraid to teach the essential truths of the Catholic faith. Their congregations have been ‘educated’ by the BBC and other media outlets. Many can reel off like rote as efficiently as most zealous Evangelical a few selective ‘truths’ about the ‘Black Legends’ of Catholic history or the ‘kinder’ more inclusive ideals of the secular zeitgeist.
I can however come up with a few reasons for not having a TV – the Corporation’s televised litanies from hell that sexualise the young, their bias in favour militant secularisation to the point of homophilia bran-washing and that is why this nasty box of tricks has been banished from this house. I went through a list of the BBC’s low points and explained why these programme were so bad and how they do not tell the truth about Catholic history. Ah ha he seemed to come to life again, “what about the Crusades?” I met his defiant challenge head on, having just spent the last 18 months working on a documentary on the Crusades, so I was able to defend them as having saved Christendom from Islam. He was surprised that I not only don’t have a TV I am actually a TV producer and scriptwriter. Now completely bewildered he actually refused to come in and turned to go. I gave him a list of Crusader Professors and historians that he could look up and find out what really happened and I said he could always watch EWTN’s documentary we just finished in October. I won’t be seeing it of course I do not have a TV. He said I’ll have a look, he stopped and stared at my car in the drive – “I like Alfas” he said “I got a Mercedes but I think I’m going to buy an Alfa Romeo next”. I said I’ve had it for 14 years and it been very good I just couldn’t part with her. I see I’ve got a convert perhaps he will also think a little about his faith again as well.
Great story, well said. But don't you have a computer? and don't they assume you are watching telly on it?
ReplyDeleteBest wishes.
PAUL . .
Hi Paul
ReplyDeleteWith TV licensing it’s legal to watch programmes as long as it’s not the same time as they are being broadcast. ‘On demand’ they call it rather than live. Therefore, on the computer I sometimes watch classic films like the Prisoner of Zenda on You Tube etc as it’s on demand. I wouldn’t touch most BBC stuff with a barge pole normally except ‘on demand’ via their iplayer when we feel they done something we need to comment on – like their pro-euthanasia documentaries or anything else that they are doing to promote the culture of death etc. Other members of the CUT do the same sometimes like our prayer Crusader with St Teresa of Avail’s report on BBC Newsnight’s ‘Fit for Purpose’ which was about the 1967 abortion act. See http://clearvisioncatholics.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/bbc-newsnight-fit-for-purpose.html
Prayer Crusader St Cecilia says:
ReplyDeleteTV licensing really is a farce. I've now been through two complete cycles of their bullying letters followed by an enforcement visit. Each cycle takes some years! The letters become increasingly belligerent and covered in red ink - by the end they are practically theatening that the SAS will crash through your windows. Finally a visit takes place. What a disappointment they've been! In both cases the entire 'visit' has occurred on the doorstep and has consisted of:
Licence man (in the first case it was a very young woman): I'm from TV licensing. Are you Mr XX?
Me: Yes.
Licence man: Are you the owner of the property?
Me: Yes.
Licence man: Do you use a television on the premises?
Me: No.
Licence man: Thanks, we're just updating our records. Good day.
Said Licence man and lady then scooted back to their cars as quickly as they could. The threatening letters then stop for a few years until the cycle starts up again.
One thing I realised straightaway from the visits is that normally the licencing people do not use their own staff but put the visits out probably to self-employed people on some sort of piece rate (and I bet it's low). That explains why my visitors had no interest in 'challenging' me or getting into the property; they merely wanted to be able to tick a piece of paper to say they had made the visit and then get away in one piece without any trouble.
I daresay the licensing authorities must maintain some sort of 'heavy' visiting unit but probably use it only in the most self-evidently outrageous cases.
So the moral to all those resisters who do not have a televison is: have no fear; the licensing authorities' bark is much worse than their bite. Since you do not have a televison, make a stand: you will find they blink before you do!
The idea of a TV detection SS unit gave me a chuckle or perhaps I shouldn’t be so flippant as I know one or two of our members have been to court over just wanting to watch EWTN, saying why should the pay a fee to an abortion promoting organisation when they believe its murder. Of course this went straight over the judge’s head all he could say was he thought the BBC was a very good and honourable organisation. This was of course before we all found out that the Corporation was riddled with paedophiles and sex offenders only this week another BBC employee was convicted. I used to rejoice at every threatening letter arrived they were just wasting licence payers money. Money they would only spend on making biased programmes in favour of the culture of death, I had after all told them I didn’t have a TV nor watched in any other format.
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