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Is a play about a transsexual Jesus art... or blasphemy?

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Graham Stewart | 10:12 UK time, Thursday, 5 November 2009

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About 300 protesters held a candlelit protest outside a Glasgow theatre over the staging of a play which portrays Jesus as a transsexual. The protest was held outside the Tron Theatre, where "Jesus, Queen of Heaven" -- in which Christ is a transsexual woman -- is being staged.

It is part of the Glasgay! arts festival, a celebration of Scotland's gay, bi-sexual and transsexual culture. Festival organisers said it had not intended to incite or offend anyone.

Glasgay! producer Steven Thomson said: "Jesus Queen of Heaven is a literary work of fiction exploring the artist's own personal journey of faith as a transgendered person. This work is not intended to incite or offend anyone of any belief system. However, we respect your right to disagree with that opinion."

Pastor Jack Bell, of the Zion Baptist Church in Glasgow, who took part in the protest, said: "You can't blaspheme God and use freedom of speech as an excuse for that. True biblical Christianity is becoming marginalised through political correctness. If this play had treated the prophet Mohammed in the same way there would have been a strong reaction from the Islamic community, but that just wouldn't happen."

Is travelling by train too expensive?

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Graham Stewart | 10:08 UK time, Wednesday, 4 November 2009

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Virgin Cross Country
The UK's first £1,000 rail ticket has gone on sale.That's how much it could cost you to travel from Kyle of Lochalsh to Newquay.

Of course, it's not the most likely fare you would buy. Indeed, a spokesman for Cross Country has confirmed to us that no-one had actually bought this ticket. The train company says that anyone wanting a first-class return would be likely to book a saver return in advance and pay £561.

Nonetheless, it highlights a more general issue about the cost of "walk-on" fares and the rate at which many of them have increased over recent years. The rail expert who uncovered this latest example, Barry Doe, says the £1,002 ticket had been available for £486 as recently as September 2008

So what's been your experience of buying a ticket?

How well do we deal with floods?

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Graham Stewart | 10:09 UK time, Tuesday, 3 November 2009

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River Don flooding
Interesting calls on today's Morning Extra about how badly prepared we are for floods. While the water may now be receeding, heavy rain has caused havoc in north and east Scotland over the last few days with homes flooded, roads closed and trains cancelled.

So who - if anyone - is to blame? And what do we do about this in future? Lots of you have been texting me about how drains and gullies are not being cleared out properly, and some of you are saying that farmers face restrictions in how much they're allowed to do to clear ditches.

But also, Paul who called us from the Scottish Flood Forum, pointed out how householders need to wake-up to the dangers and be better equipped to deal with flooding when it happens.

So does the responsibility for dealing with flooding lie not just with the councils, but with all of us? You can continue the debate here.

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