Two Dutch Christian comedians, signing themselves Tohoe Wabohoe, have sharply criticised public broadcaster EO for dropping a TV programme with a satirical view of fundamentalist Christianity.

EO claims to be an evangelical broadcaster, they say in an open letter published online, and should have taken this opportunity to show non-religious people that evangelical Christians do have a sense of humour.

EO decided on 3 August to stop preparations for the show, saying that the way it was turning out no longer matched the intention of the programme. EO, which is allotted public broadcasting time based on the number of subscribers it has, was facing an avalanche of membership resignations, according to comedian Guido Weijers. He was to have been one of the first performing artists on the show.

Evangelicals "missed an opportunity"

The broadcaster missed "an opportunity to show the Gospel according to St Mark to a wider audience, and to discuss it with them, unfortunately", the comedians write in an open letter, referring to Mr Weijers' intention to base his jokes on St Mark's Gospel. The two comedians write that the broadcaster should have attacked existing prejudice. "You also missed a chance to demonstrate that Christians are not boring, not always complaining, and able to withstand criticism."

"If you continue to drop programmes because they might not exactly reflect the views of your membership, you'd better stop broadcasting altogether," Tohoe Wabohoe write. "We belong to that membership too."

Controversial presenter

The case is further complicated by the EO's choice of the programme's frontman. Considered handsome and attractive by many, including EO viewers, Arie Boomsma got into trouble more than once with his employer, which expects its stars to behave publicly in accordance with evangelic doctrine. Mr Boomsma, who earlier presented a frank weekly show with teenagers called "Forty days without sex", posed semi-naked for a one-off glossy magazine called "L'Homo".

The photo-shoot earned him a three-month suspension, ostensibly because he had failed to inform his employer in advance that he had committed himself to appearing in the magazine. On his weblog, Mr Boomsma said,

"from Christianity, one too often hears a damning, loveless view on homosexuality. That's exactly the opposite of what it's all about. God does not discriminate between people, he loves homosexuals as much as heterosexuals."

The critical comedians of Tohoe Wabohoe emphasise that they, evangelicals like the rest of EO's membership, had been looking forward to Mr Boomsma's appearance as the cancelled show's presenter. It was not to be.