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They have taken on Jerry Springer: The Opera, the BBC and are now are planning to tackle abortion clinics. So who are Christian Voice?
Plenty of people have things to say about Christian Voice. John Cryer, MP, called them "fundamentalist thugs". The moderator of the United Reformed church calls them "a disgrace".
Their controversial protests against the "blasphemy" of Jerry Springer: The Opera involved publishing the home phone numbers of BBC executives. They also persuaded cancer charity Maggie's Centres to turn down a £3,000 donation from the show, threatening demonstrations.
Now they are planning to take on abortion clinics. So who is behind this group?
They are a small protest network, led by Stephen Green who describes himself as ex-Anglican and ex-building trade.
The heart of his mission is to return Britain to the 1950s. Back then, he says, it was a Christian country. Ever since, it has been turning away from God and sinking into immorality. Mr Green says he can cite 57 laws that have corrupted Britain in that time.
The "blasphemy and profanity" exemplified by Jerry Springer: The Opera are only two of his concerns. Others include familiar evangelical targets such as divorce and homosexuality; he has a particular concern over gay police. Less obvious enemies include globalisation, GM crops and the EU ("an antichrist totalitarian regime").
This kind of treatment is exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ said that those who follow him should expect
Stephen Green
He is currently angered by the royal wedding, which he condemns, whether in church or registry office.
"Colonel and Mrs Parker Bowles should have been divorced for adultery, but they weren't because that would have been too embarrassing," he says. "So in the eyes of God they are still married."
He likens Christian Voice to John the Baptist who preached against the incestuous marriage of King Herod.
"We're saying to the Prince of Wales: 'You cannot have your brother's wife.' This woman is still married to someone else."
Mr Green has been leading Christian Voice for more than a decade, without causing much of a stir, and became its first full-time employee only 15 months ago.
He is cagey about membership figures, but indicates that they are more than 600. By way of comparison, the Evangelical Alliance lobby group represents about a million Christians.
Notoriety
The new prominence of Christian Voice seems to be largely a matter of good luck and good timing, although depending on your position it may be the influence of the good Lord.
It had previously led anti-blasphemy campaigns targeting the BBC, the Sunday Mirror, Peter Tatchell, and the play Corpus Christi.
But in complaining about Jerry Springer, it had an enemy that caught the imaginations and consciences of a large number of Christians, so it was able - by a viral e-mail and letter campaign - to mobilise the phones of many people not usually connected with Christian Voice.
Mr Green has then multiplied the impact of that campaign through the offence caused by his choice of soft targets. First Christian Voice gained major media coverage when it was reported that BBC executives received death threats after he published their home numbers.
Now the cancer charity Maggie's Centres has turned down a donation from the opera, and Christian Voice is heard loud and clear again.
The publicity that came to Christian Voice over the reported death threats was obviously unintended, but Mr Green is clearly eager to capitalise on his notoriety, using it to get his anti-abortion protest on the front pages.
Yet, when I suggest to him that Springer has been good for Christian Voice, he is ambivalent. He does not seem to have been inundated with money and new members, but has had plenty of threats and abuse over the phone. (Mr Green's website is, to be fair, as free with his own phone number as he was with others'.)
"This kind of treatment is exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ said that those who follow him should expect," he says.
On the other hand, when I tell him of John Cryer's statement that Christian Voice are "fundamentalist thugs", he seems rather to relish this kind of persecution.
'Disrepute'
"He ought to wash his mouth out with soap and water," he declares. "He should withdraw those comments or resign. He brings politics into disrepute."
But he talks neither in anger or sadness - he laughs heartily and seems to be enjoying himself.
Mr Green disapproves of teaching about other religions in school and especially the celebration of Diwali.
Nevertheless, he has some admiration for Sikh protests in Birmingham against the play Behzti, but says Christian Voice "don't throw stones through theatre windows".
Would he draw the line at breaking the law? Green answers thoughtfully: "Yes... unless the law contravenes the law of God."
What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau
Written by: upandover
God wants you to be happy, and when you life revolves around things like homosexuality you push aside the joy God wants to fill your life with.
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
Written by: Brit_Joe
Not only that, but how can anyone question being anti-abortion? Nobody really wants a world where babys are aborted, you cant argue that its wrong be be pro-life. I know its not a perfect world and certain circumstances arent allways perfect for pregnant woman, but that dosent mean being against abortion is unethical.
Written by: mcp
What being in an imperfect world means joe, is that in this world, it is unethical to be anti-abortion.
Love is the law.
There's no place like 127.0.0.1, There's no place like 127.0.0.1, There's no place like 127.0.0.1,
"in most of our friends we're the hippies. but we have hippie friends of our own.. its like a dog having its own pet" - H. Sinoquet 19-03-2005
Love is the law.
Written by: upandover
The mother of a family of 14 is pregnant again. Her husband — the father of all 14 of these children — has a history of alcohol abuse and mental disorders which frequently causes him to abuse his other children. The mother herself is already worn out from trying to care single-handedly for her large family and doesn't feel she can care for another child at this point. On top of all this, two sons in the family also have a history of alcohol abuse, one of the children is in a mental institution, and none of the other children have steady, dependable jobs with which to support mom and dad. Abortion or Not?
If you answered Abortion, congradulations! You just aborted Ludwig Van Beethoven!
A poor black family in the South is expecting a fifth child. This family, because of its skin color, already has difficulty receiving help and are already at the bare minimum poverty level. The outlook for their present children does not look bright. Abortion or Not?
congradulations! You just aborted Martin Luther King,
When you consider aborting a child, you can't just look at what the fetus is now, this "no heartbeat, no brain, no feeling" thing, your distroying a life that has so much potential.
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
Love is the law.
Written by: upandover
The mother of a family of 14 is pregnant again. Her husband — the father of all 14 of these children — has a history of alcohol abuse and mental disorders which frequently causes him to abuse his other children. The mother herself is already worn out from trying to care single-handedly for her large family and doesn't feel she can care for another child at this point. On top of all this, two sons in the family also have a history of alcohol abuse, one of the children is in a mental institution, and none of the other children have steady, dependable jobs with which to support mom and dad. Abortion or Not?
If you answered Abortion, congradulations! You just aborted Ludwig Van Beethoven!
A poor black family in the South is expecting a fifth child. This family, because of its skin color, already has difficulty receiving help and are already at the bare minimum poverty level. The outlook for their present children does not look bright. Abortion or Not?
congradulations! You just aborted Martin Luther King,
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
Written by: NYC
Actually, by that logic, any time you decide not to have sex you're killing people in the future. Your decision to not concieve right now just killed your 5 year old 6 years from now. I hope you're happy.
According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...
Love is the law.
Written by: jeff(fake)Oh dear...... that must mean I'm REALLY bad!Written by: NYC
Actually, by that logic, any time you decide not to have sex you're killing people in the future. Your decision to not concieve right now just killed your 5 year old 6 years from now. I hope you're happy.
Everytime you touch yourself you're 50 times worse than Hitler...
There's no place like 127.0.0.1, There's no place like 127.0.0.1, There's no place like 127.0.0.1,
"in most of our friends we're the hippies. but we have hippie friends of our own.. its like a dog having its own pet" - H. Sinoquet 19-03-2005
Love is the law.
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most dogmatic law seems to be fairly flexible on the grounds that you can confess your sins and be forgiven.
Written by:
Or do you just believe that deep down your a good person and breaking the rules of your church couldnt be helped and your sure god will understand and its not such a big deal anyway?
Written by: upandover
When you consider aborting a child, you can't just look at what the fetus is now, this "no heartbeat, no brain, no feeling" thing, your distroying a life that has so much potential,
Written by: upandover
you could be aborting the next president, great inventor, musican... and the list goes on. ,
Written by: upandover
there are so many other options available for girls that are not able to care for their children, that there is no need to abort. for those that have been put in that situation, I could only imagine how hard a decision like that must have been.
Written by: upandover
I feel for you, but if you ever again find yourselves in a similar situation, I hope and pray you will consider other options.
Written by: maus
Written by: upandover
you could be aborting the next president, great inventor, musican... and the list goes on. ,
And what if I'm meant to be the next great president, but because I had a child at the age of 16, I've had to alter my life choices?
Written by: maus
Its easy to judge when we feel we're older and wiser and we're detached from the situation, but I would like to know what somebody with your opinions would do if they were in a situation where the option of abortion was on the list.
the best smiles are the ones you lead to
Written by: upandover
When you consider aborting a child, you can't just look at what the fetus is now, this "no heartbeat, no brain, no feeling" thing, your distroying a life that has so much potential,
According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...
Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!
Written by:
Written by: upandover
When you consider aborting a child, you can't just look at what the fetus is now, this "no heartbeat, no brain, no feeling" thing, your distroying a life that has so much potential,
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
Written by: NYCWritten by: ] Written by: upandover
When you consider aborting a child, you can't just look at what the fetus is now, this "no heartbeat, no brain, no feeling" thing, your distroying a life that has so much potential,
[/quote
I guess tampons are body bags for unconceived children.
[I'm 100% positive that that's the grossest thing I've ever said on HoP. ]
That is pretty gross, no, thats really gross.
But getting back to the issues, abortion is one of those fundamental issues that no one is ever going to agree on. However, when one group on the far right or far left get too powerful, things start getting out of hand.
Look at the US, the christian right have become increasingly powerful and now...
-there is no more abortion in South Dakota
-we're building a wall to keep Mexican's out of America (like thats going to work)
-a good number of state constitutions have marriage clauses defining marriage as between a man and a woman
-bible belt schools are teaching "(un)intelligent design"
-we're still in [censored] Iraq
This is what happens when secular groups gain too much power. And as a jew/woman/queer, this is getting really [censored] annoying.
Written by: Joe
I dont like pircings or tatoos, they make me feel sick to think about them, and im totally against them, or anything that violates our bodys.
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