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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: mcp
I think there should a law against propaganda strong enough to change peoples minds. Anti-meme laws. And then we could prosecute advertisers and marketeers. Result!
I think there should be a fundamental right not to have to dredge through crap just to remain yourself. Why do I have to put up with people constantly trying to convert me to their point of view? I'm sick of it. And I'm sick of those andrex puppies. Sell outs.
Eww, Liza Minelli...
The communists gave my mother a job, teaching sculpture to limbless children.
I had a dream that my friend had a
strong-bad pop up book,
it was the book of my dreams.
Written by: Doc LightningWritten by: FireTom
In a democracy, everyone has the pristine right to vent their thoughts and philosophies.(...)
IMHO even right (and left) -wing extremists have the right to articulate what (garbage) is inside their brains.
There's a line. I believe it was Ben Franklin who said that "My right to swing my fist stops at your nose."
The instant your "self-expression" steps in front of my rights, you've crossed that line. And what I see fundamentalists doing, whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu (yes, they exist, and they're just as ugly as the others) or otherwise, crosses that line.
the best smiles are the ones you lead to
Written by:
May you be so kind and explain to me where the right for self expression, of for say "Christian voice" steps in front of YOUR doorstep and collides with your personal rights, Doc?
I had a dream that my friend had a
strong-bad pop up book,
it was the book of my dreams.
Eww, Liza Minelli...
The communists gave my mother a job, teaching sculpture to limbless children.
D.B.
X x X x X
Ship off the starboard! sound general quarters! noise and light discipline! man the cannons! GET ME THE RUM!
Master of the Free Hug Program
This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti
Written by: FireTom
May you be so kind and explain to me where the right for self expression, of for say "Christian voice" steps in front of YOUR doorstep and collides with your personal rights, Doc?
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
"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.
This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti
Written by: stout
Yes, real tolerance would at least ignore the Christian/conservative viewpoint, and to take it a step further, tolerance would at least try to understand that viewpoint, rather than condemning it straight off the top.
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti
Written by: stout
I'm just trying to find out where that brave new world that the Liberals promised us a decade ago, went
"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: stout
Christian law actually exists??,,Is that anything like Muslim law ? you know with the stonings, beheadings etc. if so, then we do have somthing to fear there
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
Written by: UmbiliciformCraterOnFace
So what happens if the person you marry changes into something you dont like over time?
What happens if they are no longer the person you married?
Are you still forced to stay with them even if they no longer have the qualities that you first saw in them, just because you said "I do" instead of "I dont"?Written by: Upandover
Amen, well at least the entire world hasn't gone to hell in a handbasket
You havent read many of Brit_Joes other posts have you?
You do know that he should actually be cast into the seventh circle of hell according to Christianity as he is gay?
Chief adviser to the Pharaoh, in one very snazzy mutli-coloured coat
'Time goes by so slowly for those who wait...' - Whatever Happend To Baby Madonna?
"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: stout
mcp, points well received.
NYC, I was actually serious about the Christian law question, I should have researched it, my bad. It's my understanding that some sexual acts that we perform as a matter of course up here in Canada are still illegal in some US states, is this what's meant by Christian law? I remember watching an episode of cops a few years back and some guy was getting arrested for "impersonating a woman". Not that we're a country of transvestites up here, but it is legal.
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
Love is the law.
"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.
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