Friday 16 March 2007

The ugly face of the Christian Right

As long ago as the 1980s, my old friend Charlotte Wolff - a Jewish lesbian refugee from Hitler's Berlin - said to me: "This country is beginning to have the smell of Weimar".

That smell is now a stench - even more in the USA than in Britain. Please read this alarming report to see the real face of Christian Fascism in action. And please don't tell me that this isn't "true" Christianity.......

6 comments:

Jose said...

I personally know hundreds of people who accept homosexuals as they are, people that are Christians.

Those who rule the different branches of Christianity are some for and some against homosexuality, the latter requiring an update of how things roll in the world today.

I can assure you if those who are against took a 180º turn on their opinions their followers would follow suit in their immense majority.

That I know religions have never considered this issue specifically and I cannot understand how it came to happen to be an important factor in the division of people.

Scientists have multiple explanations about homosexuals which should be taken into account by those who still doubt or are against.

Richard W. Symonds said...

AC, do you have the same contempt for Christian Socialism as you do Christian Fascism ?

Presumably you do.

Therefore, it is unlikely you have read "Regaining the Moral Ground" by the late John Smith - remember him ? Former Labour Party Leader.

Interesting read - but you are clearly not interested in "Socialism", so I will not continue...

anticant said...

JOSE - I worked professionally full-time during the 1960s and '70s to improve the legal and social situation of homosexuals. I had much support from wise and charitable Christians, including the near-saintly Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Michael Ramsey.

The situation today is very different. Sexual issues have been seized upon by the increasingly bigoted and power-hungry 'born-again' zealots, both in the USA and Africa, and to a lesser extent here, to stir up the prejudices and venom of the ignorant.

You hit the nail on the head when you say: "I can assure you if those who are against took a 180º turn on their opinions their followers would follow suit in their immense majority."

That supine attitude of credulously following the noisy leaders in a sheeplike - and sometimes a wolflike - way is precisely what I object to in the mass of religious believers, whether Christian or Muslim.

RICHARD - Why do you assume that I "despise" everyone whose ideas and beliefs I disagree with? You really should make more of an effort to understand others' points of view!

The only people I despise are the cruel, wicked, violent, murderously hate-filled, dishonest ones who are causing so much unnecessary havoc in the world - all totalitarian-minded idiots, whether 'religious' or not.

The Victorian Christian Socialists were worthy people whose ideas did a lot of good in their day.

Jose said...

The Right in Spain, staunchily allied to the Catholic Church, systematically oppose any initiative by the Socialist Party to give homosexuals full rights under the Spanish Constitution. The same rights that heterosexuals have. The majority of progressists in the Chambers has made possible for these laws to be enacted, which has very much angered the Church.

zefrog said...

First of all Anticant, thank you for taking the time to read my blog and to comment. Thank you also for the link in your blogroll.

AS I have mentioned in previous posts on my blog regarding the current debate surrounding the Sexual Orientation Regulations, high ranking members of Christian churches (particularly the Catholics) are frightened to see their influence on society decrease.

In this respect, Murphy-O'Connor's attempt at blackmailing the goverment in respect of adoption agencies had little to do with gay rights. AS they have acknowledged themselves (perhaps unwittingly), they can not stand the fact that the goverment (with all its faults, I might add) is promoting an alternative moral code. This means that the Christian moral is not the only valid one any more. Quite unacceptable for people who draw their power from that very monopoly.

Their choice of attacking the LGBT community has also in my view not been made by chance but clearly because in their view (and in many views they are sadly right in this), the LGBT community is the last "high profile" minority (there are others of course in this situation but this is the only one that can actually raise people from their lethargy) which can still be attacked almost in total impunity or at least with the assurance of a certain amount of lee way.

We can, I think, be grateful to see that the government, parliament and the vaste majority of Christians were not duped by this stratagem and in the end those Christians might have hurt their cause more than they have furthered it. Here's to hoping!

The Christian right in the UK may not be quite as virulent and violent as it is in the US but they are just as desperate, even resorting to openly lying when taking part in the public debate. We must remain vigilant... A backlash is still possible and unfortunately probably quite likely.

anticant said...

Welcome to my arena, zefrog. Hope we'll be keeping in touch from now on. I don't often blog on gay issues, but if you look back through my archive here and in anticant's burrow, you'll find some items of interest.

I was actively involved in gay rights work from the 1950s until the 1990s, by which time a new generation were doint their own thing and I felt I had 'done my bit'.

It is very curious how militant Christians keep banging away on this front. As you say, they resent the slippage of power. As I keep pointing out, religion is all about control, and bullying people about their sex lives is a simple way of making them feel guilty even when they aren't harming anyone.

I agree with you that there is a danger of a backlash, and that the younger generation of gay people are too complacent - they've 'never had it so good', and that can change quite quickly.

In the 1960s, Lord Arran, who piloted the reform Bill through the House of Lords, used to say to me that there is no tradition of reaction in British politics. I didn't agree with him then, and even less so today. We must remain very vigilant.

Keep up your excellent efforts to alert people.