Christian Voice (UK)

There is an unconnected organisation called Christian Voice in the USA

Formerly known as Repent UK, is an organisation based in the United Kingdom which claims to be striving, through prayer and public campaigning, for 'national repentance'. Christian Voice claims to follow the Word of God and the teachings of the Bible. It is led by Stephen Green (a former Chairman of the Conservative Family Campaign), with Lord Ashbourne as its patron. Christian Voice mixes politics and religion in a manner and style similar to Christian organisations in the Bible Belt of the Southern United States. It also opposes the tolerance and inclusiveness of much of modern Christianity, including a more accepting attitude to other religions. Its policy positions lean towards the far Right of the political spectrum.

In its publication "Britain in Sin" it uses social trend statistics to contrast Britain today with the 1950s, attempting to relate many problems, from rising crime statistics and infertility to inflation and lack of social cohesion, to a departure from the Laws of God. It claims that older, more traditional society created a far more stable, safe, 'God-fearing', and wealthier lifestyle for rural Middle England. Christian Voice opposes many aspects of twenty-first century British society, such as abortion, tolerance towards homosexuality and no-fault divorce. They would like to see divorce fault-based, with divorce settlements dependent upon conduct and they call on the monarch to base British law on the Bible. For example, they object to the proposals to end the practice of male-preference primogeniture for the succession to the Crown of the United Kingdom .They advocate British withdrawal from the European Union, claiming that British membership of the EU prevents Queen Elizabeth II from exercising her Coronation oath in which she pledged to be God's sole representative in the United Kingdom.

The group calls for reduced rates of tax, which they believe will encourage fathers to provide and mothers to care for their own children.

Christian Voice deeply opposes 'safer sex' education, claiming that it is ideologically and politically driven, not based on the welfare of people and that condoms do not provide complete protection against all sexually transmitted infections . The group also argues that the availability of contraceptives encourages promiscuity, which in turn leads to sexually transmitted infections and infertility. Christian Voice believes in restorative justice although they also believe in reintroducing the death penalty for murder. They demand that convictions be based on the evidence of two or three witnesses, regardless of forensic evidence, after the Biblical pattern. The group has been highly critical of the English legal system for allegedly allowing conviction on the evidence of a single witness. They cite the Sally Clark case and other convictions of the mothers of deceased children, believing the conviction was excessively based on the evidence of a single influential witness, such as Roy Meadow.

Membership details for Christian Voice remain vague, with the organisation unwilling to provide information regarding numbers. It is unclear how far its membership extends beyond Stephen Green and Lord Ashbourne.

Controversy

Jerry Springer - The Opera

Christian Voice was behind much of the controversy in the UK surrounding the BBC and the broadcast in 2005 of Jerry Springer - The Opera. The group claimed that the production was blasphemous in its depiction of religious figures such as Jesus, Mary and God. The group maintained a presence outside the Cambridge Theatre in London where it ran, attending on the last four weekends giving out evangelistic leaflets.

In protest at the BBC's decision to broadcast a performance of the show, Christian Voice started a campaign for people to send complaints to the corporation and published the home addresses and telephone numbers of several BBC executives on their web site, including Jana Bennett (Director of Television), and Roly Keating (Controller of BBC Two). Mr Keating received death threats as a result.

When at tour of the show was announced for 2006, the group vowed to disrupt performances at any regional theatre which stages the show, and have been blamed by the producers for the postponement and reduction of a scheduled autumn tour, and its cancellation on New York's Broadway.

In recent times, more UK theatres signed up to host Jerry Springer - The Opera due to popularity and enthusiasm from the public. 'Ticketmaster UK reports very good ticket sales for the 2006 UK Tour, and talks have resumed in regards to a Broadway run after the 2006 UK Tour.

On 8 January 2007, submissions were made on behalf of Stephen Green at Horseferry Road Magistrates Court in an attempt to pursue private prosecutions for blasphemy against the Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson and the show's producer, Jonathan Thoday. A summons was refused on 30 January 2007, as a result of lack of prima facie evidence that a crime had been committed, and the provisions of the 1968 Theatres Act, which enshrines the right of free expression in theatrical works.

A judicial review of the decision was granted at the High Court on 26 April 2007. Mr Justice Underhill stated: "I consider that the District Judge was wrong to take the view that s 2 4 [of the Theatres Act] applied to the offence of blasphemy" and that he "consider[ed] it arguable that the [District Judge's] assessment that the facts alleged disclose in effect no case fit to go to the jury was wrong in law".

The Judge emphasised, however, that his decision meant "no more than that the challenge to the District Judge's decision was arguable. That does not necessarily mean that it will succeed; still less that any eventually prosecution would succeed."

Maggie's Centres

The group has been criticised for its role in causing a cancer charity, Maggie's Centres, to decline a four-figure donation that came from the proceeds of a special performance of Jerry Springer - The Opera. The charity had been due to receive £10 per ticket for an afternoon gala - the total amount being around £10,000 (although CV claims it would only have been £3000). Christian Voice contacted Maggie's Centres, informed them of their dislike of the opera and stressed the offence that would be caused to some Christian donors. A statement by Maggie's claims that Christian Voice had threatened to "picket our centres" and that the action by Christian Voice would be "effectively blocking our work" [1]. As a result, Maggie's Centres decided not to accept the donation and to raise money "ethically and in ways which do not cause offence". Christian Voice responded to criticism in the press by saying that they had helped Maggie's Centres avoid a "PR Disaster of profiting from filth and blasphemy".

Allegations of homophobia and transphobia

The group has been involved in a number of campaigns against the Gay Police Association (GPA). Their website banner proclaims: 'The site the GPA wants to ban!'. Christian Voice are particularly opposed to police officers participating in gay pride marches, and in 2003 wrote to the Chief Constable of every force which allowed its officers to march in uniform at Pride events. The organisation published the replies on its website. They included:

"For your information, I have not allowed my officers to attend this event on 26 July 2003 for the simple reason that I believe that uniform should only be worn when on duty. As a lifelong practicing Catholic... I must advise you that I find your views morally offensive and totally reprehensible and I would be grateful if you would cease any further communication with me." Mr Terence Grange, Chief Constable, Dyfed-Powys Police.

And:

"Owing to the unreasonable, inaccurate, and abusive nature of your letters, I am afraid I am unable to provide you with a comprehensive response. Your voice is not Christian." Clive Wofendale, Assistant Chief Constable for Mr Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable, North Wales Police

Christian Voice believes that homosexuality is an objective psychological disorder and treatable, and encourages lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to contact various controversial "ex-gay" organisations. This belief is not supported by the medical establishment.

In December 2005 Christian Voice attacked the new civil partnerships for same-sex couples in the UK. Stephen Green said:

"Ordinary people will be revolted by the sight of these couples embracing and the recognition in our law of what the Bible describes as an abomination and 'vile affection' will bring judgement on our land from the same Almighty God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah." [2]

The group also created a spoof of True Vision, a third party incident reporting website created by the police to report homophobic and racial hate crime incidents. As of July 2006, after action from the police, the website has been banned for plagiarism and for being misleading.

Christian Voice have also campaigned against gender recognition legislation, in accordance with their belief that gender reassignment surgery represents unacceptable interference with the human body as God's creation. They state that people who identify as transsexuals suffer from psychological disorders and imply that they have been abused and neglected as children.

For the past 2 years, a small group led by Stephen Green have held protests during London's Pride Parade but the numbers of demonstrators (usually grouped behind police officer outside the Institute of Directors on Pall Mall) is on a steady decrease.

In January 2007, the group issued a press release characterising attempts to combat homophobic bullying in schools as "forcing homosexuality on children"

Views on Abortion

Christian Voice has been the subject of criticism over its stance on abortion. The group claims to draw on both the Bible and modern medical knowledge in regarding abortion as the wilful murder of a living human being and comparing it to the Nazi genocide. It calls on the church to offer 'hospitality' to women who allegedly feel pressured into having an abortion, and has stated an intention to hold vigils outside abortion clinics to pray for those entering, "as soon as the Lord wills."

The group often undertake actions with the UK Life League, a group led by a former Orangeman, James Dowson, with convictions for breach of the peace and possession of an offensive weapon. The group has stood accused of using abusive and intimidatory tactics described by the police National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit as "akin to those of animal rights extremists" and of fabricating images of aborted foetuses.

Views on Islam

Christian voice states that Islam is not an Abrahamic religion:

"... in the Qu'ran, Allah denies the Crucifixion and denies that Jesus Christ ever was and is the Son of God. Whoever it is that Muslims worship, he sure is not the God whom Jews and Christians acknowledge as the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth." Stephen Green has also stated that Christian Voice will attempt to use racial and religious hatred laws in an attempt to ban the Qur'an. He commented to The Guardian: "If the Qur'an is not hate speech, I don't know what is. We will report staff who sell it. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that unbelievers must be killed.

Other

On 24 June 2005, Christian Voice's bankers, the Co-Operative Bank, told the organisation to take its account elsewhere as Christian Voice's anti-homosexual policy was in conflict with the bank's own policy of support for diversity. In response, Christian Voice have issued a statement calling for Christians to boycott the Co-operative Bank.

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005, the group issued a statement claiming that this was the result of God's wrath and had brought "purity" to the city, even though several Bible colleges were gutted and the gay-favoured French Quarter suffered only minor wind damage and flooding. .

On Saturday 2 September 2006, Stephen Green of Christian Voice was arrested while handing out anti-homosexual leaflets at the Cardiff Mardi Gras. He was detained for four hours, charged with public order offences and the case was remanded until 28 September, when all charges were dropped. Following his arrest, Green slammed the police as 'a partisan unit whose job is to round up Christian dissidents, treat[ing] them like thought criminals and trampl[ing] on freedom of speech' and called on supporters to 'safeguard our historic freedoms'.

Christian Voice advocate the prosecution and stoning of 'blasphemers' as 'a matter of due process'.

Media coverage

Since attempting to censor Jerry Springer, the Opera, the group, through their "National Director", have enjoyed increased coverage in the national media, though this has not always been to their advantage, particularly on the BBC's Today Programme. As a result of the appearance of Stephen Green on Question Time in September 2005, the group has been condemned by the Rev Dr David Peel, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church (URC) and by a number of other church bodies. Dr David Peel, said:

It is a matter of some regret that … the BBC should choose to undermine the reputation of Question Time by giving a platform to a small, self-selecting group distinguished mainly by its absurd claim to represent Christians in this country.

As a result of similar complaints from members of the public, the BBC reviewed its policies towards the group and stopped inviting it on its programmes.

Opposition to Christian Voice had resulted in a Google bomb for "ignorant bigots" being created, which directed to their website. [3] However, due to changes to Google's ranking algorithms in January 2007, this no longer works.

See also

• Jerry Springer - The Opera
• Anti Christian Voice - spoof of the Christian Voice homepage
• Radical Christians to target abortion clinics - The Sunday Times article

External links

• Christian Voice homepage
• True Vision - a 'satire' on gays in the police funded by CV
• Times Report on the Harry Hammond trial
• Green doesn't have a prayer Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association blog entry
• Listening to the Voices resource of links on Christian Voice's activities as reported by the media (includes pictures).