#Polari Magazine RSS2 Feed publisher Polari Magazine » Villains: How British Christians are being Americanised Comments Feed * Send us Mail -- Exploring art & culture from a uniquely queer perspective You are here: Polari Magazine / Heroes & Villains / Villains: How British Christians are being Americanised Villains: How British Christians are being Americanised * -- 21 Jan 2012 / 0 Comments / in Heroes & Villains/by Rebel Scum It is a truth universally acknowledged that the 21^st century British take their lead from Americans. Look at the war in Iraq, and the failed attempts of the BBC at US-style sci-fi. And look at how the formerly mild-mannered British Christians are starting to ape the politics of their more aggressive North American counterparts. The Christian Institute, an organisation previously featured in Rebel Scum for their support of the dread Lillian Ladele, runs a propaganda website that feeds stories to unquestioning outlets such as the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, who then re-run said content without questioning it. The stated aim of the Institute’s work is to show how Christians are being persecuted and their rights taken away. What this means in effect is that Christians should be free to persecute others based on whatever random quote from the Bible they can drudge up to support them. Traditionally, the Americans have been the pit-bull terriers of Christ, tearing up everything in their path and crapping over the aftermath. The British have been the fluffy bunnies of Christ, hopping around the field and leaving behind little hard pellets in the form of sermons. The latest round of religious fervor in response to an uncertain world post-9/11 has seen British Christian organisations taking point from the Americans. The Christian Right in the US has perfected the art of recasting itself as a victim. It is the passive-aggressive in extremis. The rantings and ravings of Linda Harvey, the subject of last month’s Rebel Scum, are founded on this cynical use of marketing tactics. The real key is to make an unsupportable claim and then bolster it with a quotation, or ‘truth’, from the Bible. Any Scripture will do, even if the letter does contradict the later teachings of Christ. The intricacies of theology do not concern them. The unsupportable generalisation is the way at The Christian Institute. Take this example from the About Us page: “The Christian Institute is a nondenominational Christian charity committed to upholding the truths of the Bible. We believe that the Bible is the supreme authority for all of life and we hold to the inerrancy of Scripture. We are committed to upholding the sanctity of life from conception.” Inerrancy? In other words, nothing in the Bible is wrong. So what truths do they follow? Do they love their neighbour, or do they support the idea of mass genocide when it’s perceived to be for the greater good, i.e. as their God did when he drowned everything that wasn’t sanctioned to fit into Noah’s boat. Incidentally, I find it shocking that this is a story they are happy to tell to children. It’s far more twisted than post-watershed ITV crime dramas, or all the gay storylines on soaps that gets the Institute into such a lather. So, what do they believe?