Christians should stop interfering in the electoral process, according to the deputy leader of the British National Party (BNP)
During a tense interview with the BBC’s Politics Show (North East and Cumbria edition) Simon Darby said: “Well, there’s an issue here that the church consistently, every time there is an election, interferes in the electoral process. Perhaps if the church took the attitude that they’ve got a problem with falling congregations and the fact that churches are being rapidly turned into mosques all over this country, people would, would listen to them.”
Mr Darby’s controversial comments came in response to a remark by the show’s presenter, Richard Moss. During the interview Mr Moss put it to Mr Darby that church leaders were right to urge Christians not to vote for the BNP as it contradicted Christian virtues of “tolerance” and “generosity of spirit”.
Mr Darby’s unprecedented attack on the democratic rights of Christians comes at a time when many believers feel that their faith is being sidelined by politicians. The BNP has previously attempted to depict itself as the protector of the nation’s Christian heritage.
However, a number of senior church leaders have previously warned Christians of the dangers posed by the BNP. Last October Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, cautioned that the BNP must not be allowed to hijack Christianity. Lord Carey called for all Christians to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder in rejection of Nick Griffin’s notion that ‘Christianity’ has anything to do with his despicable views”.
The former Bishop of Rochester has also warned that the values held by the British National Party are not Christian. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali warned that the BNP’s “narrow, racist vision” is not in line with Christian traditions. And last May the Archbishops of Canterbury and York jointly urged the public not to vote for the British National Party out of dissatisfaction with MP’s expenses.
In a joint statement, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu warned that the party’s views “are the very opposite of the values of justice, compassion and human dignity which are rooted in our Christian heritage”.
The BNP currently holds two seats in the European parliament, and is hoping to make gains in the upcoming General Election.
The Christian Institute
March 29, 2010
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6 comments:
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/yoursay/boltoncolumnists/alancalvert/5415676.Free_speech_costs/
FREE SPEECH COSTS
The Christian churches should speak out and expose the BNP's sinister underbelly of Racial Odinism.
Key BNP Odinists include Looney Lee Barnes, Red Squirrel (who is equally as nuts) and Green Arrow.
The BNP set up its own 'Christian Council of Britain' with its own tame pastor, the fake cleric Robert West, and that in-house 'Christian' church informs, directs and supports the BNP at every turn, so it is pretty rich to then turn artound and say churches have so say in politics.
It is certainly not beyond the abilities of normal Christians to produce such a denunciation. Stephen "Bird-shit" Green, the leader of the tiny homophobic "Christian Voice" group, produced quite a scathing critique of the BNP's theology, referring not only to Odinism but also to the BNP's "folkish" ideology as well as the pseudo-pagan tat on sale on the Excalibur website.
Incidentally, at least on matters relating to anti-abortionism, Christian Voice used to have a close working relationship with the "UK Life League" run by Jim Dowson. This could explain why Green is so vehement in his criticism of the BNP.
Which brings us to the following question. What does the Reverend Dowson think about Darby's statement? Or, for that matter, the Reverend West and his fellow Christian Council members (if they exist)?
One final thought, I find it strange that a party calling itself "Britain's fourth political party" is worried about the tiny number of votes the Christian candidates manage to take.
Two Facebook promoters of the EDL are called Odin's Wolf and Odin's Raven which goes to show that the EDL and the BNP are indeed interchangeable.
The EDL aren't "defending" tghe UK against Odin worshipping lunatics.
Griffin thinks God is a 'Nationalist'
http://barthsnotes.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/nick-griffin-be-of-good-cheer-for-christ-our-lord-is-risen/
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