Bartholomew's Notes

Few surprises on Radio 4’s 6pm news programme, as British Islamist Anjem Choudary explains why he shouldn’t be prosecuted for calling for the execution of the Pope at a protest at Westminster Cathedral:

We were saying that people should be wary of the fatwa which have already been given, for example against Salman Rushdie, and of course what happened during the cartoon demonstration. So in fact we were saying that people like the Pope and others should know better, and if they make such comments and they have severe consequences then really they have only themselves to blame.

Well, I’m glad he’s clarified that, then.

Meanwhile, the Islamist campaign to whip up violence by taking what the Pope actually said out of context gets an unexpected boost – from the American Family Association’s Agape Press and Christian Zionist Jan Markell:

The founder and director of Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries says Pope Benedict should be commended for his recent quotation of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor’s observations about Islam…Jan Markell says she was a bit surprised by Pope Benedict’s candor, which, she notes, “surprises me a little bit because [he] is trying to unite a bunch of religions, including Islam — bring them all together … and he’s really working on Islam to be a part of this.” For the Pope to come out with this statement, the Olive Tree Ministries’ spokeswoman says, “I honestly have to give him some credit for being that blunt”…And now that Pope Benedict has couched Islam in…frank terms, Markell says the Vatican should not yield to the demands of angry Muslims for an apology.

Of course, some have raised the possibility that Benedict was merely saying what he really thinks in a way that was plausibly deniable; such a conspiracy theory can never be proven either way, but in trying to divine the secrets of the Pope’s heart we should at least take some note of the official statement of the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, which says that

“the Holy Father did not mean, nor does he mean, to make that opinion his own in any way.”

However, demagogues like Markell are opportunists, and misrpresenting Benedict’s stated views can only have the positive result of further inflaming the situation. Markell may dislike the Pope’s efforts at inter-religious dialogue  (or “uniting a bunch of religions”, in her paranoid worldview), but she and Choudary are united in their belief that hatred, fear, and ignorance should be the handmaids of religious revival.

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I’ve just watched The Doomsday Code, a documentary broadcast on Channel 4 on Saturday night. The programme, presented by Tony Robinson, explored the role of “End Times” beliefs in the USA and Africa, and included interviews with a range of proponents and critics.

Robinson began by suggesting that “End Times” beliefs are politically very significant in the US, and scholar Paul Boyer was brought in to confirm this assessment. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention was also keen to assert his political influence:

Reagan’s administration would take our calls, in Bush I they would sometimes take our calls, in this Bush administration his advisors call us. And they say, you know, what’s your take on this issue? What is your perspective on this issue? And that’s as they should do. I mean, you know, you need to pay attention to your base.

Robinson reminds us that Bush had called for Israeli withdrawal from large parts of the West Bank prior to the Iraq War, but that this had changed by 2004; the voiceover is complemented by a smug grin from Land, who goes on to explain that the US should not pressure Israel to do something which the Israeli government thinks is detrimental.

However, God is allowed to pressure the Israeli government, as David Reagan (“David Regen” in the show) of Lion and Lamb Ministries explains:

When Ariel Sharon decided that he was going to give away part of the land of Israel, and was determined to do it, [snaps fingers] he was removed from the scene just like that.

As part of his exploration, Robinson visits a hardware store, where the unidentified shopkeeper is totally unfazed when asked for advice about what to buy in preparation for the Great Tribulation. He suggests self-powered flashlights and the like, as well as various weapons. A person can be Tribulation-ready for about $3000, apparently.

Robinson also visits Israel, where he meets various Christian Zionists, such as Sandra Oster Baras of the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities. CFOIC brings coach-loads of Americans to illegal settlements in the West Bank, where the Israeli inhabitants are given gifts of cash. Other American Christian Zionists tag along with Gershon Salomon of the Temple Mount Faithful as he attempts to deliver a stone slab to the Temple Mount to serve as the foundation stone for the Third Temple. The Americans mutter “Amen” and nod as he and a Christian associate spew out vitriol against the Muslim enemy. We also get to see Sha Stephens of Ness Energy (spelt “Sha Stevens” in the programme and in some other sources), who is drilling for oil:

We’re going to poke a straw into the reservoir which we believe supplies the Arab states. When that happens their production would, should, decline, because we are structurally high to their wells over there. Oil and gas migrate uphill, and so there’s no other place for it to go except Israel.

(I blogged on Sha’s father Hayseed Stephens here; he was also the subject of a Skeptical Inquirer article back in 1999.)

Robinson then heads off to Uganda, where he studies the global impact of “End Times” beliefs. Pastor Dennis Odoi explains the situation:

We are greatly supported by America There’s something about Americans that I really don’t understand. At giving, they’re very good. They support us in training. Many servants of the Lord have been trained by Americans…In Uganda if you don’t go to America, it’s like you’re not a preacher. But you see most of the literature we use is from there. The Bibles we have is [sic] from there. The tapes we have is from there. The preachers who come to minister here are from there. America having the kind of money and the technology, God is using it to support, say, a Third World country like Uganda to spread the Gospel. We thank God for what America is doing in spreading the gospel all over, all over the world.

I wonder if this is the same person as the Dennis Odoi who works for World Vision Uganda, and who was part of a Satanic panic back in 2003?

At the Kampala Pentecostal Church, Robinson sees a white American preacher in action:

The answer is not politics. The answer is not economics. The answer is not better education (we need all those things). The answer is for us to get back to the Bible, God’s constitution to the planet.

Robinson also sees an African pastor preaching on the Last Days in a refugee camp in the north.

Unsurprisingly, Robinson is somewhat alarmed by the “End Times” perspective, and he argues that the spread of such beliefs were responsible for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God tragedy, and may be used to provoke World War 3. Critics included on the show include Gershom Gorenberg, who has often noted that apocalyptic Christian Zionists are not particularly interested in the real people who live in Israel. Revs Barbara Rossing and John Tidy (the latter based at Jerusalem’s Anglican cathedral) offer theological critiques, and Ramsey Sprague (spelt “Ramsay Sprague” on the show), an environmentalist from Texas, complains about the impact of the belief on his work:

The destruction of the environment is not only necessary but it’s a positive goal in an of itself…As I told [one person] about the problems facing Texas she saw me almost as a messenger of the returning of Christ.

(I think that first sentence is over the top, by the way)

Andrew Mwenda, the editor of Uganda’s Daily Monitor, complains that his country is “going to hell” thanks to “End Times” teaching:

We have problems of corruption. We have problems of incompetent government. The solution that is offered is that people should pray for the world to end, rather than people actively participating in the process of ending their problem.

A Ugandan school-teacher, Julius Othiero, adds that children have been taken out of school because of “End Times” beliefs, and some come to school unable to concentrate after all-night prayer meetings on the subject. The influence of apocalypticism is also blamed for a recent surge in AIDS cases.

Robinson ends his investigation on Patmos, where he quickly tries to put the Book of Revelation into historical context. He also suggests that the author had been under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms – a doubtful thesis, in my opinion.

Of course, a programme of this kind can be faulted – an obscure Gary Frazier is presented as one of the best-known End Times teachers, while Hal Lindsey and John Hagee both appear for just a couple of seconds in bits of footage. There is also no discussion about the variations: pre-Trib rapture vs post-Trib rapture, and less apocalyptical support for Israel from some conservative Christians (such as Ted Haggard). Boyer’s input suggested that Bush himself  is motivated by apocalypticism, but the programme did not make a convincing case (That Bush is “born again” and talks about good and evil was about as far as it got). There was also at least one minor goof in addition to the dodgy name-spellings, as Robinson’s description of the establishment of Israel in 1948 is accompanied by footage of Israeli soldiers at the Western Wall from 1967. However, overall it was a quality introduction to the topic, and hopefully it will be shown in the USA before too long.

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Posted at Talk to Action.

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Private Eye (1167) carries an interesting letter following-up on its recent report on child exorcism and alleged ritual killings (which I blogged on here):

Sir

The piece on Child Abuse – Satanic Panic, is a very interesting and valuable contribution to debate surrounding the problem of “so-called child witches”.

It is the first article which I know of in the UK, that separates the very real imported problem of “so-called child witches” or “enfants dits sorcières” as they are known in DR Congo (where the problem is most prevalent in Africa), from unsubstantiated claims of satanic abuse and “traditional” or Juju/voodoo rituals.

As your reporter correctly points out these three distinct issues were conflated by Angus Stickler’s reports for the BBC and by the Evening Standard last year. This of course risks “demonising” all Africans as “that’s what they do isn’t it” and detracts from the real problem of physical abuse of children, which is aided and abetted by (mostly) self-ordained preachers in the new evangelical African churches that have come to the UK with their refugee parishioners from countries like DR Congo and Angola.

My colleague Jonny Donovan and I have worked at first hand in DR Congo and Angola with organisations which are trying to combat the problem in those countries – Kinshasa for instance has upwards of 30,000 street children aged from three to 12, most of whom have been ejected from their families accused of witchcraft.

SIMON LAWSON

Nomad Productions Ltd.

The magazine also has a letter from Angus Stickler, in which he defends his reporting of the issues and states that the BBC provided “an accurate summary” of the Metropolitan Police on the subject. Apparently it did not occur to Stickler to question whether the police report itself might not be accurate, despite the fact that the police were taking advice from such dubious characters as Kobus Jonker.

Lawson is quite right to commend the Eye for separating the three conflated issues – but while we can discount the “Satanic abuse” element, the “Juju/voodoo” issue is not quite as “unsubstantiated” as he and the Eye suggest. As I blogged at the time, the Eye‘s report failed to mention the evidence of Richard Hoskins in the case of “Adam” (the dismembered child found by the Thames five years ago), and as I wrote just a couple of days ago, child-killing for magical purposes does appear to be an increasing problem in Uganda.

The danger of “demonising” Africans over the problem is also worth bearing in mind. It should be remembered that this is not “African culture”, but rather elements that have mutated in strange and harmful ways. The teratogens are decades of social breakdown, war, tyranny, disease and extreme poverty, in the context of a chaotic and globalising world.

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Israel Chief Rabbi: Kazakh President in “the footsteps of…Abraham”

Pakistan Muslim Leader: Nazarbayev deserves Nobel Prize

Kazakhstan has just hosted the “Second Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions”, where representatives of various faiths came together in a giant glass pyramid (designed by Sir Norman Foster) for interfaith dialogue and to praise president Nursultan Nazarbayev. First up, Shantilal Somaiya:

…Nazarbayev has received Vice President of Indian non-governmental organization K.J.Somaiya Trust Dr. Shantilal K. Somaiya.

“Since 1997 we are trying to develop Christian-Hindu dialogue…I cannot withhold admiration from the way Mr. Nazarbayev leads Kazakhstan. He is a unique leader who is able to maintain peace and harmony in such a multi-confessional country. It is a palmary example of achieving harmony in poly-confessional society”…

Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, gushed in similar vein, as he addressed Nazarbayev directly:

You follow the footsteps of our common forefather Abraham…You have turned your state into the country of peace between the peoples and religions…you [are] a man of sense and moderation, a man full of noble ideas, an open-hearted man.

However, one Muslim delegate was not going to be outdone:

Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi, former President of the International Islamic University of Pakistan, suggested nominating Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev for the Nobel Prize in Peace. “I am going to put up Nursultan Nazarbayev for the Nobel Prize”, he stressed.

Delegates wisely steered clear of topics like Sergei Duvanov, the journalist who uncovered Nazarbayev’s secret Swiss bank accounts and was promptly beaten up and sent to prison for rape, or the various opposition politicians who have been arrested in recent years (such as Tolen Tokhtasynov and Galimzhan Zhakianov).

The Congress itself received a wide range of political and religious figures, including:

Abdallah Bin Abdul Muhsin At-Turki, Secretary General of the World Muslim League, Reverend Nicolas Baines, Bishop of Croydon, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantaui, Imam of AI-Azhar University, Ishmael Noko, Secretary General of the World Lutheran Federation, Salman Al Husaini Al Nadvi, President of Jamiat-e-Shabab-e-lslam, Indian Muslim Organization are among the high-ranking guests attending the forum.

A number of eminent politicians including Mahathir Mohamed, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, UN Special Representative in Geneva Sergey Ordzhonikidze, UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, PACE Chairperson Rene van der Linden.

One hopes that Mahathir controlled his tendency to rant about “hook-nosed” Jews.

High-profile interfaith events are currently the in-thing among ex-Communist authoritarian leaders; the Congress comes just weeks after Vladimir Putin hosted a similar “World Summit of Religious Leaders” in Moscow, which I blogged on here.

The Congress saw various religious leaders reflecting on their own importance in world affairs. One example:

While giving a speech at the 2nd Congress of World and Traditional Religions’ Leaders, Shlomo Amar, Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, has declared that religious leaders were able to prevent conflicts between nations.

“Every leader may influence his people somehow, that is why he must be very careful while addressing the audience”, he mentioned.

Amar recently showed his interfaith credentials when he asked the Pope for support in his efforts to have a Gay Rights parade banned in Jerusalem.

The delegates also discussed religious violence:

Leaders representing major world religions Wednesday denounced intolerance, terrorism and the misuse of religion for political ends.

…”Religious warfare brings out the worst in people,” said Patriarch Bartholomeos I, Archbishop of Constantinople…

“Religious fanaticism is one of the thorniest aspects of the problem and this is where our efforts should focus if we want the world to change,” he said, calling for the teaching of respect and reconciliation “in every synagogue, in every mosque, in every church”.

Also:

“We should exert the unique rallying force of every religion to awaken the people’s inherent kindness, banish their evil thoughts and make shared contributions to building a beautiful and harmonious, earthly pure land,” said Jiamuyang Luosangjiumei Tudanquejinima, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China.

Although, of course, “every religion” does not include Falun Gong – which the Buddhist Association of China sees as an “evil cult” – or the Dalai Lama, who is a “separatist”.

Nazarbayev also graced the Congress with his own ideas, which include making 2007 “the Year of Religious and Cultural Tolerance”, and the creation of an “international center of cultures and religions”. He also announced plans for more religious TV:

Nazarbayev said Khazakhstan’s state TV would, beginning next year, broadcast regular one-hour programmes devoted to “a sermon of kindness and religious tolerance”, and urged other world leaders to follow suit.

The Congress eventually came up with “nine principles of inter-faith dialogue”. These include advice to “avoid prejudice and misrepresentation”; to engage in “effective listening and learning…in the spirit of tolerance on the basis of shared values”; and for dialogue to “assume equality of partners”:

Education to that end conducted by mass media would help achieve “better understanding of the importance of dialogue and thus minimize the risk of religious extremism,” it added.

The Iranian delegation immediately entered into the spirit of things:

An Arabic speaking reporter from Haaretz approached the ayatollah [Sadiki Roshed] and shook his hand, but once he introduced himself as an Israeli, the Iranian leader walked away.

The BBC, meanwhile, suggests that there might possibly be a beam in Nazarbayev’s eye:

But beyond the walls of the spectacular pyramid, there are concerns that the Kazakh government, although more tolerant than others in Central Asia, has recently itself moved to restrict religious freedoms.

Muslim groups that are outside state control and non-traditional groups like Hare Khrisna have complained about official harassment.

This is one of the reasons why critics have questioned whether the Congress was as much aimed at serving President Nazarbayev’s goal of promoting his country, as it was designed to promote world peace.

Name variations: Congress of Leaders of World Religions; Congress of World and Traditional Religions’ Leaders.

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Staying with Uganda, local media reports suggest that the country is currently gripped with fears about child sacrifice. The Catholic Information Service for Africa reported last month:

Two weeks ago, five-year old Aggrey Muguluma of Rubaga Division was killed in a suspected ritual by wealth-seeking criminals.

A woman and a traditional healer were recently arrested in the capital Kampala on suspicion of stealing a child with intent to offer human sacrifice.

…Though the number of children killed is unknown, the state-owned New Vision daily reported 15 cases of child sacrifice in 1999 alone. The number is suspected to be high in rural areas, away from the glare of the media.

One case that has received particular coverage is that of Edwin Muguluma, a five-year old who was murdered in July (three suspects have been charged today).

Concern over the issue has prompted a rush of circumcisions, as the New Vision reported two weeks ago:

THE number of parents taking their sons for circumcision to guard them against being sacrificed by witch doctors has of recent increased.

Kibuli Hospital administrator Siraje Mbulambago said the number had increased tremendously in the last few weeks. Parents, especially mothers, are more concerned and accompany their sons for circumcision.

Maama Ssenyonjo, 27, a mother of two, said she was forced to take her son for circumcision after hearing stories of kidnappers and witch doctors.

“For girls, you can pierce the ears, but boys are safer when they are circumcised. We are told that when a child has shed blood, they cannot be sacrificed,” she says. Ssenyonjo believed that circumcision works against child sacrifice when kidnappers abandoned her neighbour’s circumcised son…

One man, Rogers Mwebembezi, believes that his son Julius narrowly escaped being murdered for just this reason. He gave his story last week to the Weekly Observer:

In 1995, Julius, then 4 years old, was visiting his grandmother at Nkokonjeru in Mukono district. Without being noticed, a 28-year old neighbour, Resty Mbulabalungi, took him away, ostensibly to accompany her to the market. He was not seen for the next five days…The search led to Bukoba and a shrine owned by one Nyoka.

“When we finally got there,” Mwebembezi recalls, “I saw a wide dark hut from which echoes of strange voices came. The villager who had come with us told us that the voice was saying that the spirits had rejected the sacrifice because they don’t shed blood twice.”

Moments later, something wrapped in black sheets was tossed out of the shrine. Immediately the detectives accompanying the search party fired three shots in the air, and took charge of the scene.

On unwrapping the mysterious package, there was Julius. Naked. Semiconscious. His body smeared with what looked like herbs.

However, this is more complex than just a resurgence of tradition, and many Ugandans blame outside influences. Mbulabalungi had consulted a Tanzanian witch-doctor before abducting Julius, and local traditional healers are keen to disassociate themselves from such practices. Back to the New Vision:

Appearing on WBS TV recently, the Ndeeba-based Maama Phina, the chairperson of traditional healers, condemned the act of child sacrifice as evil.

That practice is not part of our profession. It is common among those doctors who come from Tanzania and Congo and normally tag onto themselves very scaring names like ‘Mutulakungo’ (one who can sit on a leopard’s back),” she says.

Phina pledged to work with The Police to stamp out child sacrifice, claiming it was a disgrace to the profession.

Local leaders in the Buganda region also blame foreign healers, as WBS notes:

The Kingdom of Buganda has called on local leaders to start registering foreigners and other new comers in their respective areas in a move aimed at eliminating Child Sacrifice.

…This was during a meeting with Local Leaders in the Mengo government to discuss ways of fighting the evil of child sacrifice at Bulange Mengo.

The Minister for local government in Buganda Kingdom Jolly Lutaaya urged local leaders to be vigilant and to step up efforts in order to stamp out Child sacrifice from Buganda and Uganda at large.

He said that it’s disheartening to note that Child Sacrifice is common in Buganda, a thing that could tarnish its norms and culture that are admired world wide. He said that in Buganda’s Culture and Norms Human Sacrifice is never heard of and even the fore fathers never practiced it.

Meanwhile, a recent op-ed in the Monitor by a Ugandan Christian blames wider foreign cultural influences for the murders – particularly Nigerian films, and, rather more surprisingly, the Rich Dad, Poor Dad books:

There are several belief systems, which have been adopted by different classes of people. Among the uprising aristocrats, The Rich Dad, Poor Dad philosophy is becoming rife. It has its good points but it has also fuelled a lot of corrupt practices. I hold it accountable for Uganda’s junk helicopter purchases, the ridiculous property sales in Kampala; the land grabbing in northern Uganda and now the oil-rich Bunyoro.

…The other besieging force is the increasing popularity of the Africa magic movies mainly from Nigeria. What they promote as reality is pure witchcraft even with those that hold Christian labels.

Men have been enticed to dabble in dubious dark deeds to gain power over others and riches. Since the majority of Uganda’s business population watches these Nigerian movies, reinforced by the commonly shared stories during idle time, it comes as no surprise that children are being sacrificed for riches.

The author believes that the Bible is the answer, since it “promotes beliefs that protect life and leads to true prosperity”.

Meanwhile, police in the UK are still attempting to track down those responsible for the murder of “Adam”, an unidentified west African boy whose dismembered torso was found by the Thames five years ago. I blogged on the ongoing investigation here.

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More news from Uganda, where key Bush ally and evangelical favourite Yoweri Museveni presides over an increasingly repressive country. Human Rights Watch reports:

In a country where a sodomy conviction carries a penalty of life imprisonment, a Ugandan tabloid’s decision to publish the names of alleged homosexuals is a chilling development that could presage a government crackdown, Human Rights Watch said today.

…”For years, President Yoweri Museveni’s government routinely threatens and vilifies lesbians and gays, and subjects sexual-rights activists to harassment,” said Jessica Stern, researcher in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program of Human Rights Watch.

And as with recent developments in Ghana and Nigeria (which we blogged here and here), even talking about gay rights can bring down the wrath of the state:

…The government has also silenced discussion of gay and lesbian rights and lives. The Broadcasting Council, a board of government censors, fined a radio station 1.8 million shillings (more than US$1000) for hosting a lesbian and two gay men on a talk show, where they protested against discrimination and called for repeal of the sodomy laws. In February 2005, the Media Council – a state censorship board – banned a staging of the play, “The Vagina Monologues,” by the U.S. author Eve Ensler, because it “promotes illegal acts of unnatural sexual acts, homosexuality and prostitution.”

The report comes just days after Museveni’s prime minister, Apolo Nsibambi, praised the efforts of religious groups in opposing homosexuality:

“There is a lot of international pressure for Uganda to back down from its position on marriage between one man and one woman,” Nsibambi said on Wednesday.

This was at the opening of the 18th Provincial Assembly of the Church of the Province of Uganda at Uganda Christian University in Mukono.

…”Importing values from the western world is inimical to our culture. I am glad to mention that the Church of Uganda, the Catholic Church and the Muslims joined hands to resist homosexuality in Africa,” Nsibambi said.

The Anglican meeting where Nsibambi spoke also discussed formally breaking links with parts of the Anglican Communion that hold more liberal views on homosexuality. The Living Church Foundation reported:

In his presidential address to the biennial assembly of the Church of the Province of Uganda held Aug. 30 at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, Archbishop Orombi asked the assembly to revise its constitution to state the Church of Uganda “shall be in full communion with all churches, dioceses and provinces of the Anglican Communion that receive, hold and maintain the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God written.”

…Delegates to the meeting last month were also given copies of California mega-church pastor Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Life, with a commendation from Archbishop Orombi.

Warren is a well-respected and influential figure in Uganda, where he has worked to improve AIDS awareness and treatment. As someone who is known for his various development plans for Africa, will he be willing to suggest to Museveni that persecuting people for their sexual orientation is not the right way to go about things?

UPDATE: No, Warren most certainly will not.

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As the proud owner of a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate, the idea of missionaries posing as language teachers is of particular interest to me. The phenomenon of TEML (Teaching English as a Missionary Language) is the subject of my latest post at Talk to Action.

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A twitch of activity from the website of British National Party’s religious front group, the Christian Council of Britain. Readers may recall that I blogged on this organisation several times earlier this year, and follow-ups from Ekklesia resulted in wider media attention. Its public face is “Reverend” Robert West, a ex-Tory councillor turned BNP member, while the organisation’s president is Clive Potter, a well-known BNP activist who also heads the party’s new trade union. The CCoB’s website has been “under development” for months, and I had pretty well given it up for dead.

The site now carries the CCoB’s “Minutes of Formation” (1), backdated to April (I don’t known when it was actually posted, since I stopped checking the site a couple of months ago). Hopefully this is just a final pathetic spasm rather than a foreshadowing of any sort of future activity, but I’ll overview it anyway. The organisation claims to exist

to counteract cultural and ideological challenges and threats from extremes (of Left, Centre or Right).

Two predictable targets are identified:

Islam was especially noted as a cultural and political challenge as much as a religious one, inasmuch as Islam – in its mainstream form – runs contrary to the principles which make for a free nation…The same was also noted about the Far Left or Marxian version of contemporary ‘political correctness’ with its hatred for, and attacks upon, everything that is normal, moral and natural on this side of the grave, such as: the Nation, the family, private ownership, the male and female distinction, natural sexual relations within a wedded relationship of male and female; and the natural authority of parents over their children.

…It was resolved, therefore, to keep a watch on these two totalitarian creeds with a view to educating and teaching the populace of the fundamental issues which they raise…

West goes on to assert his masculine side, as he turns to gender issues:

…women must not intrude themselves into the male headship role or into roles fitted to the male mind and physique (1 Peter 3:7; Eph 5: 22-24); and, in particular, that families need fathers; that mothers need husbands; that the ordained ministry is a front-line ministry for men only, and not for women (1 Tim 2: 9-15) nor for the effeminate or sodomites (Roms 1: 24-32; 1 Cor 6: 9)…

And then on to a theory of racial origins:

The Christian Council of Britain resolved that it recognises that all men are of one blood or proto-race in Adam through to Noah; and that from that one race divergent sub-races have emerged (Gen 11: 1-9) – Russian dole-like [sic] – so that we are now different…

Generously, however, “United Kingdom citizens, of non-British descent-groups” are allowed to join the gang.

The document also links Robert West with a mysterious “Grace Covenant Fellowship, Lincolnshire”, which has no internet presence and which we strongly suspect is based in the Rev’s sitting-room.

Meanwhile, aside from when someone tipped a bucket of water over him, West’s media presence has been reduced to a few BNP press statements.

Robert West giving a BNP audience the benefit of his male mind and physique

(1)www.christiancouncil.org.uk/releases/0604_minutes.html

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