Tarnishing the Brush

The battle of the religiously aligned buses took another step forward today as the Guardian discovered Christian organisation, Core Issues Trust, had booked advertising space for a “Post-gay and proud” campaign.

This was the latest strike in a fight which started back in 2008. The There’s probably no God slogan was plastered across buses in the capital before the obvious reply of There definitely is a God was displayed in the same places.

After this, the charity Stonewall spread their message, Some people are gay. Get over it!, across London and upped the ante by bringing exclamation marks to the whole debacle. This action had a sincere and well-intentioned goal but the trouble was always going to be that no intolerant human would actually be swayed by the advert.

There are few people who would argue with its meaning, but those who would were never going to find a change of heart on the side of a bus. Beyond this, Stonewall must have expected a response from the people they were publicly intimidating.

That response lies within the proposed Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it! campaign, which brings two exclamation marks with its message. By this point, it’s becoming clear that only the TFL coffers and those who enjoy a good argument are benefiting from the posters.

The bid to advertise was put forward by Core Issues Trust and was supported by the, inappropriately named, Anglican Mainstream, an extremist group.

CIT's objective of using therapy to "help" homosexuals live a heterosexual life is atrocious. It has united Christians, atheists and pretty much everyone else who isn’t part of CIT or Anglican Mainstream in appropriate disgust.

However, this ridiculous slogan won’t ever reach the streets of London thanks to the impending elections. In a bid to raise his image with the voting people who don’t carry prejudice around with them, Boris Johnson has used his power as the head of TFL to block the campaign.

While this is a wonderful indication of London being an open and accepting society, there’s now a fear that this action will only go to give the campaign, and the homophobic organisations supporting it, more advertising than they could have hoped for.

This has already been seen as Mike Davidson, CIT's leader, has started brandishing claims of censorship at the Mayor: “I didn't realise censorship was in place. We went through the correct channels and we were encouraged by the bus company to go through their procedures. They OKed it and now it has been pulled.”

While the end of this story is yet to be seen, TFL can be sure of making more money as charities with very specific aims fire back at each other.

Away from the issues of advertising, there’s one thing which can be seen in certain reactions to the events. This is, most people of Britain are ashamed of any prejudice found within its society, except for when it’s shown towards Christians.

This observation comes from someone who has used the homophobic and ignorant brush to paint all Christians many times in the past. However, I’ve  recently had a rather drastic change of opinion.

This hasn’t been a change of opinion on anything spiritual. I am still proud to say I have no idea what started our universe, or what happens after we die. It has simply been the obvious realisation that prejudice towards religious individuals is just as bad as every other prejudice so often berated by the left-leaning sections of society.

It’s hard to imagine anyone who claims to be proud of London’s diverse population arguing the merits blaming the entirety of a group for the actions of an ignorant few, yet reactions to today’s news include:

• “Christian's piss me off. I will kill them all.”

• “Not Christian, Ex-Christian (due to intelligence), Get Over It (Grey Bearded Man In Sky Does Not Exist).”

• “Religion: The root of all evil. As usual.”

• “I'm offering free therapy to those poor, afflicted souls who have succumbed to temptation and find their lives blighted by an invisible sky fairy or variation thereof.”

 

Yet, when horrifying attacks are planned and carried out against our society by the extreme minority of the Muslim community, do any tolerant people believe it’s right to mock their entire belief system?

When the EDL march through cities waving slogans of racism and xenophobia, does any right-thinking individual make claims about wanting to kill all white guys?

No, they don’t, because it’s prejudice. But, for some reason, we often feel it’s OK to mock and threaten Christians for their beliefs when a few individuals do something completely despicable.

Maybe it’s because atheists and agnostics see themselves as underdogs to Christians in British society and imagine their insults as the loveable actions of the informed and plucky good guys.

Whichever way it may be justified, I can’t support it any more than I can support the harm caused by xenophobic groups or the actions of malicious individuals who distort the Christian ethos beyond recognition.

Anyone in London, or the rest of the UK, can be proud tonight that most of the country stood up against homophobia and pushed a leader to take a positive action.

On the whole, our society is not only one of tolerance (a term I've never felt really fits well with its intention), but more importantly, one that is proud of its diversification and ability to defend those who are being attacked.

However, this tolerance and pride in our difference must be extended to those who represent all faiths, even the one with the most supporters. Everyone occasionally falls into the trap of blaming the whole for the actions of the few (I’ve done it countless times), but it mustn’t be accepted.

Brain Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor (who I cannot support enough) got it completely right when he responded to today’s events with this statement: 

“From personal experience as a gay Christian, I can tell you that it's much better to be out than in. We should be celebrating the diversity for which London is known, not denigrating it. As mayor I want to make London a place that is welcoming to all people, including Christians.”