( Story pinched,with apologies, from gay,com today)
National Front protests over gay priest. Gay.com UK Thursday 10 June, 2004
The National Front is planning to protest over the appointment of Canon Jeffrey John next month, claiming the appointment of a gay priest is a "subversion" of the Church of England.The group, an extreme right wing organisation that calls for white racial supremacy across the UK, is planning to march past St Albans Abbey on the 2nd of July, when John will be installed as dean of the Cathedral.According to an article in the St Albans Observer, the group will also distribute leaflets claiming the decision to appoint John as dean goes against biblical teachings and that the Church's message is being "watered down"."As Christians we are concerned that the Church is failing as an institution," Deputy chairman Bernard Franklin told the newspaper."The pews are empty and what is preached now is more about being nice to each other than anything else. It's meaningless in our view."We have nothing against Jeffrey John as a person and he is probably a nice enough bloke but the Church has been infiltrated and is being destroyed from within."The plans have been slammed by the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), which argues that recent comments from Church leaders about sexual diversity have given groups such as the National Front an excuse to parade their "bigotry"."The views of the Archbishop of Nigeria that homosexuals are worse than beasts, a Scottish Cardinal saying we are perverts and an English bishop implying we are mental defectives gives succour and credibility to these bigots," General Secretary Richard Kirker said today."Church leaders may protest their innocence and try to distance themselves from fascist organisations - but to their undying shame the only political groups supporting their stance on homosexuality are racist Nazis."He added that the protest announcement is particularly inappropriate in light of the recent D-Day celebrations."In a week when we have seen the 60th anniversary of D-Day, we are reminded that the evil and hatred that fired the National Socialist ovens is still alive on these shores," Kirker said."It suits many to forget that homosexuals were amongst the first to be arrested in Hitler's Germany - and even today they are blind to the world-wide suffering mutilation and murder of homosexual people often with the tacit approval of religious leaders."This is not the first time Canon John has been the subject of protests. He was originally chosen as the Bishop of Reading last year, but was forced to withdraw before being consecrated after a campaign against him was launched by senior Church figures who objected to him being gay.This new appointment, made by the government, is being seen as a subtle modernising tactic for the Church, although it has sparked a row across the region. While he has received broad support, John has been the centre of protests from some local parishes, who will withhold their diocese funds from the Cathedral in defiance of his position.Police have said they are as yet unaware of the National Front march next month, although they will be in attendance to make sure the event passes peacefully.
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I trust there will be a large group of anti-nazi's turning up to stop them marching.
Could be a bit awkward for some backing 'the church' to some extent,against the
fascists.?????
Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
maybe...
10.06.2004 12:57
Just a thought!
bit of humour, there...
resist the tyranny
Captain Wardrobe
Chance to build bridges?
10.06.2004 17:17
"Gay Lad": I think this is another very fine opertunity for "building bridges" (as you put it in an earlier thread) And the timing could not have been better for this (if I could describe anything like this as "better"??). I take it you read the report on the German neo-Fascists nail-bombing Turkish immigrants in Cologne(
Hope the response is good and we get the chance to burn one of their Union Jacks (just like on the BNP leaflet!!)
Hope the BNP get stuffed tonight too!!
Bit worried about the UKIP vote actually!! Their mayoral candidate has already made it clear they are aginst the proposed gay museum in London -so we could have a bit of a fight on our hands here??
Andy S
How long ... ?
11.06.2004 03:40
There is much that we could learn from a discussion here, but before we proceed, be aware that these sort of topics tend to encourage the nutters to emerge from the woodwork to have a bash at gays. I'm sure you've seen their junk on similar threads. It's not what Indymedia was created for, but such is the double edged sword of free posting sites I guess. Can I propose that, if and when they appear this time, we just ignore them and carry on. Actually, that could be a good tactic when we're faced with trolls of any kind - BNP, Countryside Alliance etc..... .
What do other Indymedia users reckon?
AnarchoRadio
Grand Idea
11.06.2004 11:18
Cheers
Caz
Indpendent Left
Build bridges and ignore trollers
11.06.2004 18:37
By the way, Blair is finished!!
May the "Madrid effect" continue!!
Andy S
The only good fascist......
17.06.2004 14:09
Ed Bailey
e-mail:
edward.bailey@hertscc.gov.uk