Fawlty Shades of Green

Following yesterday's mention of rentaquote Stephen Green of his Christian Voice Movement, we see him appearing on the pages of The Guardian today. Strangely, the Mail neglected to call him up on the sex education in primary schools story, so maybe there is a parallel universe somewhere.

Or, is this a sign of the Guardian's continued drop in journalistic standards? As the paper develops a trend for celebrity, tabloidesque pieces masquerading as comment (Big Brother blogs, Kerry Katona updates), has it fallen into the trap of regurgitating press releases?

Polly Curtis in The Guardian does provide more accurate information than the Mail's headline-and-run approach, pointing out that:

• Children will learn about body parts and the fact that animals reproduce from the age of five, puberty and intercourse from the age of seven and contraception and abortion from the age of 11.

The Mail, however, merely informs its readers that,

• Children as young as five will be taught about sex, drugs and alcohol in compulsory lifestyle lessons, ministers announced today.

Returning to The guardian, although other comments are sought, the disturbing one is from Green,

• However, a minority of traditional family campaigners opposed the decision. Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, said the proposals would only "encourage experimentation" and contribute to the rise in teenage pregnancy and infertility.

  He said: "We oppose this move completely. It can only encourage experimentation and will not teach about the rise in teenage pregnancy and infertility.

  "Condoms only cover one part of the anatomy and do not protect against other infections carried on the skin that can cause infertility."

My objection is not to the fact that there is an opposing view, but that it comes from a man allowed to punch above his weight by hiding behind a tin-pot organisation.

There will be Christian groups that also oppose this but do not share Green's apocolyptic view of the world, his hatred of homosexuality, his anti-Islamic stance, his suggestion that Hurricane Katrina was God cleansing sin, his belief that the Queen's Sovereignty comes from God, prayer can win Test Matches against Islamic countries! I could go on but I'm losing the will to live.

Local BBC radio here also quoted from Green on this matter and this went much further than the Guardian words. To paraphrase he suggested that this was a proposal from a Government forcing children to fornicate and that sex should only be between two virgins on their wedding night. I don't think he was referring to John and Yoko.

As I said yesterday, our new friends in Owasso (Morning! hope the storms have not done much damage, though Green may claim them to be a judgment on Obama supporters) may be as upset about this as the Magic Bus, but at least the Doll-Fearers may have a soul mate.

The doll - rather confusingly -is purported to say 'Satan is King' as well as 'Islam is the light' but Brother Green sees a link:

• We want the freedom to preach the Gospel, to say Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life, and that the gurus and prophets of other religions lead nowhere except to hell.

All makes sense now. Must. Join. Christian. Voice. Green. Is. The. Lamb*









* He is baaaaaarking mad.