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Evangelicals and the Conservative Party in the UK Election
Today's Observer has further details: Lowering the abortion limit is one of the key aims of [Nadine] Dorries [MP] who, as the New Statesman discovered, has received support and briefings from Christian Concern For Our Nation. The little known but well organised group claims it "exists to serve the Church by providing information to enable Christians to stand up publicly against a tide of unchristian legal and political changes in the United Kingdom". Accounts reveal it received more than £265,000 in gifts and donations last year. As I noted here, links between Dorries (who has been described as "the UK's Michelle Bachmann") and CCFON were first noted by a British television documentaty in 2008; Sunny Hundal, who wrote the New Stateman article, provided more information about Dorries' anti-abortion views here. I wrote a blog entry about the ADF's recent visit to Britain here. The Observer also highlights an electoral candidate, Philippa Stroud, who heads the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which claims to have formulated 70 Conservative policies. Her husband David Stroud is a minister at a neo-Pentecostal Newfrontiers (written as "New Frontiers" by the paper; this was an older branding) church. She appears to subscribe to "spiritual warfare" beliefs:
Stroud wrote a book, God's Heart for the Poor, in which she explains how to deal with people showing signs of "demonic activity". Stroud, who declined to talk to the Observer, writes: "I'd say the bottom line is to remember your spiritual authority as a child of God. He is so much more powerful than anything else!" The paper features quotes from ex-members of the church which suggest that she applied this belief to homosexuality. The article on Stroud also says that Newfrontiers is "allied to the US evangelical movement", which is so vague as to be meaningless - evangelicals and neo-Pentecostals see themselves as belonging to a broad transnational movement, so of course there are US links, but the Newfrontiers grouping was founded by a British Christian, Terry Virgo, and emerged from trends within British Christianity (particularly house churches). However, the specific US links are interesting: the grouping apparently received an endorsement from Paul Cain, one of the controversial and authoritarian "Kansas City Prophets". Mark Driscoll (whom I blogged here) has also spoken at Newfrontiers events. Virgo regards the grouping as "apostolic", although there are no obvious links with the US "New Apostolic" movement. Stroud's election fund has received a donation from Michael Farmer, a businessman. The Observer profiles Farmer and another Christian businessman named Ken Costa, although the paper unfortunately sensationalises the subject by claiming that they are "secret donors" when their donations and their support for the party are in fact completely out in the open (and not particularly controversial). Sunny Hundal's New Stateman piece includes a quote from Dorries:
"Historically, there have been splits in the Conservative Party over religion. But the vast majority of the new MPs will be social Conservatives who have similar opinions to myself," Nadine Dorries tells the New Statesman. "I can think of half a dozen Conservatives that don't agree with me, but they're leaving at the next election - people like Andrew MacKay and David Curry. The new MPs that are coming in are all social Conservatives - people like Fiona Bruce, Philippa Stroud, Louise Bagshawe." He adds:
...It may be hard to believe that Britain will turn into Jesus-land, but social attitudes are always in flux. And developing a sense of victimhood is an essential part of the religious right's strategy to fire up its base. After all, it has been used to great effect in the US.Sunny has more thoughts here.
Evangelicals and the Conservative Party in the UK Election | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
Evangelicals and the Conservative Party in the UK Election | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
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