BRIEFING FOR JOURNALISTS AND ACTIVISTS
CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS IN BRITAIN

The Christian Right, as far as it concerns the lesbian and gay movement can be categorised into three rough types.

1. Serious Campaigning Groups.
These are usually registered as companies and charities with a large and easily mobilised support base. They employ staff and often carry out 'research' in public policy areas. Examples: The Christian Institute; Christian Action Research and Education (CARE); The Maranatha Trust; The Evangelical Alliance

2. Fringe Groups.
Individuals, individual churches or small organisations usually with a heavy dose of fundamentalist Biblical material in their literature. They are small scale and not always well organised or presented.
Examples: Intercessors For Britain (bordering on type 1) St Margaret's, Tyler's Green (Anglican Parish church which involved themselves in political debate); Facts Matter; The Conservative Christian Fellowship

3. ‘Ex-gay’ Groups.
Of different varieties. Some use 'reparative therapy' or other techniques to 'cure' homosexuality 'through the power of the Holy Spirit'. Also included are evangelical groups who offer a broader 'healing' ministry which includes prayer, healing, laying on of hands or deliverance from homosexuality.
Examples: Courage; The True Freedom Trust; Exodus (Europe); Ellel Ministries

Note: Deliverance is a more informal form of exorcism involving the laying on of hands and prayer.

This briefing deals primarily with groups of type one.

Although the existence of financial links between the American Religious Right and similar groups in the UK is hard to prove, the adoption by UK groups of the American model of organisation and strategy is clear.

The following points constitute what might be called the 'American model' for conservative Christian groups all of which can be seen at work in UK groups.

• An Ecumenical Base
  Although a particular group may have affiliations with a particular denomination, conservative groups now work across ecumenical boundaries. This means that any one groups has a much broader support base and is free from some of the internal politics and policies of a particular denomination. For example, The Church of England has firm customs about respecting the geographical boundaries of parishes. An Ecumenical organisation can be run by a C of E minister without regard to parish boundaries.

  Note: Ecumenical is the term used to denote co-operation between people of different Christian denominations - this way of working is not restricted to conservative Christian groups.

• Public Policy
  Such groups have realised that Biblical quotes and theological arguments don't cut it with the public at large or politicians. Biblical and theological language is notably absent from the publications of such groups as The Christian Institute, CARE and Intercessors for Britain about Section 28 and the age of consent.

  This realisation has enabled such groups to fight on the relatively new (for them) front of public policy - an arena from which they were noticeably absent even five years ago, preferring instead to concentrate on internal church debates.

  This shift away from internal church debates is facilitated by their growing ecumenical breadth.

  Note, for example, how the Rev David Holloway (C of E Vicar of Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne) is a leading light in two organisations. 'Reform' is an ultra conservative fundamentalist evangelical grouping within the Church of England. The Christian Institute on the other hand is ecumenical in reach and largely concerned with public policy issues.

• Lobbying Skills
  The development of effective lobbying skills is a major plank of the Christian Right's strategy. Senior politicians are courted, brought on side and then offered material assistance in terms of information, researchers and consultants for policy issues on which they share a common concern. Both the Christian Institute and CARE operate in this way within the Houses of Commons and Lords. Most of the main parties have informal caucuses of conservative Christians within them already.

  As Charities bearing the name 'Christian' senior politicians are often pleased to become trustees or non-executive directors and this increases the lobbying and networking power of these groups.

  The use of databases and the management of 'people resources' is particularly important. Some evidence exists to suggest that people who objected in writing to Baroness Young's position during the age of consent debate were answered by The Christian Institute in Newcastle. Baroness Young has never denied that names and addresses were passed from her office to theirs. The Christian Institute has a comprehensive entry in the Data Protection Register which would not preclude keeping details of supporters and opponents.

  The Internet is another growing resource for the Christian Right in this country and generally speaking they are swiftly learning the benefits of a free flow of information to potential supporters world wide in this medium.

• Presentation
  Christian Right groups in the US are skilled in presenting themselves as quasi-academic or research bodies. The use of terms such as 'research', 'council', and 'policy' in the titles of these groups serves to deflect attention away from their primarily religious and Biblically-literal agenda.

  Along with the move away from 'Bible-bashing' in their literature this shift of emphasis in presentation has wooed supporters who might baulk at being associated with hard-line Christian groups. A potential weakness therefore of such groups is the possible negative reaction of the public to the religious doctrines they try so hard to play down.

  The objective and serious aura which the conservative right attempts to cultivate for itself is backed up by the quasi-academic use of statistics. Again there is a potential weakness here in the paucity of 'professional' evidence (eg, medical and sociological) which they are able to muster. Generally the Christian right relies on a small group of 'born-again' or fundamentalist doctors and researchers whose agendas are clear. For example, The 'gay lifespan myth' has been re-hashed over and over, most recently by Cardinal Winning, of Glasgow, despite the fact that it derives from completely discredited research by Dr Paul Cameron. Cameron himself has been ejected from both the American Sociological Association and the American Psychological Society.

  More worrying is the trend to misuse otherwise reputable research. This is particularly evident in recent publications about the age of consent and Section 28. Point by point rebuttals are useful exercises in training media spokes people but are not effective campaigning tools in themselves. More useful we would suggest would be to submit any given publication to the reputable scientists and professionals whose work is cited for comment on how their work has been used. "9 out of 10 scientists say they were misrepresented by the Christian Institute" would be a powerful press release.

  Note 1: Biblical literalism is the belief that every word in the Bible is literally true and divinely inspired. There are various forms of this doctrine involving different levels of literal interpretation. It is usually possible to catch people out. No one can possibly live up to the demands of complete Biblical Literalism.
  Note 2: Fundamentalism is an uncodified system of belief within many religions. It is characterised in Christianity by a literal approach to the Bible, a strong proselytising element, a high (often unattainable) moral stance, and a dislike for institutional structures, other than their own.

• Theory of Sexuality
  The Christian Right will do all it can to promote the view of homosexuality as either a choice (making a gay person a culpable moral agent) or a psychological illness (and therefore treatable by therapy). See for example, the passage in the Christian Institute's ‘Bankrolling Gay Proselytism’ (1999) on the gay gene theory. They will resist any notion that gay men and women are 'born that way' (see LGCM Briefing on Homosexuality and Christianity)

  The Christian Right in the UK is rapidly learning the lessons of its American counterparts.

  They are perhaps most vulnerable in the following areas:

  1. Use of reputable scientists' work.
  2. Use of discredited statistics and research.
  3. British distaste for 'overt' religion in politics.