I watched the Dispatches report In God's Name tonight, mainly because the organisation I work for got badly name-checked in an article in the Sunday Telegraph and I wanted to make sure the errors weren't repeated on TV. Talk about guilt by association (and lazy journalism).
But anyway, I watched the show, which talked to scarily definite Christians about their faith. Naturally the Christians on the show included Stephen Green of Christian Voice, who seems to always turn up in reports about intolerant Christians. There was also filming in a Christian school which seemed to comprise two portakabins for classrooms, and some in-depth reportage about the Lawyer's Christian Fellowship, or, as it's portrayed, one woman's attempt to get people to vote against abortion.
I watched much of the programme with my hands in front of my eyes. It made me cringe hearing people state categorically that homosexuality is a sin "like murder or paedophilia" or that "Allah is Satan" (Stephen Green said that - expect a fatwa to be issued any time soon). And the thing is, as Cathy pointed out, they can only broadcast you saying something like that if you actually say it.
But what makes me really uncomfortable is the question "Would I be as forthright about some of the stuff I believe?" If someone put me on the spot and asked me if I believed in creation rather than evolution, would I risk looking like an idiot in the eyes of millions to answer that question truthfully? If I was asked whether I thought Islam was true or not, would I really say what I think?
Is my embarrassment when watching that programme actually shame that I wouldn't be seen dead on a programme like that?
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