BuzzFeed, Daily Mirror, Independent and Spectator “out” Christian candidates as unfit to hold office – because they are Christians, by Jack Wilfred.
One of the most disturbing aspects of the UK general election campaign has been the blatant anti-Christian prejudice that has been promoted by some major national newspapers. This has specifically targeted Christian candidates, claiming that they are unfit to hold public office because they hold Christian beliefs such as believing in miracles or Biblical sexual ethics. Even the Prime Minister was condemned by one major national newspaper for visiting one of the UK’s largest black churches – because the church opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.
The general election campaign began with Lib-Dem leader Tim Farron being pressured to say whether as an evangelical Christian he believed gay sex acts were “sin”, something he described as an overtly “theological” question. For two years he had been fending off this question, but finally yielded to immense pressure, not least from his own party activists, and said it was not sinful. The Spectator had predicted two years ago that he would be forced to do this, calling him “the victim of a secular inquisition”. …
This specific targeting of Christian candidates bears marked similarities to the way that gay people were “outed” in previous generations. Although there have been a few attempts to target Christian candidates in this way in previous elections, it is only in the last twelve months that we have seen mainstream media journalists asking Christian candidates specifically “theological” questions in an attempt to prove that they are “unfit” to hold public office. …
Between 1719 and 1888 Britain abolished a series of laws known as “Test Acts” which required people to assent publicly to particular beliefs to hold certain jobs such as being a school teacher, lawyer or university professor or stand for election to parliament. There is a serious danger that the media are creating what is in effect a new Test Act by the back door.
