Revelation TV Debate: Nick Griffin vs George Hargreaves
OK, the Revelation TV debate between Rev. George Hargreaves (leader of the Christian Party) and Nick Griffin (BNP) is now on YouTube.
Here is part 1:
I nearly fell off my chair at the comments made from 1:22, in which the host mentions a website that describes George Hargreaves as the “Political poster boy for Christian Concern for our Nation”.
This is a small extract from my last post on this debate:
George Hargreaves has recently become the political poster boy of Christian Concern for our Nation….
Anyway, if you want to watch the next parts, you can find them on this link.
Nick Griffin seems to have felt the debate went rather well and was chuffed with the civility of the occasion:
The debate between British National Party leader Nick Griffin MEP and Revd George Hargreaves of the Christian Party, broadcast live on Revelation TV, was what Question Time should have been: an open exchange of views without a resident lynch mob.
Even the panel chairman on the debate, Gordon Pettie, remarked on the remarkable difference between the debate and Question Time, telling viewers that “at least we can hear what Nick Griffin has to say.”
The debate was conducted in an orderly and highly civilised fashion with the audience equally divided between BNP and Christian Party supporters.
Each side was granted equal time to present their point of view and respond to questions in a calm and rational manner.
Mr Griffin showed time and time again that the BNP was none of the things which the far leftist cranks claimed it to be, and at one stage Revd Hargreaves apologised to the BNP leader for a billboard last year which attacked the BNP in a most derogatory manner.
[.....]
“We demonstrated that the BNP is not motivated by anything else but a love of preserving Britain, and all that this entails.
“I am sure that this will resonate throughout Britain as an example of what civilised debate can be, and should be, in the Britain we all love,” Mr Griffin said.
The Kingston Guardian carried an informative piece, and I was particularly interested in David Campanale’s (Christian People’s Alliance) comments:
BNP leader Nick Griffin faced protesters and heckling in New Malden last night where he claimed his anti-immigration message was endorsed by Christianity.
The far-right leader took on the leader of the Christian Party, George Hargreaves, in a live head-to-head debate on Revelation TV, a paid-for television channel based in Cocks Crescent in Blagdon Road.
Protesters heckled Mr Griffin, who is an MEP, as he entered the building and two members of the studio audience had to be thrown out for shouting.
The party leaders appeared to debate the motion ‘The election of a BNP member of Parliament would be detrimental to Christians in the UK’.
During the debate, Mr Griffin said: “To oppose mass immigration when we have an over-crowded island is not a threat to anyone, it’s just common sense.
“To pretend it’s not an issue is just unfair and it causes resentment.
“We believe that nations are ordained by God and that they will be there at the end of times, so logically from that all nations have the right to ensure they survive and are not simply swamped by an endless flood from elsewhere.”
But David Campanale, a member of the Kingston Christian People’s Alliance, said the Christian Party were unwise to participate in the debate and the TV station was wrong to give free publicity to the BNP.
Mr Campanale said: “I am not convinced that this would have done any good for black Christians in the UK.
“The BNP is an evil organisation and this does nothing but fuel their publicity.”
Gordon Petty, who moderated the debate, defended the TV station’s decision because some of the BNP’s policies aired the views of many Christians and therefore Mr Griffin deserved to be heard.
Mr Petty said: “From our perspective, we don’t agree with all the views of the BNP but we believe it is right that as Christians we do listen and make our own minds up.
“The BNP are the only party that would stop abortions in this country.
“Many Christians abhor abortion.”
David Campanale’s comments echo advice from the Church of England sent out early in February, warning clergy not to give the British National Party a platform in church buildings, or even meet with their representatives.
Here is a snippet of their advice:
“Lately the British National Party has sought to promote itself as a guardian of ‘British Christian heritage’ against an increasing ‘islamification’ of British society and the leadership of the mainstream churches” the guidance says.
“BNP supporters and candidates claim to have established a ‘Christian Council of Britain’ which erroneously stresses the ‘godly importance of race and nation’.
“Often those elected from such parties will seek to make civic capital through contact with church leaders to increase their local standing. Church leaders need to have thought through how they will react. Local churches may now be faced with deciding how to distance themselves from groups and councillors – whose racist policies and attitudes they opposed during the elections, while maintaining pastoral engagement with those who voted for them and council officials who continue their work as public servants.”
I’m genuinely pleased to see Ekklesia swing into action, as Jonathan Bartley is skillfully adept at rebuffing the BNP, especially their claims to represent British Christianity.
Ekklesia – Controversy as Christian Party debates with BNP
Ekklesia – Christian Party endorses BNP policy on immigration from the EU
Ekklesia – Nick Griffin expresses support for John Sentamu and Nazir Ali
I will add any further commentary, analysis, links etc here.
In the meantime do have a look at my recent posts on the BNP:
eChurch – Why there’s Nothing British about the BNP’s (British National Party) “Christian values”
Tags: Christianity, News, Politics
March 25th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
I read your previous article and have been following the story as it played out. You have done a good job of summarising it.
Here were the things that stood out to me:
Both parties have quite similar right wing agendas. In fact its difficult to squeeze a playing card between them on most issues.
None of the questioners pushed Nick Griffin on his previous public anti semitic statements, which I found odd given the pro Israel position taken by that channel.
I thought the quote from the Kingston Guardian about abortion was telling. The root of the issue is that the Christian Party represent a dominionist grouping within Christianity. If they were in charge of the country life would be very difficult indeed for non believers or people of other faiths (think – Oliver Cromwell or the Taliban). In this sense they are actually very similar to the BNP.
I would actually hate to live under an evangelical christian governement of that sort as I would feel that my value as a human being was diminished. Thankfully not all Christians are like this. I just have to keep reminding myself of this.
March 25th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
@Gordon. Utterly agree with every point you’ve made.
June 17th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Just an additional note here that I have written a fairly in depth article on the business background to Revelation TV and its theological position.
This can be accessed here:
Revelation TV
June 17th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Excellent post Gordon. I’ve just done a small blog post:
Background Information on Revelation TV