THE BIGOT OF CHESTER

Would you like someone who was investigated by the police for hate speech to be in a position of trust in your life? Would you allow someone who believes that a natural disaster is the fault of those who have been injured or have suffered through it? Would it disturb you to know that people like this are making decisions on our behalf in both spiritual and political matters every day?

Many people think of the "good old C of E" as being "Vatican-lite", or Church without bigotry, homophobia or theocractic autocracy. But they need to think again. I live in Compstall, in the Diocese of Chester. The current Bishop of Chester, Peter Forster, is hardly a bastion of inclusiveness. He was one of the "rebel" bishops who signed a letter against the appointment of the Revd Jeffrey John as the Bishop of Reading. And he didn't object for a valid and sensible reason, such as his ability or moral standing. He objected because he is a gay man. That means a potentially highly talented and able person has been refused a job on account of what he might do in the privacy of his own bedroom.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I believe, however repugnant and stupid those opinions are - as long as they don't insult or hurt other people in the process of expressing them. So, would you be shocked to learn that in 2003 Peter Forster has been investigated by the Police for an alleged hate speech? (1) I certainly was. One of the senior clerics of the established church of the UK - who is supposed to build the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ - suggested that homosexuals should seek psychiatric treatment. I wonder if he has ever read anything about the horrific experiments with electricity and female hormones that were inflicted on homosexual men when he was younger - experiments that destroyed the life of the mathematical genius and war hero Alan Turing, whose brilliant work during World War Two helped win the freedom which Forster shamelessly abuses to spout his hate driven bile. I should point out that no charges were made, but the fact the Police had to investigate him at all seems to suggest that what he said was probably not very nice. I expect he would claim that democracy protects his right to make nasty and offensive comments about people but so does the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin - and he's a fascist who abuses democracy. On another matter, I'm not sure that Bishop Peter Forster quite understands Christ's example of modesty in the New testament when he is one of the highest claimants in office and travel expenses in the House of Lords.(2) This supposed role model and moral compass is also a trustee of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a group of nutters who are "sceptical" of anthropogenic global warming - much to the dismay of his more progressive colleagues.(3)

So, fellow Christians, if you do attend a C of E church in the Chester Diocese - this is the person who leads it. This is the person who directs the worship and is in charge of the religious education your children may get there. Just think about what crap they might be funnelling into their heads.

Whilst we are on the subject of homophobic and bigoted bishops, did you know that the retired Bishop of Carlisle, Graham Dow, (also a rebel bishop who signed against Jeffrey Johns) has been given an advisory role to the Bishop of Manchester? This, by the way, is the same Bishop Graham Dow who visited the areas afflicted by flooding in Cumbria in July 2007. I can almost hear the chorus of affectionate sighs as each reader imagines this cleric in his wellington boots consoling all the people trying to scoop buckets of muddy water out of their shops. Hold those sighs: this insensitive man proceded to state that the flooding was a punishment from God for the "moral degradation" of British society. What a lovely man.(4) Incidentally, I once bumped into Dow at a train station: to say that he had the charm of a nuclear power station is the best description I can give.

And the Church of England wonders why fewer and fewer people want to attend church. I have the utmost respect for all worshippers in the Church of England, as for all denominations. But I'm not sure I could step into a Church of England church and participate in worship knowing that clerics who peddle fear, hatred and quasi-science are in charge of it.

FOOTNOTES

(1)http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-201684/Police-quiz-bishop-gay-comments.html

(2)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6860012/Bishops-claim-136000-in-expenses-from-House-of-Lords-and-1.4million-from-Church-of-England.html

(3)http://www.operationnoah.org/this-is-not-alarmism

(4)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1556131/Floods-are-judgment-on-society-say-bishops.html