Day 2196: Commandment Number Nine: Thou shall not bear false witness

Friday:


The news is full of how the Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union has been BANNED by Exeter Guild of Students.

Except: they HAVEN'T been banned.

So the Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union have decided that they are going to SUE the Guild of Students (and the university!) because they have been BANNED.

Remember: they HAVEN'T been banned.

"Their reluctance to reinstate us, has left us with no alternative," said Mr Ben Martin, a member of the Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union committee, speaking on the The Today Programme programme in January 2007.

The Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union was reinstated in December 2006.


So, how has all this "lo, come to pass"?

The Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union USED to be called the Christian Union. But this was a bit of a MISNOMER because if you want to be a part of the Exeter "Christian Union" you have to fulfil certain CONDITIONS and just being Christian isn't good enough.

They have an ENTRY REQUIREMENT that you must sign a document acknowledging Mr Jesus as your personal trainer saviour. It appears that an ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN student was REFUSED MEMBERSHIP because he would not sign this document because he felt was at odds with his own Christian faith.

Furthermore, if you want to be on the controlling committee you have to agree to a more detailed DOCTRINE, which basically means that you cannot have any say if you happen to be a CATHOLIC Christian.

Now, I have a fluffy sort of brain but it does seem that it is a funny sort of "Christian" Society that straight way rules out 50% of all Christians from being involved!

The Students in Exeter thought so too!

So they passed a motion at their Guild Council telling the Christian Union that it had to be called the EVANGELICAL Christian Union.

Then the Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union tried to get a motion passed to change the name back – so the Guild of Students held a referendum so that everyone could decide. And they decided that the name "Evangelical Christian Union" should stay.

Seems fair enough, don't you think?

Well, the Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union doesn't agree. According to them they are the ONLY sort of proper Christian and no other Christians count if they say they don't. And because they are SPECIAL they think that the rules of the Guild should not apply to them.

Oh, but they'd still like the Guild to give them money please. And free services.

So they have decided to go to court.

Well, the NOT VERY CHRISTIAN Union will lose then – the courts do not take very kindly to people bringing cases when they have IGNORED an existing PROPER COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE. Judges tend to think that such people are using the law as a PUBLICITY STUNT!

Of course, that will not save the Guild and University of Exeter from having to stump up a whole load of LEGAL FEES before the case ever gets to court.

That money could have been spent on the welfare and education of the students. Isn't it a SHAME that these Maniacal Evangelical Christians do not have anything in their philosophy about CARING FOR THE POOR!

This (making them incur heavy fees) is of course the whole point: this whole POSE of "poor little persecuted us – we'll SUE!" is just a PLOT by the SO CALLED Christians who want to make the Guild in Exeter – and other Student Guilds and Unions elsewhere – TOO AFRAID to stand up to them. Afraid of the expense, afraid of the bad publicity on the The Today Programme and afraid of Ms Ann Atkins (and friend) and her League of Unions (Christian) Interfering For Everlasting Righteousness.

I believe that this is called BULLYING!


Dr Rowan "up the creek" Williams, the ARCHBERK of Canterbury, said the refusal by some student unions to recognise maniacal evangelical Christian groups looked like a "fear of open argument".

It is GOOD to hear that he will be coming down hard on the sort of people who (for example) refuse to let other points of view within the Christian faith have any say.

Presumably he will be using CHURCH FUNDS to pay the legal costs of BOTH SIDES to make sure that the argument can be properly heard in court!

Mr Dr Williams himself is NEVER in "fear of open argument", as he reminds us by regularly CAPITULATING to the demands of HOMOPHOBIC NIGERIAN BISHOPS.

That reminds me. Apparently the Exeter Maniacal Evangelical Christian Union are a bit rude about GAY DADDIES too – but FUNNILY ENOUGH they are a bit SHY of putting this in print. How strange to find them ASHAMED of their beliefs!



Read Exeter Guild of Students' side of the story:

The Background

And the latest update, 5th Jan 2007

Meanwhile, Hot Ginger and Dynamite blogs…