In its recently-released report Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 – 2018, the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights arrogantly states:
“While sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) have always been contested, its opposition was long considered a natural reaction to social progress in so-called ‘traditional’ societies, a peculiarity of the polarized political system of the United States or a local eccentricity contained within a few historically ‘conservative’ European countries.”
Written by extremist LGBT activist Neil Datta, the report ominously warns that the radical left has seriously underestimated the support for traditional values. As a result, it must now “pay greater attention to the emergence of a new movement targeting a range of seemingly unrelated issues ranging from the well-known targets of abortion and LGBTQI rights to encompass challenging aspirations for gender equality, among others.” To wit, the report notes that “alliances between religious extremists [read: traditional Christians] seem to be close-knit. Across all religious and geographical boundaries, money flows to those who still claim to fight against the spectre of ‘gender ideology’…The wealth of these traditionalists is used to denigrate and thwart their progressive opponents, to finance communications and advocacy efforts as well as litigation aiming to intimidate those who have an enlightened approach to sexuality and the human body.”
While the radical Datta in the report attacks many secular individuals and organizations that support traditional morality (i.e., the morality that dominated the West until the 1960’s and that still dominates most of Africa, Asia, and Latin America today), he reserves (as the title suggests) his strongest firepower for established churches and organizations affiliated with them.
The report makes note early on that it is only Christians and Christian organizations who are fighting against the radical feminist and LGBT agenda in Europe. As Datta writes: “The religious actors engaged in anti-gender activism in Europe are all Christian in origin and organize according to their primary faith-affiliation, namely: Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox.” But to make sure that potential religious “extremists” from other faiths do not feel excluded, he adds: “To date, non-Christian communities have not played any significant role, although anti-gender views may be widespread among some of these communities.” Hmm… perhaps an allusion to the conservative Muslim communities in Europe? Indeed, Datta would have gone into full panic-mode in the report had the swelling Muslim population in Europe, which is significantly more traditional on moral and gender issues than the European population as a whole, entered the fray against the radical feminist and LGBT agenda.
So against what religious body does Datta level his first attack? Of course, against the bulwark of traditional morality in the world today: the Catholic Church. As he writes: “The first religious institution is the Catholic Church and the many movements, currents and communities within Catholicism.” Indeed, because the Catholic Church has been unflinching in the defense of life and the traditional family since its founding almost 2,000 years ago, it is natural that Datta would strike it first.
The first thing that Datta attacks regarding the Catholic Church is its formal representation before the EU through the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), which is composed of members of the national bishops’ conferences in each EU country. “[T[he COMECE benefits from privileged access to EU decision-makers through dialogue with Churches, religious associations or communities, philosophical and non-confessional organizations which is provided by article 17 of the EU Treaties,” he writes. One action of the COMECE that he cites as egregious was its statement to the EU Parliament in February 2021 regarding abortion restrictions in Poland: “We would like to take this opportunity to emphasize once again that the Catholic Church, which seeks to support women in life situations arising from difficult or unwanted pregnancies, calls for the protection and care of all unborn life.” Wow. To think the Church would say something like that.
Second, Datta attacks organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church that support traditional beliefs. He attacks the Italian-based Communione e Liberazione movement, which exists in over ninety countries and is dedicated to helping Catholics live out their faith in communion with other Catholics. He attacks the Knights of Columbus, one of the largest international Catholic fraternal organizations (nearly 2 million members) and a worldwide leader in philanthropy and good works. And of course, like an uninformed Dan Brown in the Davinci Code, Datta attacks Opus Dei, which is committed to helping Catholics live out their faith in the ordinary circumstances of life and has members in almost 100 countries. Indeed, Datta writes that Opus Dei is guilty of pursuing “the Vatican’s agenda through the presence of its members in secular governments, and institutions and through a vast array of academic, medical, and grassroots pursuits.” And why does Datta so harshly attack these Church-affiliated organizations? Because their members choose to live their lives, and spend their money, in accord with their Catholic beliefs.
Third, Datta criticizes the Catholic Church for having its bishops and other Church leaders involved with secular European organizations fighting for traditional morality and the traditional family (such as Agenda Europe, Citizen Go, and One of Us). I guess it is wrong for Church leaders to actually work with organizations that support the Church’s positions.
The report next sends its missiles on Protestant churches and organizations. To start with, Datta notes that many mainline Protestants (e.g., Anglicans in England, Lutherans in Scandinavia, etc.) have sacrificed their Christian beliefs on the altar of the sexual revolution and hence are “good” Christians: “In European Countries with a Protestant history, the main Protestant Church has evolved to accept many of the social innovations that traditionalists contest.” But some Protestant opposition still exists: “However, small traditionalist Protestant communities in Europe have persisted, and these have been active in anti-gender mobilization.” In particular, Datta attacks the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM), “the only European political party that aims to reflect and work on Christian-democratic politics in Europe from an explicitly Christian-social point of view.” While the ECPM is composed of members from the different Christian denominations, Protestants play a significant role within it. One activity of the ECPM in particular that Datta attacks is its “co-hosting Prayer Breakfasts throughout Europe with the aim to improve relations between Christian MP’s and to form cross-party alliances on Christian values.” Again, what Datta is attacking is Christians promoting Christian beliefs.
Datta then goes on to criticize conservative American Protestant organizations that are spreading their influence in Europe. He singles out the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which sponsors large rallies and other events to bring people to Christ. What is the sin of this organization? Simply being the American organization that has spent the most in Europe on behalf of traditional Christian beliefs.
Finally, Datta trains his sights on the Orthodox Church. “An important new arrival in anti-gender mobilization are Orthodox Christian actors, primarily the Russian Orthodox Church,” he writes. And why is this of concern to radicals like Datta? Because, “[t]he positions of most Orthodox Churches tend to be conservative on issues of sexual and reproductive rights. For example, in the [Russian Orthodox Church’s] Foundations of the Social Conceptions of the Russian Orthodox Church (2000), it formally condemns homosexuality and rejects abortion and prophylactics containing abortifacients. In many Orthodox-majority countries, the Church has increasingly engaged in anti-gender mobilization—for example, the Bulgarian and Moldovan Orthodox Church opposed the Instanbul Convention; the Georgian and Romanian Orthodox Churches opposed LGBTQI equality; and the [Russian Orthodox Church] called for a ban on abortion to boost population growth.”
Besides attacking the beliefs of the Orthodox Church itself, Datta attacks several Russian Orthodox-affiliated charitable and educational organizations because they are associated with conservative Russian oligarchs; the fact that these organizations are actually doing valuable work in Russia is irrelevant to Datta. Again, in attacking the Orthodox Church and affiliated organizations, all Datta is doing is attacking Orthodox Christians for acting like Orthodox Christians. If only the Orthodox could be more like those “good” mainline European Protestants that have traded their religious beliefs for the radical feminist and LGBT agenda…
In Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 – 2018, written for the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, LGBT extremist Neil Datta has written a report that does not conceal its true goal—to attack Christians for acting like Christians. If traditional Christians just jettisoned their beliefs regarding morality, the family, and gender and accepted the radical feminist and LGBT agenda, the world would be a better place, Datta argues. Such blatant bigotry has no place in a Europe of the 21st century. But then again, extremists like Datta will continue to attack traditional Christians as they are the last line of defense against the overthrow of Western civilization by the forces of the radical left