" Are you homos' or just sympathisers ?" asks Pastor Steven Anderson in a loud American drawl. Yes you know where this is heading because we're meeting a fringe group of Christians which can be described as "The American Taliban". Now to be fair almost every single American I have met has been friendly , laid back and generous and have proved to posses enough intelligence to fill out a passport application. In other words you'll probably have to buy a plane to the American Bible Belt in order to meet these mentalist stereotypes and British documentary maker Hannah Livingston has done just that. It should be fun
It is fun to an extent as Pastor Anderson rants and raves that if you're at a death metal concert in Paris and you get murdered by terrorists then you brought God's wrath on yourself, conflates paedophilia with homosexuality, believes women shouldn't be allowed the vote never mind run for president. A peer of Anderson attends a gay pride carrying a banner that "God hates fags" etc. Now you might find this slightly - or more than slightly - offensive but I'm of the belief system that you give someone enough rope they will hang themselves. Anderson and his ilk have enough rope to lasso the Moon . Hold on partner
However the more the documentary continues the more you notice there might be an agenda on the part of Livingston. The American Taliban attend gay pride and Black Lives Matter rallies explaining that they're allowed to do this under American free speech laws. There's something of an element the British audience are supposed to be sickened and disgusted that liberal causes championed by The Guardian are being criticised by bigoted evangelical Protestant rednecks. This feeling is reinforced by constant cuts to Donald Trump giving speeches on banning Muslims from America as in "Please use all your power to see Hilary Clinton elected" . Nice try but as George Orwell , a left wing hardcore secularist said "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear" Amen to that
It is fun to an extent as Pastor Anderson rants and raves that if you're at a death metal concert in Paris and you get murdered by terrorists then you brought God's wrath on yourself, conflates paedophilia with homosexuality, believes women shouldn't be allowed the vote never mind run for president. A peer of Anderson attends a gay pride carrying a banner that "God hates fags" etc. Now you might find this slightly - or more than slightly - offensive but I'm of the belief system that you give someone enough rope they will hang themselves. Anderson and his ilk have enough rope to lasso the Moon . Hold on partner
However the more the documentary continues the more you notice there might be an agenda on the part of Livingston. The American Taliban attend gay pride and Black Lives Matter rallies explaining that they're allowed to do this under American free speech laws. There's something of an element the British audience are supposed to be sickened and disgusted that liberal causes championed by The Guardian are being criticised by bigoted evangelical Protestant rednecks. This feeling is reinforced by constant cuts to Donald Trump giving speeches on banning Muslims from America as in "Please use all your power to see Hilary Clinton elected" . Nice try but as George Orwell , a left wing hardcore secularist said "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear" Amen to that
