‘So Macho’ preacher hits back with bus adverts claiming God exists
A fundamentalist preacher who unsuccessfully stood for public office has paid for adverts to be placed on buses proclaiming the existence of God.
George Hargreaves challenged bisexual MSP Patrick Harvie at the Scottish elections in 2007. He called Mr Harvie, who was re-elected for the Green party representing the Glasgow region, a “gay fundamentalist.”
Mr Hargreaves came fifth in the Glasgow Baillieston constituency with 588 votes and his Christian Party won 2,991 votes (1.4%) on the Glasgow regional list.
Mr Hargreaves has funded the Christian Party with royalties he continues to receive for co-writing and producing the 1980s anthem So Macho, sung by gay icon Sinitta.
The B-side of the single was called Cruising.
The Christian Party is one of three groups that have paid for bus ads in London.
They are a response to a poster campaign that appeared on 800 buses across Britain last month.
“There is probably no God,” they read.
“Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
The £140,000 campaign was funded by leading humanists such as scientist Richard Dawkins and was the UK’s first ever atheist advertising campaign.
The Christian Party ads will be displayed on 50 London buses with this text: “There definitely is a God. So join The Christian Party and enjoy your life.”
The Russian Orthodox Church has also paid for ad space in March on 25 buses in the capital.
“There is a God. BELIEVE. Don’t worry and enjoy your life,” is their slogan.
A group called the Trinitarian Bible Society will be posting a line from Psalm 53:1 on 100 London buses: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”
Last month the Advertising Standards Authority said that the athiest bus poster campaign did not break the advertising code.
Christian Voice, an anti-gay evangelical movement, claimed that the advert’s claim that God “probably” doesn’t exist was misleading.
There will not be an investigation – the ASA said it had “carefully assessed” the 326 complaints it received.
In an interview with The Times in 2007 Mr Hargreaves defended the thousands of pounds he continues to earn every month from the hit song:
“It says in the Bible that so long as Earth remains there shall be seed time and harvest. You could say that So Macho was the seed I sowed and now I’m reaping the harvest,” he said.
“That money allows me to do the work that needs to be done to advance Christianity.”
