France, Spain, the media and evangelicals

France and Spain have much in common culturally. It seems they also share similarities in their media landscape. Within a span of four days at the end of September, both public televisions broadcast content warning of the growth of evangelical churches in their respective countries and portraying these churches and its pastors as an obstacle to social progress.

Televisión Española (Spanish Television, RTVE) did so literally. “Worrying growth of the evangelical church”, read the headline in large letters, while a reporter in the city of Girona (incidentally, the region where I grew up) denounced on a Monday that there are churches that preach that “letting Jesus into your heart” can “cure depression”. The live broadcast was accompanied by images of a completely disconnected evangelical church in Madrid (700 kilometres away) and stock footage of an Asian ritual with incense, something foreign to Protestant liturgy.

“Worrying growth of the evangelical church”, read the headline in large letters on Spain's La 1

On Thursday, France 2 broadcast an in-depth 52-minute report in which French evangelicals are literally defined by their “dependence on marketing methods”, “divine healings and demonic possessions”, “supernatural powers”, “conversion therapies” and “techniques for controlling the faithful”. At least that is how it was described on the official website, although viewing the documentary, which I did personally, fails to alarm the viewer. Not even the clips chosen by the film crew (including hidden cameras) give any clues as to why we should be alarmed about churches that rather arouse curiosity about their long-standing work serving all kinds of people in the neighbourhoods or cities where they are located.

In France, both the Protestant Federation and the National Council of Evangelicals managed to contact the authorities and ask them questions. In Spain, Protestante Digital, the most widely read evangelical media outlet, and dozens of church members wrote letters to the Spanish broadcaster's viewer ombudsman, while the Evangelical Federation also made its complaints heard. Furthermore, those who have personal relationships with journalists on public television or with politicians from the ruling party found attentive ears. In the end, the Spanish broadcaster apologised and promised to treat religious issues (especially those of the evangelical minority, traditionally stigmatised as a sect or American religion) with more care.

It is worth noting that it is common for public television stations in Europe to work as a network and therefore replicate current affairs topics from one country to another

So… Are we facing parallel communication strategies from governments to stigmatise Christians who believe in the Bible and defend its values in society?

Personally, I don’t think so. It is common for television to feed its news programming with topics that have previously appeared in the press, and Charlie Kirk's massive funeral in the US has undoubtedly sparked interest in understanding the role of evangelicals (however we define them) in the complicated relationship between faith and politics.

It is also worth noting that it is common for public television stations in Europe to work as a network and therefore share current affairs topics that end up being replicated from one country to another.

But what is clear is that we evangelicals must jump over several hurdles. The first is that in southern European countries we are still seen through a Catholic lens that presupposes heresy and occult practices simply for not belonging to the ‘Mother Church’.

In Europe, we struggle to shake off the label of being an American religion, despite being the origin of the Protestant Reformation and the later Anabaptism

Second, in Europe, we struggle to shake off the label of being an American religion, despite being the origin of the Protestant Reformation and the later Anabaptism. This is especially true when there is a president in the White House (for example, George W. Bush or Donald Trump) who is publicly linked to renowned pastors.

Stigmatisation in the media is not new in Europe, and it will happen again. It will be up to us to continue explaining the benefits that gospel values bring to society in these tumultuous times. And it will be up to us, of course, to demand that fundamental rights be respected whenever the media (public or otherwise) forgets one more time that every citizen deserves to be treated with respect, dignity and truthfulness - whatever they may believe.

Joel Forster, director of Evangelical Focus.

This article is an adapted version of a column to be published in Finnish on Uusi Tie magazine.