There's an episode of Charlie Brooker's dystopian satire Black Mirror in which the British Prime Minister is forced – for heroic reasons – to have sexual intercourse with a pig. If a claim in a new biography is to be believed, truth is stranger than fiction; it's alleged that as a student, David Cameron performed an indecent act on a pig's head during an initiation ceremony.
The key word here, though, is 'allegation'. The story has broken years into Cameron's premiership, through an un-named MP who claims to have been an Oxford contemporary of the PM. It has also emerged at a time when his main opponent, the new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has himself been the target of immense (and somewhat biased) media scrutiny. So while it may be true, it may also be a scurrilous rumour, working on the principle that as long as you make a lie big enough, people will believe it.
So what's a Christian response to this story, inevitably dubbed 'Piggate' by the delighted media?
If it's true...
If as a student Cameron did indeed do what's alleged of him, then the biggest skeleton in his closet, the thing he probably prayed would never, ever come into the light, is now the subject of international ridicule. That he was young and probably drunk (as some Conservatives have suggested as they leapt to his defence) is not really relevant; mistakes have consequences even when we make them young.
He's brought shame on himself and for a while he'll become a figure of fun among the international community too. He'll have to live with the ribbing (and one would imagine, the pig impressions). Even so, the best thing that Cameron can do is face up to the truth, admit what he did, apologise, and wait for the frenzy to run its course.
That doesn't all mean that as Christians we get to join in with the fun. As boring as it might sound, this kind of moment is an everyday opportunity to be distinctive. Instead of joining in with the puns on social media, and (if we're of a certain political bent) delighting in Cameron's humiliation, a better way is to show compassion for those who'll be unjustly caught in the fallout, and channel any disillusionment with the PM into genuine political engagement.
If it isn't true...
However, if the whole story is a lie dreamed up by a spin doctor, then our complicity in it just deepens an unjust wound. The Prime Minister may be responsible for a lot of controversial decisions, but if he didn't do this, then the suggestion that he did is brutal and unfair. The British media loves nothing more than to tear someone on a pedestal down, and the ludicrous nature of the pig story will only intensify that.
Regardless of truth, the jokes will come. And while they might be funny, the fact that a total fabrication could be enough to bring down a democratically elected leader, isn't. Whatever our politics might be, we do ourselves, our causes and our faith no favours by acting as if an allegation is certain truth, even just by joining in the mockery.
The classic bedrock of British justice – innocent until proven guilty – must apply here. Photographic evidence allegedly exists, and will surely emerge if so (although let's pray that doesn't find its way into the public domain). Or Cameron may choose to do the right thing and confess, if indeed he has anything to confess to. We have to wait it out.
The cynical way in which our culture delights in destroying and humiliating the famous is not one of its most attractive features. It's easy to join in, but it isn't good to. Whatever the truth of this matter, the Christian response must always have the scent of compassion; that's quite a challenge when the whole world is showing anything but.
Martin Saunders is a Contributing Editor for Christian Today and the Deputy CEO of Youthscape. You can follow him on Twitter: @martinsaunders
