I am no fan of the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg. I find her commentaries a little bit too negative and too biased for my liking. But that’s my personal opinion and I could be completely off beam. I often am.

But I do despair when I read reports that suggest she had to be given a bodyguard during the general election campaign following online threats that were so vitriolic that it was decided she needed personal protection while touring the country.

And Laura Kuenssberg was not the only one who felt threatened. All the evidence seems to show that a considerable number of MPs and candidates at the last election have stated that they were genuinely afraid because of the threats and levels of abuse they received. Former Conservative MP Byron Davies, of Gower, for example, is said to have received two death threats in the weeks before he lost his seat, while another female candidate in her thirties running for a safe Labour seat has begun to question whether she really wants to be an MP at all given the grief it’s caused her. Labour MP Diane Abbott has talked of a torrent of ‘mindless’ racist and sexist abuse, whilst local MP Simon Hart stated that he had heard of candidates having swastikas painted on their offices, and that the ‘hashtag Tory scum had become a regular feature of our lives.’

Given all this then, it should come as no surprise that Lord Bew, the head of the standards watchdog, is claiming that we have reached a ‘tipping point’ because the level of personal abuse is now threatening to deter people from running for office.

Christians have had a rough ride recently too. As everyone knows, Tim Farron has given up his attempt to lead the Lib Dems because of the merciless pressure he faced on account of his traditional Christian beliefs. But Farron is not alone in this according to the Evangelical Alliance’s David Landrum. Farron, he said, was but one of ‘various Christian candidates who were targeted with some pretty unsavoury media attention, political criticism and activist protests’ often because they hold ‘traditional, mainstream, theologically orthodox’ beliefs about human sexuality. The Archbishop of York went further and suggested has Farron’s ‘tormentors’ (that is those repeatedly questioned him about gay sex) should be ‘ashamed of themselves.’

Why do we have to be so nasty to one another I ask myself? I love a good debate. I see it as a symptom of a healthy democracy. More than that I believe it’s a reflection of our God given dignity, the dignity that should allow us to think and to differ, to debate and to disagree, but always with respect.

We all know words can hurt. They can prove very inflammatory too which is why we should be very careful about the things we say whatever the medium. And we often defame each other far too quickly as well. I am not homophobic; I simply believe God does not want us to engage in same sex activities. I do not hate women either but there are those who will suggest that I am because I want to defend the rights of the unborn child as much as they want to argue for a woman’s right to choose.

As I see things, we are not facing a ‘tipping point’ so much as a ‘looming crisis’ in the way we choose to live with each other’s differences. Our forefathers used the word tolerance. And we can be sure of this: we will all shape the future for good or ill. May God give us the wisdom to choose the right way.

Rob James is a Baptist Pastor broadcaster and writer who currently operates as a church and media consultant for the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is available for preaching and teaching throughout Wales and can be contacted at [email protected]