A former top adviser to the Christian lobby in Australia has lashed out at the movement, accusing it of focusing too narrowly on “moral issues” rather than a broad sweep of social concerns.

Dean Logan, who once worked as chief of staff to Australian Christian Lobby head Jim Wallace, has shocked his former allies with a stunning condemnation.

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Mr Logan issued a statement accusing the lobby of “purposefully peddling policy fear to maintain (political) legitimacy” and accused it of having a “continual fixation” on moral issues.

He told The Age he felt the ACL had adopted “such a narrow conservative strategy” and were treating gay people “as if they are a bunch of lepers in the community”.

“I’m very good friends with Jim … (but) a lot of the policies are based on fear,” he said. “Jim has made a conscious effort to make sure the Christian Democratic Party Fred Nile type people don’t get into the organisation, but at the same time he has (purposefully) directed the organisation to those moral issues and frankly I think he has made an error.”

The Christian lobby got a defense from Australia’s World Vision.

World Vision chief executive Tim Costello, a Baptist minister, said the Australian Christian Lobby had proved to be a different operation to the religious lobby in the United States.

“When they started I thought they were modelling themselves on the religious right - whose focus is on outlawing gay civil marriage and abortion,” he said. “But I have been impressed that they have been very responsive to our Make Poverty History campaign, they have talked about how Christians should be concerned about low level so of aid.”

Mr Costello said they were not like the US-based right-wing groups Focus on the Family or the Christian Coalition. “In the early days, they could have ended up going there, but I don’t think that is really where they have gone.”

The Age