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The Church must resist the exploitation of Christianity by far-right populists like tommy robinsona bishop has said ahead of a carols event organized by an anti-immigrant activist.
The Right Rev Arun Arora, Bishop of Kirkstall and co-lead of the Church of England on Racial Justice (CoFE), has warned that the church must take action to “resist the occupation” Christian “Language and symbols are being used by populist forces to exploit faith for their political purposes.”
The C of E is to launch a poster campaign aimed at countering the increasing use of Christianity for a nationalist, anti-immigrant agenda.
The posters, which will be displayed at bus stops, say “jesus christ is always Christmas” and “Outsiders welcome”. They are part of a package of resources available to local churches to download and display in response to far-right rhetoric.
A coalition of church groups called the Joint Public Issues Team, which includes the C of E, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church, has produced a “rapid response” resource for churches, calling for a particular focus on Sunday 14 December – the day after. tommy robinsonWhitehall event.
Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has organized a follow-up event to his huge Unite the Kingdom march, which saw scores of people 100,000 people attended what was billed as a “free speech” protest And Elon Musk addressed the crowd railing against the “woke mind virus.”
After violence broke out, police were attacked and dozens of arrests were made.
This time they have organized an event called ‘United for Christ this Christmas’, which promises Bible reading, live music and testimony of faith. According to a description posted on the social media platform X, their goal is to “bring Jesus Christ back to Christmas.”
Speaking about Tommy Robinson’s campaign to “reclaim” Christmas, Bishop Arun said: “I am delighted that Stephen Yaxley Lennon has recently come to the faith in prison. Having experienced the widespread mercy of God’s grace, Stephen no longer has the right to deny it to others.
“Having embraced and accepted God’s welcome he can no longer limit it to other people who may be equally lost. He has no right to destroy the faith so that it serves his purposes, and not in some other way.”
He warned: “We must resist the capture of Christian language and symbols by populist forces and the exploitation of the faith for their own political purposes. It is up to the Church – in the recent words of Rowan Williams – ‘to challenge the narrative that every migrant arriving on our shores is an unfriendly alien with incomprehensible and hostile values.’
“The danger for the church that fails to act is that we will be undermined by those who offer religious ritual as a substitute for the active pursuit of justice and righteousness.
“As we approach Christmas and remember our flight to the Holy Family as refugees, let us reaffirm our commitment to stand with others in working for an asylum system that is fair, compassionate, and rooted in the dignity of being human – as Jesus Christ did incarnate – which is at the heart of the Christmas message.”
Since leaving prison in May this year, Mr Robinson has been using Christianity in his messages, with Christian symbols such as wooden crosses being common at the first Unite the Kingdom rally in September.
UKIP leader Nick Tenconi has linked Christianity with his party’s anti-immigrant politics, pushing Christian identity politics to the forefront of the organization that used to be Nigel Farage’s home.
Mr Tenkoni is also a leading figure within Turning Point UK, a right-wing student political group Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
While Mr Robinson is organizing his carol event for December 13, an initiative called Shine Your Light aims to get 200,000 Christians to sing carols in public places across the UK and Ireland over the same weekend.