The Church must resist the exploitation of Christianity by far-right populists such as Tommy Robinson, a bishop has said ahead of a carols event organised by the anti-migrant activist.
The Right Rev Arun Arora, the bishop of Kirkstall and the Church of England’s (CofE) co-lead on racial justice, has warned that the Church must act to “resist the capture of Christian language and symbols by populist forces seeking to exploit the faith for their own political ends”.
The C of E is to launch a poster campaign aimed at confronting the increasing use of Christianity for a nationalist, anti-migrant agenda.
The posters, which will go on display at bus stops, say “Christ has always been in Christmas” and “Outsiders welcome”. They are part of a package of resources available for local churches to download and display in response to far-right rhetoric.
A coalition of church groups called the Joint Public Issues Team, including the C of E, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist church and the United Reformed church, have put together a “rapid response” resource for churches, with a call to focus particularly on Sunday 14 December – the day after Tommy Robinson’s Whitehall event.
Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has organised a follow-up event to his huge Unite the Kingdom march, which saw more than 100,000 people turn out for what was billed as a “free speech” protest and included Elon Musk addressing the crowd at railing against the “woke mind virus”.
Police were assaulted after violence flared, with dozens of arrests made.
This time he has organised an event called ‘United for Christ this Christmas’, which promises bible readings, live music, and faith testimonies. He is aiming to “put Christ back into Christmas”, according to details posted to social media platform X.
Speaking about Tommy Robinson’s campaign to “reclaim” Christmas, Bishop Arun said: “I rejoice that Stephen Yaxley Lennon has recently come to faith in prison. Having experienced the wide mercy of God’s grace, Stephen does not now have the right to deny it to others.
“Having embraced and accepted God’s welcome he can’t now restrict it from others who may be equally lost. Not does he have the right to subvert the faith so that it serves his purposes rather than the other way round.”
He warned: “We must confront and resist the capture of Christian language and symbols by populist forces seeking to exploit the faith for their own political ends. It is incumbent upon the church – in the recent words of Rowan Williams – ‘to challenge the story that every migrant approaching our shores is an unfriendly alien with unintelligible and hostile values’.
“The danger for a Church that fails to act is that we are diminished to a people who offer religious observance as an alternative to an active pursuit of justice and righteousness.
“As we approach Christmas and recall the Holy Family’s own flight as refugees, we reaffirm our commitment to stand alongside others in working for an asylum system that is fair, compassionate, and rooted in the dignity of being human – when Christ took on flesh – which is at the heart of the Christmas message.”
Since coming out of prison in May this year, Mr Robinson has been using Christianity in his messaging, with Christian symbols such as wooden crosses common at the first Unite the Kingdom rally in September.
UKIP’s leader Nick Tenconi also intertwines Christianity with his party’s anti-migrant politics, thrusting Christian identity politics to the forefront of the organisation that used to be the home of Nigel Farage.
Mr Tenconi is also a key figure within Turning Point UK, a right-wing student political group linked to Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
While Mr Robinson is organising his carols event for 13 December, an initiative called Shine Your Light is aiming for 200,000 Christians to sing carols in public spaces across the UK and Ireland over the same weekend.
