“Put on the full armour of God.” - Ephesians 6: 11
Recently I highlighted the connection between American and European right-wing populist politics and Christianity.
We know that the Christian Right is far stronger in the USA than here in England but we do have our own homegrown right-wing political Christian groupings.
Christian political groups such as Christian Concern, the Christian Institute, Christian Action, Research and Education, and the Christian Peoples Alliance, to name a few, are all considered to be either very conservative or right-wing.
The Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA), for example, set themselves up as a political party with their own 2024 election manifesto. A CPA spokesperson said “standing up for God in politics" was the duty of every Christian, because:
“God wants to rule in politics and be in charge of the whole political system” (LCBN TV UK: 28/08/24)
Apart from the worrying dictatorial nature of this belief is the obvious question of whose God are we talking about? The blanket term “Christian God” won’t work. Artificial Intelligence lists six major Christian Sects. All of these can be broken down into sub-sects, so within Protestantism, for example, we have Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Pentecostalism Calvinism, Anglicanism, and Presbyterianism, etc. They all differ in their interpretation of God and how “good Christians" should behave.
Many of these Christian groups have been killing each other for centuries over often minor disagreements as to what constitutes a “good Christian. Even now, Roman Catholic and protestant Christians in Northern Island find it hard to live peacefully side by side.
But this could never happen in England could it? Think again. This headline recently appeared in the magazine “Christianity”.
“Christianity is being used to unite the far right” (06/08/24)
Race riots and the setting fire to a hostel full of refugees in Rotherham was condemned by this magazine, who said far right activists were “misusing Christianity for their own gain", and inflaming hatred and violence in “Jesus’ name”.
The fact is, politics and religion is a bad mix. Take Isis and the Taliban as an example, or the right-wing Jewish zealots promoting war in the Middle East.
The increasing influence of right-wing Christians on UK politics should be of concern to us all. Surveys show that less than half the population is religious, so militant Christians are now claiming secularism is a threat to the moral and social well being of the nation. The assumption here being that moral values cannot exist outside of a Christian religious framework. We need look no further than the cover-ups in both the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches of cruelty and sexual abuse by its officials to tell us all we need to know about morality in these two Christian organisations.
They also argue that their own religious rights and freedoms are under threat from non-believers. On the contrary. I have never seen an atheist with a megaphone in his hand standing in a market square promoting non-belief in God. Everyday where I live, we have Christians publicly and loudly preaching the gospel.
I don’t know of any non-religious people insisting Christians should have an abortion if they have an unwanted pregnancy, yet many militant Christians stand outside abortion clinics intimidating women who are pro-choice.
I don’t know of any atheists who actively campaign against a loving marriage, family values or the equality of women. Militant Christians are actively opposed to gay marriage, same sex couples who want a child and women’s rights.
We ignore the tendency of right-wing populist political leaders to cosy up to the Christian right at our peril. Rightwing populist leaders want votes. Rightwing Christians want “God to rule in politics”.
It is up to us to make sure neither get their way.
