Senior leaders of the Church of England have blasted far-right activist Tommy Robinson for “corrupting the Christian faith” as the notorious Islamophobe leads a nationalist Christmas carol service rally in Central London.
Robinson, real name Steven Yaxley-Lennon, led a Christmas carol in London on Saturday, which managed to gather just about 1000 supporters.
The event titled: Putting Christ back into Christmas saw a collection of anti-immigration Islamophobic Christian nationalists and religious activists address the crowd. The focus of the event was to platform their love of Christianity, the Bible and Prophet Jesus as. Organisers made a special effort not to mention politics or Islam at the event.
The rally was met with widespread criticism and a Stand Up To Racism counter protest as the former founder of the EDL has pushed a street movement of hate and hostility of Islam and foreigners using a divisive nationalist ideology, which in recent times has adopted a religious Christian tone.
One of the most note worthy condemnations came from the Bishop of Manchester, Right Reverend David Walker, who said it is “offensive” that people are “appropriating this great Christian festival of light triumphing over darkness as a prop in a dim culture war.”
Writing for The Independent, Dr Walker said: “Each year we see a rather strange tradition: familiar claims that somewhere, someone is trying to ‘ban’ Christmas.”
He warned that far-right activists are keen to scour the internet in search of “something, anything, to show that Christmas is supposedly being taken away.”
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He continued: “While they focus on something different each time, at heart it’s usually the same tale: that some ‘other’ out there wants to erase the traditional idea of Christmas. Sometimes it is said to be a shadowy but somehow ubiquitous ‘woke’ elite, sometimes minorities, and often people of other faiths.
“The people behind these stories are not doing this to share the message of Christmas – of joy and love – but to spread division.”
The Bishop hailed Christmas as “one moment in the year when, even in our more secular society, the powerful message of love, of God coming and living among us as one of us, cuts through.”
Elsewhere, Bishops at the Diocese of Southwark said that Christ has always been at the heart of Christmas, and the core of the Christian faith is the belief that God loves everyone. Their statement said: “Those who claim him need to be serious about what he stands for. The authenticity of a person’s faith may be judged by their actions.
“Any co-opting or corrupting of the Christian faith to exclude others is unacceptable, and we are gravely concerned about the use of Christian symbols and rhetoric to apparently justify racism and anti-migrant rhetoric.
“We understand that there are many who may be swept up in movements like this who don’t necessarily buy in wholesale to what is being said. We would encourage them to think again, to consider what kind of world they want to be a part of – and to choose compassion and understanding over hostility and conflict. We are proud of our nation and our communities – and we know that we are better than this.”
As the condemnation by the CoE hit the headlines, Robinson lashed out on X saying: “These bishops are quislings” and “Their churches are empty for a reason.”
