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To those evangelicals who signed the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ letter:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am deeply concerned that some of you as evangelical leaders have decided to sign an open letter condemning the use of Christian symbols in the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march.
Your letter will be widely reported as showing that the official church was opposed to this march. I am not referring to the liberal and ‘progressive’ signatories who, as we all know, regularly use Christianity to proclaim their particular political views. My concern is with those of you who profess to be evangelical and to speak on behalf of your fellow evangelicals.
Your first objection is that many individuals and communities “felt anxious, unsettled and even threatened by aspects of the march”. Of course this is true. When you play the ‘feelings’ card it will always be true for some people. My problem is that although this could be said of many marches, you did not say it on those occasions. Did you write an open letter concerned about the use of Christian symbols at Pride parades or anti-Israel marches? Many individuals and communities feel anxious, unsettled and even threatened by aspects of these marches. Do their feelings not count?
You are also concerned that the rally included “racist, anti-Muslim and far right elements.” Can I simply point out that every march I have ever been on contained people who had more extreme views. Would you have advised me, as a student Christian activist, to stay away from CND ‘ban the bomb’ marches because they contained communists and far left elements? Should I have avoided supporting Scottish independence because there were some people who were racist and anti-English?
Did I miss your letter advising Christians not to go on pro-Palestinian marches because there are people chanting for the elimination of Israel and the Jews? Or do you operate on the principle that not everyone should be tainted with the views of those on the extremist fringes? So why the double standard in this case?
As evangelicals you know the importance of words and truth. So why use the pejorative and increasingly meaningless term ‘far right’? Do you not know that in today’s world those of us who are evangelicals who hold to the Bible are regarded as far right because we are opposed to abortion, same-sex marriage and transgender ideology? Are you de facto condemning all of us?
I was just as surprised to see you complaining about being “anti-Muslim”. Of course we are to love the people and welcome the stranger, but we certainly do not have to welcome the ideology, especially if we think it is fundamentally harmful and will destroy this country.
Are you not aware that Islam is as much a political ideology as it is a religion? When the new blasphemy law regarding ‘Islamophobia’ comes into force can you not see that any Christian who denies Muhammad is a prophet or the Quran is the word of God could be found guilty? Do you think the growth of Islam in this country is good for either the country or the church? If you do, how can you possibly call yourself an evangelical? If not, then why not speak out and say so? At the very least please stop condemning those who warn of the growing danger of the Islamisation of the country.
I would expect evangelicals to speak in the clear language of Scripture, not the coded memes of contemporary society. For example, you write “any co-opting or corrupting of the Christian faith to exclude others is unacceptable”. Of course, we are all for ‘inclusion’, but it really does depend on what you mean by the term. The great danger is that you equate the virtue of inclusion with your political values and end up excluding and condemning all who disagree with you.
I am sure that there are people you would want to exclude in some way. Being inclusive doesn’t mean you affirm or accept every lifestyle or point of view. I’m not over keen on including paedophiles, fascists or misogynists – although I would be more than happy to include them in the gospel call to repentance and renewal. The irony is that by adopting in the name of Christ the exclusion view of inclusion – so beloved by illiberal progressives – you are yourselves co-opting the Christian faith to exclude those who don’t agree with you.
There is another problem here. It is the deeply patronising tone of your letter. You recognise “the deep sense of frustration at feeling unheard and forgotten in the democratic process”, and suggest that this wound would be healed if the Church and society as a whole does more to address the issues of “poverty, inequality and exclusion”. That is about as tone deaf as you can get.
Many middle-class churches talk about poverty, inequality and exclusion. But you offer no solutions. You think that the poor are just not educated or intelligent or nice enough to get your solutions – and so you smear them with the brush of fascism. Perhaps if you would learn to listen to people then they might not feel so unheard and forgotten? The problem with the political establishment in the UK at the moment is that every major party seems to be singing from the same hymn sheet – and it is not a particularly Christian one. Why join their choir?
And then there is the real elephant in the room. You don’t seem to see the wood for the trees – or the beam in your own eye. Some of your co-signatories are doing the very thing that you accuse the marches of doing. They take all the trappings of Christianity – the language, the clothing, the rituals and the Bible – and use them to further their own political and socio-economic views. They don’t believe the Bible, but they are prepared to use it. Steve Chalke for example condemns you for “excluding” those who want same-sex marriage – he even suggests that Jesus got it wrong.
Steve is not the only one. You, as evangelicals, have joined up with people who deny the Scriptures and who use the symbols of Christianity to promote their own political/social agenda, rather than Christ.
You say you are doing this unapologetically in the name of Jesus Christ. But which Christ? The Christ of the Scriptures or the Christ made in the image of progressive liberalism? I fully accept that there is a danger of cultural Christianity – where Christ and the Bible are hijacked by those with a more ‘right wing’ agenda. But there is also the danger of a cultural Christianity where Christ and the Bible are hijacked by those with a more ‘left wing’ agenda. In co-signing this letter, you have allied yourself with one group – at the expense of the Gospel.
Personally, I support the likes of the Evangelical Alliance and the Bible Society precisely because they do not take a political stance. By allying yourselves with one side of the culture war you have changed that. You have alienated millions of people who need to hear our message by implying that they are associated with Nazis. By taking such partisan political action, you will divide the Kingdom, rather than unite it.
You say that you are committed to “building a more United Kingdom where the values of love, humility and compassion shine through in every community”. Like motherhood and apple pie, that’s all good and well, but how is that going to happen? Is it going to be a smorgasbord of multiculturalism and different incompatible religions and philosophies? I think that at best, that is a well-meaning but dangerous fantasy.
Our only hope is not in nationalism, progressivism or conservatism with a Christian veneer. It is for a real renewal of the Christian Gospel. That will not happen if we turn Christianity into a progressive Hallmark style ‘thought for the day’ just echoing the politics and values of what all the ‘nice, decent’ people in our society think. Nor will it happen if we turn it into some kind of conservative political movement.
Real Christianity is much more radical than that. Can we please have some more of the real stuff – not just the shadowy imitations of whatever political philosophy happens to be in vogue? Can we have more of the prophetic, and less of the political? More of the powerful Word and less of the progressive platitudes. And above all, give us Christ and his word – in all its hope, challenge, uncomfortableness, truth and joy.
Yours etc
David A Robertson
David Robertson is the former minister of St Peters Free Church in Dundee and a former Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. He is currently the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales, and blogs at The Wee Flea.
Disuniting the Kingdom – an open letter to evangelical signatories of the anti ‘Unite the Kingdom’ letter
