It’s 43 seconds on TikTok, but with the force of a message that can ridicule the exaggerations of the far right in one fell swoop. On the same day that British extremist leader Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) summoned his supporters to central London, near the British Parliament, to participate in a ceremony of prayers and Christmas carols, the Anglican Church of England resisted the claims that Robinson and his people continually repeat: that Christmas is “cancelled” because of mass immigration.
“Every year we hear stories that say that Christmas has been canceled. Or that the joy of Christmas is threatened. The truth is that we do not know what they are talking about. Because in every church, in every parish, in every cathedral, in every corner of our country, you will find stories of love, joy and hope. Of course we can celebrate Christmas”, say successively a series of people representative of Anglican diversity, a church that has always been a few steps more progressive and tolerant than other faiths in the country. Christian world. A young boy, a priest accompanied by his baby, a bishop, a farmer or a black priest; along with another black priest and several other ministers of the church. “It’s Christmas and it belongs to us all. Everyone is invited,” they say.
Robinson, who is said to have fallen off his horse like St. Paul during one of his final stays in prison and converted to Christianity, insisted that Saturday’s event had no political agenda. But the email he sent to his supporters contains the elements of agitation that the far right has been brandishing for years in the UK. “It is not just a concert. It is a demonstration in defense of our values, a glimmer of hope in the chaos of mass migration and cultural erosion which threatens our way of life (…) It is the affirmation that the United Kingdom belongs to the British and that our Christian heritage will not be silenced,” he assures.
There is growing unease within the Anglican Church over what many of its members already perceive as a grotesque attempt to appropriate the religion through extremist English nationalism. “Any attempt to exploit Christianity for a particular political agenda or ideology should be viewed with great suspicion. The far right has always sought to wrap itself in flags or symbols that belong to us all. Now they are trying to do that with Christmas, and we must resist,” wrote Arun Arora, Bishop of Kirkstall and Anglican racial justice officer.
Edmonton Bishop Anderson Jeremiah has written to many of his parishes to encourage them to seek diversity in their congregations, at a time when “controversial” figures are encouraging the “false and toxic premise that British identity is the same as Christian identity and white European identity”. The bishop remembers all the parishioners from the Caribbean, Nigeria, Ghana, India and the Philippines who have enriched the Anglican community in recent years.
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