The Church, The Far Right, and The Claim to Christianity
The Church, The Far Right, and The Claim to Christianity
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Publisher: SCM Press
ISBN: 9780334065494
Number of Pages: 192
Published: 30/08/2024
Width: 15.6 cm
Height: 23.4 cm
In 2015 the United Kingdom Independence Party published a ‘Christian Manifesto’ in preparation for the general elections, with the title Valuing our Christian Heritage. In 2014, the far-right organisation Britain First invaded mosques across the UK with army-issued Bibles. The intruders called it a ‘Christian crusade’. More recently they have released a film of themselves invading so-called ‘migrant hotels’ to hassle the residents there. In recent years in the UK the public resistance offered to far-right rhetoric from official church sources has been rather wan. Likewise, there is a dearth of resources offering constructive ways for the church to respond to hate crime or racial tension in their area. This book seeks to step into this gap. This volume brings together perspectives from theologians, church practitioners, and leading voices to respond to reflect on how the church has responded to the rise in far right thinking in UK society, and to ask how it could respond better. With a foreword by David Gushee
Foreword – David Gushee
Introduction – Helen Paynter
From the coal-face
1 A Norwegian perspective
Steinar Ims
2 From prejudice to pride - towards an organized anti racist community
Henrik Frykberg
3 Putting the Semantic Struggle into Practice: A Response to Steinar Ims and Henrik Frykberg.
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
The Interfaith perspective
4 A Lebanese Perspective on Religion-Inspired Political Extremism.
Martin Accad
5 Beyond the Far Right: 'Respectable racism' and British Muslims
Shenaz Bunglawara
6 Contextualizing the Claim to Christianity: A Response to Martin Accad and Shenaz Bunglawala
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
Politics of the Far Right and the Church
7 Encountering and Countering the Far Right in Britain Today
James Crossley
8 ‘Stop waving crosses around and making them a symbol of hate’: Localised Christian Responses to the Populist Radical Right in the UK
William Allchorn
9 Probing Challenges and Chances in UK Politics: A Response to James Crossley and William Allchorn
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
Christian Theologians Respond
10 The ‘semantic struggle’ against the Christian Far Right: Learning from the Good Samaritan
Nick Spencer
11 Challenging Far Right Claims to Christianity: A Northern Irish Perspective
Chris Wilson
12 Taking Theology out of the Trap: A Response to Nick Spencer and Chris Wilson. Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
Conclusion
The church, the far right, and the claim to Christianity: Towards some recommendations. Helen Paynter
Afterword: Lived Theology.
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
