Christian nationalism creates a political Jesus. If we start to place the cross of Christ upon the cross of Saint George, we end up with hatred rather than love.
Jesus told us to love our enemies, to care for the poor, to
put an arm around the downtrodden. But the message from Christians supporting
Tommy Robinson is, in the end, a message of fear and anger. A creation of an atmosphere
of fear, seeking to protect a ‘Christian’ nation which is not in the first
place, Christian. The promotion of anger towards those that are ‘not like us’, often
identified as Muslims and migrants.
Christian nations do not exist and cannot exist. A compromise of the cross of Christ, replacing
it with the cross of Saint George, will result in political discrimination in
the name of Christ. Instead of shining a light into the darkness, we allow the
rhetoric of fear and anger to dehumanise those who we consider are not of our
tribe, and on that basis, darkness wins.
I have been reading statements from some Christians supporting
Tommy Robinson, suggesting that the United Kingdom could become a Christian
centre similar to that of Geneva in the 1500s under the stewardship of John
Calvin and Guillaume Farel. Geneva did indeed become a majority Christian city,
with Christian rules and regulations. It had its failures, but for the most
part can be seen as a success. There is, however, one significant difference.
Geneva was a refuge city, welcoming the poor and destitute, welcoming the
Protestants escaping at that time from persecution in France.
Robinson does not welcome, he expels. His Christian nationalism
is exclusive, fearmongering; a creation based upon hate, not love.
Jesus chose to deliberately travel through detested Samaria
and embrace a woman who was seen as beyond redemption. That has to be the
model. Love, care, rescue. One at a time. One after another after another. That’s
how we get a Christian nation. One nation within every political and
geographical country, one made up of every tribe and tongue, every skin colour
and every background.
