Why Tommy Robinson supporters are turning to Christianity

Gareth Talbot doesn’t necessarily believe in God, but he has started going to church.

He felt compelled to do so after attending one of Tommy Robinson’s rallies in September.

“I never thought I’d have to choose before, but now I feel like it could be superseded by Christianity, so I feel like the church needs support,” says the 36-year-old from Bradford.

Gareth mentions that the church in England is, in his view, under “threat”, particularly from Islam. His concern, he says, is with extreme elements of Islam, not the religion as a whole.

He also cites claims that all Christmas markets in London have been renamed “festive markets” and that some parts of the country have become “entirely Muslim” as other reasons for feeling the need to engage more with Christianity.

Returning to the church he attended as a child with his grandmother in Little Horton, Bradford, Gareth says he wants to become more involved in what goes on there.

“I haven’t found God,” he says. “I’ve never felt that you have to go to church to be a Christian, but the Christian religion has always protected our values ​​and freedoms and that’s why I have to support it now.”

He was among those who attended September Unite the Kingdom rallyand was with many friends. Many of the protesters marching in central London that day, estimated to number between 110,000 and 150,000, carried Christian symbols such as wooden crosses and banners bearing Bible verses. Some were dressed like crusaders.

This was in reference to the event’s organizer, Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – a far-right extremist who recently said he found the Christian faith while in prison.

All this has left the Church of England, an institution steeped in national history and culture, but one that has been plagued by declining attendance at its services for decades and grappling with fundamental problems.

How does it challenge what some see as a misrepresentation of Christian values ​​while welcoming potential new churchgoers?

And how does he reconcile those like Gareth on one side of the debate with continuing his long-standing interfaith work to improve understanding between Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths, and to support asylum seekers?

When Gareth walked into the church in Little Horton he met the vicar, the Rev Derek Jones, who summed up the dilemma. Since then Mr Jones has mostly been listening to Gareth and investigating what he means by British or Christian values.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to understand where he was coming from and what he thought it meant to support the values ​​he associated with the Christian faith,” Mr. Jones says.

“There are times when I question whether some of these movements fully understand the gospel they march behind, and my gut feeling is that it’s more about identity than faith,” he adds.

He says it’s “a difficult path for the church to walk.”

This controversy deeply disturbed some prominent Christians. In September, a group of Church of England bishops joined leaders of other Christian denominations to condemn what they called the “co-option of the cross” at Robinson’s rally as a means of causing division and “exclusion of others”.

While acknowledging in an open letter that many of those attending the rally felt “a deep disappointment at not being heard,” the bishops said that “the cross is the ultimate sign of sacrifice for the other” and that Jesus called people to love their neighbors.

His criticism was echoed by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who said people should see immigrants as vulnerable people like themselves.

But Ceirion Dewar, a bishop in the small, more conservative, traditionalist Confessing Anglican Church far from the mainstream, insists these clergy will not “lecture” him.

Having begun Robinson’s rally with a prayer – a demand he thought it was his “Christian duty” to accept – he said he saw thousands of people there who sincerely felt that Great Britain was “founded on Christian principles and the Christian faith” and that this was “eroding”.

He also spoke alongside Robinson at a previous rally in Trafalgar Square, telling the crowd that “the nation is under attack by Muslims”, “woke ideology”, cancel culture and Labor MPs.

He said clergy should stop “judging people” and “go out into the streets and listen to their concerns.”

Whichever perspective one takes, the emergence of Robinson and his supporters clearly divides Christians, and there are no easy answers to how the Church can approach this situation while remaining true to its deeply held value of tolerance.

In recent months, this tolerance and philanthropy was on display at a hotel hosting immigrants in West Yorkshire. There, members of local churches expressed their Christianity by supporting refugees.

But immigrants also faced hostility and opposition, with weekly protests outside the hotel.

One of those staying there is Amir (not his real name), who crossed the Channel to England in a small boat four months ago, escaping persecution in Iran. He was baptized and began attending church in Britain.

Although the attackers and their reasons are not known for certain, he was beaten near the hotel last month.

“I hope nothing happens to anyone else. I left my country because I didn’t feel safe, and now I don’t feel safe here,” says Amir.

He has now been given permission to stay in the UK and says it is “very important for us” that he and other expats at the hotel have support from churchgoers.

In the evening, anti-immigration protesters and counter-demonstrators gather in front of the immigration hotel. There is the Right Reverend Arun Arora, Bishop of Kirkstall, distributing chocolates between the two parties.

The bishop, who was embraced by the organizer of the anti-immigration protest, says part of his mission is to show that “God does not show favoritism” and to provide a neutral space where people can have their voices heard.

“One of the reasons the organizer and I got to know each other was because I reached out to him on social media to meet with him and break bread together, and I said, ‘How can we disagree? How can we share this city knowing that we’re going to have completely different views on this?’ “I don’t say it.” says Bishop Arora.

He also thinks it’s important for the Church to call out “injustice” and “hate” and criticizes what he calls the “narrow Christian nationalist ideology” that he says has been on display lately.

Some in the Unite the Kingdom movement seem comfortable, even proud, to be called “Christian nationalists”; others think it is a term used to slander some people who advocate what they interpret as “Christian values.”

Bishop Arora’s use of the term and mention of “hate” may not have seemed neutral to some anti-immigration protesters outside the immigration hotel. On the other hand, some may be uncomfortable with her hugging the person who organized the protests, which caused her to intimidate people in the hotel.

But his efforts to find common ground may be an approach that others in the Church are quietly adopting.

In January, Church of England bishops from across the country will meet on “national unity and diversity”, one of the hot topics on the agenda. A political theologian and other experts have been invited to help discuss what is seen as one of the biggest issues currently facing.

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, appointed in October, described a divided society and noted that “people are afraid for many reasons, and this often manifests itself in ways that can be threatening to other people.”

Clergy like Mr Jones have so far been largely left to their own devices, accepting people like Gareth into the church while also supporting those who feel threatened by the movement to which he belongs.