The archbishop of Canterbury has stated that far-right organisations are “unchristian” and that their use of Christian imagery is an “outrage.”
Justin Welby condemns violent unrest that he describes as “racist” and “anti-Muslim, anti-refugee, and anti-asylum seeker.” He made this statement in an article that was published in the Guardian.
His intervention comes after a week of violent disorder that began after a group of children were stabbed numerous times at a dance class in Southport that was themed after Taylor Swift.
Far-right online activists who falsely claimed that a Muslim immigrant was responsible for the incident in Southport stoked the disturbance, which included attacks on mosques, police officers, and a hotel that housed asylum seekers.
The archbishop claimed that the riots had been “detonated by lies and fuelled by deliberate misinformation, spread quickly online by bad actors with malignant motivations.” He claimed that years of rhetoric from some of our press and politicians had “cultivated fertile ground” for the spread of false information.
Welby expressed his disapproval of the act of far-right rioters using Christian symbols. He declared that the use of Christian iconography by the far right was offensive to both our faith and everything that Jesus was and is.
“I want to make it quite obvious to Christians that they should not be connected with any far-right group because those groups are not following the teachings of Christianity. Please allow me to make it quite plain to members of other faiths, particularly Muslims, that we condemn those who misrepresent Christian imagery as being essentially anti-Christian.
He lauded community members who have worked to alleviate tensions, such as an imam in Liverpool who provided food to a small group of far-right rioters and engaged in conversation with them, and a group of bricklayers in Southport who assisted in the reconstruction of a mosque that had been vandalised. “These examples of civic virtue that have been counter-messages to those of the mob,” Welby added, stressed the importance of cultivating and valuing these examples.
He stated that in order to achieve reconciliation, it would be necessary to conduct “research into the deeply rooted causes of division and confront uncomfortable truths.” He went on to say that the communities that were left behind in our nation’s race to progress are a reflection of the rich and precious diversity that our nation is today.
It will include having real debates about what it means to live together well, knowing that we share a lot of things in common, including streets, schools, universities, workplaces, and the media, as well as our essential humanity. It is a duty for all of us to accept the opportunities and challenges that come with living in such a diverse society, and it is evident from the events that have transpired over the past few weeks that this work has been around for a very long time.