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“God bless us, everyone” — or kind of …
First, an interesting and welcome headline in The Guardian:
“C of E to challenge Tommy Robinson’s ‘put Christ back into Christmas’ message”
The C of E is, of course, the Church of England. The state church, whose bishops sit in the House of Lords. King Charles II is the Church’s head.
There will be a poster campaign:
The posters, which will go on display at bus stops, say “Christ has always been in Christmas” and “Outsiders welcome”. They will also be available for local churches to download and display over the festive period.
The Guardian continues:
“The C of E’s decision to challenge Robinson’s extreme rightwing stance comes amid growing unease among church leaders about the rise of Christian nationalism and the appropriation of Christian symbols to bolster the views of his supporters.”
Not a moment too soon. If Farage becomes prime minister in 2029, the C of E will have little room to manoeuvre and will have to speak and do as it’s told, on pain of disestablishment. It’d be a pity for it to lose all that pomp and privilege. Let’s hope the latest move is not too late.
I see some of the other churches are joining in:
“The Joint Public Issues Team, a partnership between the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist church and the United Reformed church is offering a ‘rapid response resource’ for local churches trying to ‘navigate the complexities’ of Christian nationalism and the ‘co-option of Christian language and symbols – including Christmas – for a nationalist agenda’.”
Of course, the C of E is itself an expression of “Christian nationalism”, what with the king being its head and all that. Now there’s a complexity to navigate if ever there was one. At least the others, all those Baptists, United Reformists, Methodists and random Pentecostals, don’t have that hanging round their necks. And I wish them luck (even the C of E). I’m on their side.
Amen, in fact.
Time for fun
The Church of England is to invite suggestions from the public on who should be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. (Yes, I know, this bypasses the question about whether there should be a new archbishop or an Anglican Church at all. But let’s not spoil the fun.
The general unbelieving public will probably not take part, other than to make improper suggestions in language unfamiliar to your local vicar. Most Christians who are not Anglicans won’t bother; evangelical Anglicans will shift uncomfortably in their seats because they quote the Bible verse that says “Christ is the head of the church” rather than the King, even if, or especially if, he passes the role down to, say, Jacob Rees-Mogg. Catholics won’t bother because their pope is the successor of St Peter and is elected by a bunch of cardinals who claim to be guided by God. The current pope, Francisco, had no illusions about who chose him. As the smoke rose from the chimney above the Cistine Chapel after the vote, he apparently turned to his fellow cardinals and said, “May God forgive you!” As for the King having the final say, at least once under Thatcher’s governments she vetoed the church’s choice. I suppose he “wasn’t one of us”!
We should look for nothing but fun from this charade. The only alternative is to be violently sick!
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