Beware: Dangerous Right Turn
There are blogs which are enjoyable to write and others that you don't really want to write, but they contain things that need to be said. This is the latter and concerns the increased adoption of Christianity by political movements and online groups on the more extreme right wing whether as in the shouts of ‘Christ is King’ by balaclava clad men in black or the idea of ‘making Britain Christian again’ perhaps by forced hymn singing in schools. If we have spent time studying History we might feel cautious or wary of this and worry about how compatible some of these views are with genuine Christianity and whether there is a risk that some Christians may become radicalised in an unhealthy way. I share these concerns and want to offer a few observations/tests.
Understanding the Map: what do we mean by a ‘dangerous’ right-turn?
Generally speaking political views and groups are placed on a spectrum of left and right. At the far edges of each side are dangerous extremes – Hitler’s Nazis as an example of the extreme right and Soviet Communism as an example of extreme left. (1) Precise definitions can be tricky but political writers offer a number of traits that you might associate with far right ideology. You will tend to see some of the following:
· Appeals to tradition + past golden age
· Targeting of difference/persecution of minorities (xenophobia and racism)
· Use of social frustrations/grievances – ‘we are victims…’
· Conspiracies and plots – ‘what are they not telling us?’
· Seeing disagreement as treason
· Desire to control the media – inconvenient facts become ‘fake news’
· Macho culture + lack of respect for women
· Contempt for the weak/disabled – ‘a burden’
· Populism – we are ‘the voice of the people’
· Strong state powers – ‘human rights have gone too far…’ (2)
We have seen evidence of some of the above in recent years in the UK and elsewhere. In some historical examples the appeal to tradition and institutions has involved the church. Jason Stanley states that ‘At the core of fascism is loyalty to tribe ethnic identity, religion, tradition, or… nation’. Hitler’s Nazi Party were highly skilled at using the institutional church. As a Christian, this really saddens me, the worry that some of us might fall for similar ideology again saddens me further still.
The bus that moves
One real puzzle when reading Bonhoeffer for the first time was how the vast majority of German Christians could be supportive or at best on the fence regarding Hitler and the Nazis. Now I think I get it. It doesn’t happen overnight. This sort of ideology is subtle; it draws people gradually like a magnet, or these days by stumbling down the online rabbit holes our algorithm offers us. It doesn’t start with evil people or monsters; it starts with ordinary people and gradually makes a monster of them.
If we use the analogy of buses, a Christian may get on board with good intentions; perhaps they are naturally socially conservative, they worry about immigration, pro-life issues, Israel, gender, or some radical variant of Islam. They connect with various others online and in real life; they are reassured by the periodic mention of Christianity. The problem is that this is a moving bus they have joined, one that keeps inching forward to see how much it can get away with. How far can you travel on the bus before deciding that as a Christian you need to get off? Is it just lending a radical party your vote as a kind of protest? Sharing edgy social media posts? Is it at the occasional march or demo? Perhaps it’s time to leave when other members of your group are explicitly racist? Is it before you find yourself in a group shouting at hotels? Is it when balaclava clad men assault emergency workers? Is it before you denounce volunteers working for the RNLI as traitors?
Why worry? 6 Points to reflect upon:
Of course there isn’t just one bus; there are different political groups, influencers and action groups. Rather than get into minutiae about every single political group, online community or pressure group. I want to offer 6 challenges/points to reflect upon in considering whether as Christians certain buses should be boarded or if already boarded should be exited as quickly as possible
1. Is it motivated by Fear/Anger or Love? When we come into contact with extreme right views, it is noticeable that the predominant drivers are fear and anger rather than love. Angry posts are designed to stir similar anger in us. Yet Jesus says that the greatest two commandments are based on love: love God and love your neighbour. Your neighbour is anyone, even the Samaritan. This is the essence of Christianity; it is not a random add-on. If a group/person is claiming to be Christian, check the last 5-6 posts they have written, what is being communicated? Love? Anger? Fear? Then, perhaps we even take a look at our own posts…
2. Does it affirm the value and dignity of all human beings? Christianity teaches that all human beings are made in the image of God; there is a value and dignity to very human life regardless of race, religion, disability etc. If minorities are being spoken about in a way that makes them less than human - the word 'them' is often a giveaway - it is hard to see this as Christian. Our views on others often have real world consequences; we will worship alongside those of different races, we will meet those with disabilities, we will work alongside people of different faiths. Would we look those people in the eye and say such things? Can we imagine Jesus saying those things?
3. Which Kingdom is being built? Talk of (re)establishing the nation as Christian seems to misunderstand God’s Kingdom. Jesus said that his Kingdom was not of this world, I’ve written on this one previously. The attempt to build a Kingdom that is largely based on political power shows mistaken understanding of Jesus' teaching. Historically bad things tend to happen when the church enjoys too much political power. If God really is all powerful, does he really need social structures to be rigged in his favour in order to increase his chances of success?
4. Am I taking the Lord’s name in vain? To claim that a movement is doing God’s work is a dangerous thing. If we are wrong, we are taking God’s name in vain. If Christian ideas are genuinely central to these movements, it presents a strange variant of Christianity (more Old Testament than New) which is a long way from the teachings of Jesus and God’s name is taken in vain. If the Christian element is just a peripheral piece of a largely political jigsaw, again God’s name is again being used in vain.
5. Who do I find myself standing with? Who we align ourselves with and journey through life with matters; we start to resemble the people we hang around with. The Bible talks about bad company corrupting good morals, so who we are standing with and by extension who we are standing against matters. Whilst there may be some sincere people involved, there are others often in significant positions with various convictions or mired in various scandals: racists, domestic abusers and fraudsters whom trouble seems to follow around. It is important to ask ourselves to what extent we wish to resemble them. Or maybe we just hope to somehow remain untainted.
6. Am I bringing the faith into disrepute? Followers of Jesus are called in the Bible to represent him on earth. Jesus is no longer present, but people can get an idea of Christianity and Jesus by observing those who claim to follow him. St Paul refers to this as being Christ’s ambassadors. Identifying with political causes on the extreme right and promoting them as Christians is problematic. The world is watching and forming a judgement about the person of Jesus based on our actions and words.
The world is a complicated place. On one occasion in the gospels Jesus says that his followers should be 'wise as serpents and harmless as doves', it is important to ensure we don't reverse this. I hope these principles help us to be wise and keep us vigilant in the light of vehicles that take dangerous right turns.
APPENDIX: 3 possible objections
You may feel I am being unfair in what I have said. Here are 3 possible objections you may have
“But X is a Christian now”
Of course, we cannot know whether the drivers of any given bus have a genuine Christian faith. It is difficult to see this if 9 out of 10 online posts are full of hatred and the tenth says Jesus is Lord, but God sees people’s hearts and we can’t judge. It is perfectly possible to have some form of Christian commitment but be rather muddled about Jesus and theology; Christians sometimes do bad things. However, it is also possible for individuals to brazenly adopt Christian language and symbols for political ends. Jesus did say that we would know people by the fruit their lives produce – we wait and see…
“What about far left? Socialism/Communism is just as bad.”
If you are more right-wing leaning, you might tell me that extreme communism and left-wing ideology is just as authoritarian and dangerous. Yes, as a boring political centrist I agree but left-wing communism does not currently hold power or have a lead in the polls in any Western democracies. So yes, there are also dangerous left turns, but I don’t see many Christians about to take that particular turn. Rest assured if that starts to happen, I will write something else. I suspect most of the tests above will apply.
“Are you saying that you can’t be Christian and right-wing”
No, of course, you can be Christian and right wing. Christians have a range of political views. There are sincere and committed Christians who would identify as conservative, socialist, or liberal. Each of these political movements are compatible with Christian ideas and these political groups are enriched by the presence of Christians and members of other faiths within their ranks. My concern is with the populist/nationalist movements which, whilst sharing some similarities with conservatism, are moving in far more worrying directions.
Notes
1. I have tried to avoid the terms ‘fascist’ and ‘far right’ as much as I can as I find that people can fixate on them and argue about whether X is/is not fascist, or how far the ‘far right’ are. My argument is that regardless of labels, there comes a point where these ideas (however we label them) and genuine Christianity become incompatible.
2. See this article for Umberto Eco’s list of 14 characteristics. He lived through Mussolini’s regime in Italy. My list draws on this as well as several online dictionaries and articles.
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