In recent years, far-right organisations have invaded mosques across the UK with army-issued Bibles, declaring their actions a 'Christian crusade’. Others have paraded large crosses through Muslim-majority areas, and invaded 'migrant hotels,' harassing residents in their so-called crusade.
Far-right appeals to ‘clean up society’, and ‘restore Christian Britain’ can be quite attractive to some Christians. However, what they may fail to appreciate is that this rhetoric may be cynically employed by those whose allegiance and values are quite contrary to Christian ones. Despite all this, the response from official church sources in the UK has been notably subdued, and resources to help churches address hate crimes or racial tensions are scarce. This book aims to fill that void.
Bringing together insights from theologians, church practitioners, and leading experts, this volume examines the church's response to the rise of far-right thinking in UK society and explores how it can respond more effectively. With a foreword by David Gushee, this book offers critical and constructive perspectives for the church to confront these challenges
Foreword – David Gushee
Introduction – Helen Paynter
From the coal-face
1 A Norwegian perspective
Steinar Ims
2 From prejudice to pride - towards an organized anti racist community
Henrik Frykberg
3 Putting the Semantic Struggle into Practice: A Response to Steinar Ims and Henrik Frykberg.
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
The Interfaith perspective
4 A Lebanese Perspective on Religion-Inspired Political Extremism.
Martin Accad
5 Beyond the Far Right: 'Respectable racism' and British Muslims
Shenaz Bunglawara
6 Contextualizing the Claim to Christianity: A Response to Martin Accad and Shenaz Bunglawala
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
Politics of the Far Right and the Church
7 Encountering and Countering the Far Right in Britain Today
James Crossley
8 ‘Stop waving crosses around and making them a symbol of hate’: Localised Christian Responses to the Populist Radical Right in the UK
William Allchorn
9 Probing Challenges and Chances in UK Politics: A Response to James Crossley and William Allchorn
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
Christian Theologians Respond
10 The ‘semantic struggle’ against the Christian Far Right: Learning from the Good Samaritan
Nick Spencer
11 Challenging Far Right Claims to Christianity: A Northern Irish Perspective
Chris Wilson
12 Taking Theology out of the Trap: A Response to Nick Spencer and Chris Wilson. Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
Conclusion
The church, the far right, and the claim to Christianity: Towards some recommendations. Helen Paynter
Afterword: Lived Theology.
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
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