That was a very interesting interview with Phillips. Thanks for posting it.
I’ve been keeping tabs on the Christofascist element within this Unite the Kingdom movement, especially characters like Rikki Doolan, Calvin Robinson (though I don’t think he attended), and Laurence Fox, as well as the call for a revival of Christian values by Ant Middleton, Ben Habib and others.
Phillips also mentioned that he saw non-whites there. That was presumably a reference to characters like Brother Wendell and someone who identifies on X as ‘basedandbougie’.
But what Phillips entirely omitted to mention was that these Christians largely come from the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Evangelical wings of the faith, one that is experiencing something of a modest revival right now with its Spirit-driven outlook. And more egregiously, Phillips did not point out that this lot are exclusivist in outlook and openly hostile to Islam.
By ‘exclusivist’, I mean that they see Christianity as the only true path to God. Other religions, and Islam especially, are deemed to be false. The scriptural basis for this is John 14v6 (‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’)
This is, of course, a complete misreading of that passage. 14v6 is inclusive not exclusive, as is the Fourth gospel as a whole. This is because John also insisted in 1v4 that ‘What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.’
In other words, God’s life falls indiscriminately over all. How could it be otherwise? The only question is whether that truth, in undoubtedly diverse forms, is recognised and appreciated.
Moving on, a very good discussion could be had as to what else was most central to Jesus’ teaching. Suffice it to say that the vile, divisive brand of politics on show on Saturday is diametrically opposed to the emphasis Jesus placed on ‘agape’ (impartial love of neighbour/enemy), and ‘splanchnizomai’ (spontaneous empathy for others) in the gospels.
As for the presence of non-whites, so what?
It’s entirely possible to identify with a far-right party or movement whilst not being part of the majority ethnic/religious group in a given country. See, for example, ex-jailbird Guramit Singh Kalirai (EDL), Enrique Tarrio (Proud Boys), & Tomio Okamura (leader of the Czech SPD).
Staying with inclusivist Christianity, there’s an additional lesson to be learned about it from the flag of St. George, namely, that it shouldn’t be divisive. This is because St. George is actually a major personage of mystical significance in the Islamic faith, where he is identified with the mysterious figure of Al-Khidr.
In mystical Islam what is “slain” is the “dragon” of our ego or baser self. This is pretty much what the great mystics of all the major world faiths aspire to. William Blake, Thomas Traherne, Ibn Arabi and Rumi would be typical examples.
In summary then, the Christians who attended that protest are scripturally and theologically illiterate.
And as for the likes of Yaxley-Lennon, Middleton, Fox et al., the sight of those cunts trying to identify themselves with Christianity is truly fucking sickening, and it wouldn’t surprise me if holy water brought them out in blisters.