UK evangelicals considers violence to defend faith
Pastor Dale Morgan
UK evangelicals considers violence to defend faith*
'Use of defensive force may become a necessary and legitimate remedy for
Christians'
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:13am GMT 05/11/2006
A leading church group which represents more than a million Christians
has raised the prospect of civil unrest and even "violent revolution" to
protect religious freedoms.
In a startling warning to the Government, senior church and political
figures have backed a report advocating force to protest against
policies that are "unbiblical" and "inimical to the Christian faith".
The Christians' report echoes protests made by radical Muslims
The menacing language of the report, which Lord Mawhinney, the Tory
peer, Andy Reed, the Labour MP, and the Rt Rev Peter Forster, the Bishop
of Chester, helped to produce, echoes comments made by Muslim fanatics.
Only days ago, Islamic activist Anjem Choudary said Muslims had become
radicalised because they were "a community under siege".
The report from the Evangelical Alliance says "violent revolution"
should be regarded as a viable response if government legislation
encroaches further on basic religious rights. The church is urged to
come to a consensus that "at some point there is not only the right but
the duty to disobey the state".
The report, entitled "Faith and Nation", comes amid growing concern that
people are being prevented from expressing their faith, including BA's
recent decision that an employee could not wear a crucifix.
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The Government's attempt to introduce religious hatred laws has
highlighted the growing threat to religious liberty, the report says.
Pope Benedict XVI has also said that God is being pushed to the margins
by "secular forces".
Proposals to ban proselytising in publicly-funded Christian projects
could ultimately lead to Christians being prevented from teaching others
about the Bible. This would "be unambiguously recognised by Christians
as perpetrating evil that has to be resisted by deliberate acts of
defiance", the report says.
While it has always been expected that the greatest threat to Britain's
security will come from Muslim extremists, the report will cause
particular alarm to government ministers as it reveals disquiet among
the country's Christian population.
Significantly, it comes from the Evangelical Alliance – a mainstream
organisation representing 1.2 million Christians. The organisation
acknowledges that "resisting evil in the modern state" can take many
different forms. Before resorting to force, Christians would normally
first turn to dialogue.
But in some circumstances "the use of defensive force may become a
necessary and legitimate remedy for Christians", it suggests.
"If, as most Christians accept, they should be politically involved in
democratic processes, many believe this may, where necessary, take the
form of active resistance to the state. This may encompass disobedience
to law, civil disobedience, involving selective, non-violent resistance
or, ultimately, violent revolution."
Mike Morris, the executive director of the Evangelical Alliance, said
that the report reflected the breadth of submissions they had received.
"It is not as if Christians are going to take to the streets, but we
need to be able to stand up to things that are challenging the Christian
conscience, regardless of the consequences."
However, the Very Rev Colin Slee, the Dean of Southwark, said it would
send out a confused message.
"The fundamental themes of the gospel are love and reconciliation, not
violent revolution," he said.
The Evangelical Alliance has raised the debate at a time when religious
liberty issues are beginning to dominate the headlines following the row
over Muslim women's right to wear the veil and BA's decision to suspend
Nadia Eweida, 55, for breaching its uniform policy by wearing a cross.
Anjem Choudary, who helped organise the anti-Danish cartoon protests,
last week said that the London bombings should not have come as a
surprise. "How else do you expect Muslims to express themselves?" he
said. "We are a community under siege. It's going to blow up one day in
everyone's faces."
This newspaper revealed last week the increasing anxiety among senior
police officers at the change in "the landscape of political protest"
since the millennium – prompting them to consider introducing water
cannons to control violent street protests.
Tarique Ghaffur, the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
Force, said last week: "Recent high-profile demonstrations and the
actions of individuals or groups at localised protests have served to
highlight a complex dynamic emerging in London, built around a
potentially volatile mix of issues and increasingly diametrically
opposed religious-political viewpoints."