Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an elder in the Church of Scotland, Tim Bell<\/strong> calls on churches of all denominations to ‘become part of the resistance’ against the rise of the far right.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alarm bells are ringing all over western democracies. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Neo-fascism is gaining ground and is becoming normalised. Little doubt remains that there are strong similarities to Germany in the 1930s. The malevolent Trump White House has made it explicit that it seeks to actively support nationalist far right parties, especially in western Europe. Nigel Farage has nailed his colours to the Trump mast, making himself Trump\u2019s stooge in the UK, and stands to be judged accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t say a Trumpian takeover can\u2019t happen in the UK. It is happening already. Sarah Pochin, Reform MP, stands behind a podium with the legend \u201cBritain is lawless\u201d. Nigel Farage says children are taught Marxism in primary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Scotland there is one Reform MSP and 21 councillors. Reform now controls ten councils in England, with over 900 councillors around the country, and there are five MPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Farage, envisaging himself as the next Prime Minister, has said he would politicise the Bank of England. Former Tory Robert Jenrick (now defected to Reform) has said he would politicise the judiciary. Don\u2019t say we haven\u2019t been told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fascism is a cult, in which otherwise good, sensible, well-educated people lose their faculty of critical thinking and judgement. Since fascist \u201cpolicy\u201d is the out-workings of the inner psycho-drama of a single person, facilitated by a small cabal, it is never based on sound, broad judgement of reality and carefully considered aims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cult figurehead takes any dissension as personal treachery. At some point there is no way of recovering critical judgement and getting out of the cult without incurring the wrath and punishment of the leader or cabal. It never ends well: Mussolini; Hitler; Saddam Hussain; Muammar Ghaddafi. Trump is on the same trajectory.<\/p>\n With a fundamentally right-wing press in the hands of media moguls, it\u2019s difficult for other political parties to counter this rise of fascism. When neo-fascists are taken to task on some untruth or provocation, they simply move on to another untruth or provocation. Watchdog bodies are easily overwhelmed, outmanoeuvred, denounced and ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an elder in the Church of Scotland, I call on churches generally to find their Biblical prophetic voice and become part of the resistance. Churches normally stay clear of the knockabout political rough and tumble, based broadly on Luke 12:14 in which Jesus is asked to adjudicate in an inheritance dispute. \u201cWho am I to judge?\u201d he says. This is human business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After WW2 the German churches recognised that, with some notable exceptions, they had been overly concerned to protect the purity of their doctrines \u2013 forgiveness and turning the other cheek \u2013 and their protected status. This failure to confront the evil before them amounted to normalising the evil, which was complacency and became complicity. Then as now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tommy Robinson and Farage have now, explicitly, parked their tanks on the churches\u2019 front lawn. Robinson\u2019s cry to \u201cput Christ back into to Christmas\u201d is risible. This cannot go unanswered by the churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very recently outside a church in Massachusetts USA, a baby Jesus in the cradle was replaced by a sign: \u201cICE was here\u201d. The priest explained that it was fully intended to be a commentary on current affairs and made no apology. It was a symbol of support for some of his parishioners. A more senior figure in the church said this was inappropriate and \u201cdisrespectful\u201d of the political authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a classic example of protecting the church\u2019s status at the expense of exercising the Biblical function of commenting, condemning, making a teaching point and loving neighbours. It\u2019s exactly the sort of cave-in that rapidly spirals out of control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the first five books of the Bible, migration is depicted as a normal and natural part of human life. Being reminded that once they were slaves in a foreign land, the people are enjoined to grant citizenship to strangers. (eg Leviticus 19:33,34). The Book of Amos is a bitter denunciation of hypocrisy and exploitation of the poor and vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a Rabbi pointed out after our recent coronation and \u201cNot my king\u201d protests, our Old Testament would be pretty slim if there were not direct and powerfully expressed opposition to the rulers of the day. Engagement with the fundamental issues of the day is inherent in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of Jesus\u2019 teaching is subtle and open to interpretation, but nothing departs from the canticle in Mary\u2019s \u201cMagnificat\u201d: \u201cGod has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.\u201d (Luke 1:51-53).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The greatest teaching of all is very simple: \u201cLove your neighbour as yourself\u201d (Mark 12:31). Any idea of a righteous \u201cChristian Nationalism\u201d that becomes exclusive and self-protective dies in Paul\u2019s letter: \u201cThere is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female.\u201d (Galatians 3:28). We are one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many Jews helped Abraham Lincoln draft the Bill of Rights, aimed in the first instance towards Black people. They knew better than anyone that if one minority is targeted, no minority is safe. Pastor Martin Niem\u00f6ller post-WW2 reflection applies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n First they came for the Communists Martin Niem\u00f6llerr.<\/strong> (abbreviated)<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Stuart Mill said in 1867: \u201cLet not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aphorism that Edmund Burke didn\u2019t say holds true: \u201cThe only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n No denomination or congregation can be expected to dedicate itself to this issue only. There are feast days and seasons to observe, there are lexicons and liturgies to follow. No clergywo\/man is short of material to be dealing with. But it\u2019s unsustainable to argue that these matters are outwith the churches\u2019 remit and must not be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Churches must read the signs of the times. Several mainstream churches, and rabbis, have already denounced the fascist, xenophobic rhetoric emanating from Reform. But that\u2019s not enough, and there is no need to wait for the church authorities to formally take a position on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To his credit, John Swinney has called a conference with various religious bodies in April. It needs to be more than a pre-election gimmick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my view individual ministers, priests and pastors are fully authorised, and indeed obliged, by their ordination to discern their truth and share it urgently, where it matters: locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pulpit is not the only vehicle for joining the resistance. Clergywo\/men can call local meetings, show up at demos, issue press releases, write letters to the editor, send parish newsletters wider than the congregation, and be active on social media. Fascist names should be named, published statements and established facts should be laid out and subjected to a Christian critique. It provides moral leadership and a focus of resistance. Fascism is good at separating its critics and widening the gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That may well lead to the clergy receiving various kinds of retaliation, some of it perhaps illegal: threats, hate mail, intimidation of their families, and more. This is a concern, but not good reason to flinch from the task. The Gospel is not to be preached only to the obedient faithful in a safe place in a smooth season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not my place to call for other religious bodies to do likewise, but I hope they do. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, God isn\u2019t a Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not too late to stop this. But it will be too late at some point, and perhaps sooner than we think. It will be no good wringing hands later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n First they came for me is a poetic form of the 1946 post-war confessional prose piece by the German Lutheran<\/a> pastor Martin Niem\u00f6ller<\/a> (1892\u20131984).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nLies and provocation <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
ICE was here<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
No minority is safe <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists\/trade unionist\/Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist\/trade unionist\/Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin the resistance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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