Vicar Stephen Kuhrt has warned the former Archbishop of Canterbury is moving “far too close to dismissing” concerns over immigration and radical Islam.
Speaking to GB News, the pastor of Christ Church in New Malden was reacting after Rowan Williams accused him of using Christianity to “channel anti-Muslim feeling”.
Lord Williams, who served as the Church of England’s leading bishop from 2002 until 2012, claimed the Reform UK leader’s statements about Christianity invited “inevitable scepticism about some claims to religious conviction”.
"I suspect really that (Nigel) Farage and others want to channel anti-Muslim feeling, and it helps to have 'we're a Christian society' to fling back. It gives a sort of ballast," he said.
The former senior churchman said that growing “Christian nationalism” within Britain could be attributed to “anxiety about migration” and “anti-Islamism” in an interview with the New Humanist magazine.
Responding, Mr Kuhrt noted where the remarks were made and suggested Lord Williams could be “playing to that audience”.
However, he added this did little to assuage his concerns that the former Archbishop was brushing aside reasonable concerns.
“To my mind, he is getting far too close to being dismissive about anyone expressing concerns about immigration or the growth of radical Islam.
“My concern is that when a Christian minister comes over as dismissive about someone's concerns, I think it is never helpful at all.”
“He was probably concerned about the ugliest forms of right-wing nationalism, and probably in his mind, was wanting to show that he was opposed to that.
“But I think it was quite a dismissive set of statements that he made,” the Vicar said.
Mr Kuhrt explained that churchmen should also seek to address the most positive interpretation of issues.
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“I think whenever a Christian minister seeks to engage with political issues, they should try to sympathetically engage with where the best case is coming from in what's being said.
“There is room for critique, of course there is. But I think being dismissive doesn't really get us anywhere.”
The Vicar suggested Lord Williams could be attempting to “present Christianity as compassionate, not exclusive, and not antagonistic to Islam, and I want to support that”.
However, he warned: “The danger is that it's a rather sort of singular message.”
“With the engagement with any of these issues, what we've got to show is that we understand where sort of both sides of the spectrum are coming from.
“We can comment appropriately and critically to both sides,” he insisted.
“It is vital that Christianity is something that isn't used as a weapon against other people. That is absolutely crucial.
“But at the same time, we've got to make sure we genuinely engage with what people are concerned about.”
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