A disgrace to Christianity – the C of E and its asylum ‘converts’

Feb 11, 2024 by Jill

by Julian Mann, TCW:

WITH the Church of England mired in a public scandal over its guidance for clergy in supporting asylum claims, it has now very arguably become a disgrace to Christianity.

The guidance, which the C of E published in 2017, has come under media scrutiny after it emerged that Abdul Ezedi, the suspect in the horrific Clapham attack on a mother and her two daughters, had ‘converted’ to Christianity to boost his asylum claim.

The leftist political agenda in this document is unashamed: ‘Some journalists have suggested that asylum seekers are only claiming to have become Christians in order to be baptised and use this to secure leave to remain in Europe. In responding to these claims, the anti-immigration rhetoric of a number of media outlets must be acknowledged. Their stories featuring asylum seekers and refugees are used to support a broader political narrative about British identity, rights and values, as was particularly evident in the run up to the EU referendum.’

The guidance offers clergy advice on how to find suitable legal assistance; how the Home Office addresses the role of faith in asylum claims; and how church leaders can help an asylum seeker ‘to mount a personal campaign’ if a claim is refused. Writing in the Telegraph on February 6, Allison Pearson described the guidance as ‘a How To Guide for political activists in the Church trying to do whatever they can to help bogus asylum seekers remain in the UK’.

In sharp contrast with the utopian neo-Marxist worldview evident in this guidance, Christianity emphasises the eternal salvation of individuals through faith in Jesus Christ and personal good behaviour. This emphasis is clear in the Prayer Book Epistle reading for today, the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. Writing to Christian believers in the 1^st century AD who were under pressure from the purveyors of a false version of the Christian faith, the Apostle John, a witness of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, taught the true version of the faith in his first New Testament letter:

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Read also: Asylum seekers dupe church leaders to avoid deportation, say judges by Edward Malnick, Telegraph

The Church must not turn a blind eye to the impact of mass migration on Britain by Lord Carey, Sunday Telegraph