by Michael Deacon, Telegraph
Church of England clergy in London have been told to ‘preach anti-racism’. But what exactly should they say?
Worshippers will no doubt have been delighted to read about the Church of England’s latest “diversity drive”. To help “boost inclusion”, we learnt yesterday, clergy in London are being encouraged to “preach anti-racism in sermons”.
I’m sure we all welcome this wonderfully progressive move. I’ve got just one small question.
How precisely does one go about “preaching anti-racism” in a church sermon?
Typically, after all, church sermons are based on passages from the Bible. To the best of my knowledge, however, the Bible does not contain any passages highlighting the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies in the modern workplace. Nor does it mention Black Lives Matter, or Antifa, or Robin DiAngelo’s 2018 bestseller White Fragility, or the urgent need to decolonise everything from maths to ballet. In fact, I’m not sure it says anything about 21st-century anti-racist activism at all.
In light of this inexplicable oversight by the apostles, therefore, I suppose London-based clergy will simply have to use their imagination, and update the scriptures to reflect today’s progressive pieties. Although what exactly they’ll come up with, we’ll just have to wait and see.