The Claim to Christianity

Ulrich Schmiedel, Hannah Strømmen

Description

The far right is on the rise across Europe, pushing a battle scenario in which Islam clashes with Christianity as much as Christianity clashes with Islam. From the margins to the mainstream, far-right protesters and far-right politicians call for the defence of Europe’s Christian culture. The far right claims Christianity.
This book investigates contemporary far-right claims to Christianity. Ulrich Schmiedel and Hannah Strømmen examine the theologies that emerge in the far right across Europe, concentrating on Norway, Germany and Great Britain. They explore how churches in these three countries have been complicit, complacent or critical of the far right, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. Ultimately, Schmiedel and Strømmen encourage a creative and collaborative theological response. To counter the far right, Christianity needs to be practiced in an open and open-ended way which calls Christians into contact with Muslims.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• State
• Politics
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Hymns Ancient & Modern
• Date de parution: 30 juin 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780334059257
• Langue: English

Extrait

Politics abhors a religious vacuum and so, over recent years, in an atmosphere of alleged secular neutrality, the far-right have used Christianity to legitimise their agenda. It is easy to condemn or dismiss this; much harder to understand and respond to it. But that is what Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel attempt here. Discomforting in some places, provocative in others, intelligent and well-researched throughout, The Claim to Christianity is a serious contribution to the growing literature on our new age of religion and politics.
Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow, Theos
This book looks set to cause a storm in our churches in Britain, advocating a new liberation theology which confronts the new, and ancient, racism against Islam, Muslims, and many of our other old prejudices such as Antisemitism and against travellers. It sets up a challenge to churches – that they cannot seek to be neutral moderators of unpleasant politics, but must rather engage with and encourage personal relationships which seek to break down racist propaganda and hatreds. This will be no small task, as the Church of Norway has acknowledged in Christianity’s entanglement in such politics. The authors reveal the shockingly dark layers beneath the veneer of Christian niceties – how the Bible is read matters, taking sides in the face of persecution matters. Only after wrongs are confronted can we begin the much-needed task to repair divisions.
Bonnie Evans-Hills co-author of Engaging Islam from a Christian Perspective
I cannot think of a more insightful book about the rise of the Islamophobic far right. Taking the UK, Germany and Norway as case studies, the authors show that laying claim to Christianity is at the heart of today’s ‘new racism’. Writing as Christians, they combine a powerful critique of the way the church has responded to the far right with a challenge to fellow Christians: claim Christianity back. You do not, however, have to be either a Christian or a theologian to benefit from reading this timely and illuminating book.
Bryan Klug, St Benet’s Hall, Oxford
Strømmen and Schmiedel develop important insights into populism on the left and right in contemporary political discourses of religion. While many close readings of political and religious statements stay at the level of analysis, this book is practice-oriented. Both critical and constructive, it is a timely response to the political catastrophes created by struggles over the meaning and identity of Christianity. Theologians, political scientists, religious activists, and policy makers will benefit from reading it.
Fatima Tofighi, University of Religions (Qom, Iran)
With The Claim to Christianity we have got a substantial and critical analysis of the Far Right theology in Europe. It is crystal clear that the fear for Islam plays a crucial role. The book gives faceted reflections on how the churches in Germany, Great Britain and Norway have responded differently to the challenge of the Far Right. It is a timely and important book.
Martin Lind, Bishop Emeritus, Lutheran Church of Great Britain




The Claim to Christianity
Responding to the Far Right
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel





© Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel 2020
Published in 2020 by SCM Press
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Contents
Acknowledgements

1. Introduction: Claiming Christianity
2. Cementing the Clash: Religion in the European Far Right
3. The Terrorist Right
4. The Populist Right
5. The Hard Right
6. Challenging Churches: From Complacency to Critique
7. Conclusion: Reclaiming Christianity in Response to the Far Right




Acknowledgements
There is no way of telling exactly when a book begins. This book began at the Center of Theological Inquiry (CTI) in Princeton, New Jersey. CTI’s commitment to theology that matters inspired us – twice . Conversations with colleagues during two interdisciplinary inquiries, on ‘religion and migration’ and ‘religion and violence’, spurred us on to write this book for what academics like to call ‘a wider audience’. First and foremost, we thank the Director of CTI, William Storrar. Will might not agree with all of what we have written here, but we wouldn’t have written it without him. We are also grateful to Joshua Mauldin and Jamie Basher for academic and administrative support during our stays in Princeton. Thanks are due to the team at SCM Press, particularly David Shervington, who started supporting the book even before we sat down to write it. We are also grateful to Christopher Pipe and Lesley Staff for their eagle-eyed copy-editing of our manuscript.
Many colleagues read through the book or chapters of the book. We are hugely indebted to their careful and constructive comments, both where we have agreed and where we have disagreed with them. In particular, we would like to thank James Crossley, Marijn de Jong and Marije de Jong Marijs, Bonnie Evans-Hills, Werner G. Jeanrond, Jörg Lauster, Johanna Gustafsson Lundberg, Tommy Lynch, Mattias Martinson, Mark Mason, Lukas David Meyer, Joshua Ralston, Sebastian Schirmer, Sturla Stålsett, Øyvind Strømmen, Jayne Svenungsson, and Tobias Tanton. Hanna Barth Hake and Steinar Ims answered our inquiries about the Church of Norway’s confirmation class resources. We are also grateful to the participants at conferences and colloquia at Emory University, Kings College London, the University of Bamberg, the University of Cambridge, the University of Chester, the University of Toronto, and particularly the University of Lund, where we presented an almost-final version of our reflections in a multi-disciplinary research seminar. After so much scrutiny, there shouldn’t be any mistakes in this book. Those that remain are no doubt our own.
Our students continue to keep us on our toes. Discussions with them have helped us to think and re-think the significance of theologies for politics and of politics for theologies. We look forward to thinking and re-thinking with them again. We thank our families for encouraging us to engage with tricky topics like the one we tackled in this book. We dedicate this book to the friends we made at CTI.
Hannah Strømmen and Ulrich Schmiedel
Chichester and Edinburgh, March 2020




1. Introduction: Claiming Christianity
Is Europe a battlefield? As some would have it, a battle is raging across Europe, over soil and symbols. It is the battle of Islam against Christianity and of Christianity against Islam, fought with words and with weapons. The survival and salvation of Europe are at stake. This battle scenario is sketched in countless speeches and statements by far-right figures across Europe. The Norwegian Police Security service has recently raised the threat levels of far-right inspired terror, expressing concern over growing numbers of far-right sympathisers. 1 Germany’s domestic intelligence agency cautions that monitoring far-right militants is more and more challenging. 2 The Head of the Police in the UK warns that the threat of violence from the far right is rising fast and furiously. 3 Meanwhile, far-right parties inside parliaments and far-right protesters outside parliaments have gained ground by propagating the idea of a battle for Europe. 4 Claims to Christianity are central in the battle that the far right perceives and propagates. Our book is about these claims.
Political scientists point out that definitions of the far right are problematic. Far-right parties are riddled with conflicts, change their political positions over time, and rarely achieve or even seek to achieve coherence in their rhetoric. 5 Are there shared traits and tendencies between the Alternative for Germany ( Alternative für Deutschland ), the Austrian Freedom Party ( Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs ), the British National Party, the Danish People’s Party ( Dansk Folkeparti ), the Dutch Party for Freedom ( Partij voor de Vrijheid ), the Italian National Alliance ( Alleanza Nationale ) and the Italian League ( Lega , previously Lega Nord ), the National Rally ( Rassemblement National , previously Front National ), the Norwegian Progress Party ( Fremskrittspartiet ), the Belgian Flemish Interest ( Vlaams Belang , previously Vlaams Blok ), the Sweden Democrats ( Sverigedemokraterna ), and the True Finns ( Perussuomalaiset )? 6 What, if anything, do far-right parties and far-right protesters have in common?
We use the concept ‘far right’ because it can cover moderate far-right parties inside parliaments, less moderate far-right protesters outside parliaments, and far-right terrorism that operates online and offline, sometimes hidden and so