EGN NEWS DESK
With the sturdy probability that the Labour authorities will outlaw Islamophobia, might Christians who deny that Islam is a saving religion fall foul of the legislation? Labour’s Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, additionally Communities Secretary, confirmed within the House of Commons on Monday September 2 that the federal government is actively contemplating a definition of Islamophobia.
She stated: “A brand new definition have to be given cautious consideration in order that it comprehensively displays a number of views and considers potential implications for various communities.
“And we’re actively contemplating our method to Islamophobia, together with definitions, and we’ll present additional updates on this sooner or later.”
Reporting on Rayner’s feedback in Parliament, London’s night paper, The Standard, reminded readers that in 2019 the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims devised a definition of Islamophobia as “rooted in racism and is a kind of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.
The paper reported that the Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme, Afzal Khan, had beforehand written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “urging him to host conferences with Muslim neighborhood leaders and to formally undertake a definition of anti-Muslim prejudice put ahead by the APPG”.
In the Commons on Monday, Khan stated the riots in August had prompted “concern and misery” amongst his constituents and members of the Muslim neighborhood throughout the UK.
In March, forward of the General Election, the Free Speech Union printed an essay by Christian Concern’s Head of Public Policy, Tim Dieppe, with a foreword by the atheist biologist Richard Dawkins, arguing that any try and outline Islamophobia would have “a chilling impact on free speech”.
Dieppe wrote: “People in a free society should have the ability to criticise one another’s beliefs and practices. This essentially consists of spiritual beliefs and practices. The beliefs and practices of all religions and worldviews ought to be open to public scrutiny and other people ought to be free to query, criticise, ridicule, or joke about them. But the widespread acceptance of too broad a definition of ‘Islamophobia’ dangers silencing or censoring criticism of Islam. It is subsequently a risk to free speech.”
The Church of England’s official instructing in Article 18 of its 39 Articles of Religion is that it’s a theological error to assert that an individual may be saved by the “Law or Sect” they profess. Article 18 insists that the Bible is obvious that individuals may be saved “solely by the Name of Jesus Christ”.
Might the federal government’s broad definition of Islamophobia catch out an Anglican minister who stated publicly, within the gentle of Article 18, that no-one may be saved by following Islam?
A C of E public prayer, a Collect, in its 1662 Book of Common Prayer really prays for the Christian salvation of Muslims, utilizing the 16th Century time period “Turks” to discuss with them. One of the three Collects for Good Friday states:
“O Merciful God, who hast made all males, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor wouldest the loss of life of a sinner, however quite that he ought to be transformed and reside; have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Hereticks, and take from all of them ignorance, hardness of coronary heart, and contempt of thy phrase: and so fetch them residence, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they could be saved among the many remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold below one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world with out finish. Amen.”
It could be very troublesome to discover a C of E church the place that Collect was prayed on Good Friday, but it surely stays within the authorised liturgy of the Church by legislation established in England. What would occur to a vicar who selected to hope this Collect if the federal government handed a legislation with a broad definition of Islamophobia banning any utterance that prompted offence to Muslims?
But a broad definition of Islamophobia would pose a a lot larger risk than censoring a little-used C of E Collect. It would threaten the proclamation of the biblical gospel within the UK. That is as a result of sharing the gospel, in line with the New Testament, entails calling on individuals to desert their current worldview and as an alternative to embrace the everlasting salvation from sin and loss of life that solely the Lord Jesus Christ can carry them.
As an instance of the unconventional change of non secular affiliation the gospel requires, the Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Thessalonica in 1st Century Roman Macedonia: “The Lord’s message rang out from you not solely in Macedonia and Achaia (southern Greece) – your religion in God has grow to be recognized in every single place. Therefore we don’t must say something about it, for they themselves report what sort of reception you gave us. They inform the way you turned to God from idols to serve the dwelling and true God, and to attend for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the approaching wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1v8-10 – New International Version).
How can Muslims in Britain be saved if Christians are now not free to inform them, graciously and lovingly, that Islam isn’t a saving religion?
Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based mostly in Lancashire.
