Who's afraid of the BNP?

Angry Man

Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, often claims that he’s standing up for the rights of ‘White Christian Britain’, but what does the Bible have to say about racism?

I sat down on Thursday night, as many of us did, to watch BBC One's Question Time, curious to see how Nick Griffin would fare in the BNP's first ever televised 'debate'. I did so with a great deal of interest - I'm not from an ethnic minority or mixed race background, but I am a second-generation Briton. My dad came over here from France at the age of seven (with his parents and two sisters - he'd have been too young to fill out the immigration forms if he came on his own) and my mum's birth father was born in Spain. My younger brothers and I are - in the literal sense of the terminology - of immigrant stock.

Much of what Nick Griffin had to say about race-related relocation, or 're-patriation', was, as expected, massacred by the audience. His arguments seemed largely to consist of unfounded statistics or hearsay and promptly collapsed under investigation. The viewers heard a great deal about Mr Griffin's desire for a 'White Britain', but, when the question was asked, "Do you reckon the head of the Christian sect here in Britain agrees with your views?" the question was largely side-lined. "There is no particular head of a Christian sect - er, except the Queen." was all the response we got from Mr Griffin. At once my interest was sparked. Why, if he constantly claims to represent the rights and views of Christian Britain, would Nick Griffin pass up the opportunity to defend his position? The answer - because that position is indefensible.

As a Christian I can confidently tell anyone who wants to know, that Nick Griffin's views are not in line with what the Bible teaches on equality, race and social standing. Racism is totally at odds with what Christians believe. We believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who preached about equality, not just across racial boundaries, but gender ones too (a band wagon that Mr Griffin was particularly eager to jump on).

So what does the Bible have to say about race and equality?

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." [Rom 3:22-24, NLT]

Christians believe that God gave his only son, Jesus Christ - the spotless, perfect sacrifice who never did any wrong - to his enemies, to be beaten, mocked and brutally and publicly killed. This was so that when I came to confess that I believed in his life, death and resurrection, I wouldn't be turned away, I wouldn't suffer the same treatment he had already endured that I, in fact, deserved. Instead, I am accepted and loved by the same God who carved the universe with words and am able to stand blameless and shameless before all and any accusers so that I would one day hear my God say to everyone, "This is my daughter she belongs to me."

God did this for each and every one of us, not just for me in my cosy little world with my 9 - 5 job, but also for the men locked in the medium security prison in the castle on the hill, for the guy who lives rough round the corner, and the girl who drinks too much at the pub on Saturday night and stumbles past my window singing none-too-tunefully at 3am.

"For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us." [Eph 2:14, NLT]

This equality is offered to all. And race can hardly be an issue in the kingdom of heaven when you start to look at the men and women that God used to achieve his plans here on earth. In Exodus we read about Moses the murderer - God made him the leader of the Israelite nation; Rahab, in the Book of Joshua, was a prostitute who helped the Israelite army; David, the adulterer - the same man that God stated was a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) - became King of Israel; Peter, the liar, became one of the leading lights of the early church; God even used Saul, a persecutor of the very first Christians, who had looked on smiling as one of their number - Stephen - was stoned to death (Acts 7:59 - 8:1), to lead the church as it reached westwards to the rest of the world with the message of the gospel.

No one is irredeemable in God's eyes. No one is better than me and I am no better than anyone else. We are all equal because we are all equally God's handiwork.

"There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus."[Gal 3:28, NLT]

Race-based politics is about dividing people and stirring up hatred. It is easy because we are human and we fail each other; because we dislike and fear what we do not understand; because we dislike change; because we would much rather react and vent our anger and salve our wounded pride with 'violent' action - yes, even words can be violent and destructive. It is much harder to do as the Bible advises:

"You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." [James 1:9, NLT]


The Bible encourages us to sit down and hear each other out - even to celebrate our differences. We need diversity if we are to function as a society. We need the alternative, fresh perspectives that people raised in different cultures bring with them. I'd even go so far as to say that we cannot hope, as a society, to continue without ethnic diversity. It's something the Bible is very clear on. Paul, who was a fierce Jewish nationalist until his conversion to Christianity, writes about this idea at great length in 1 Corinthians 12:

'The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.'
[1 Cor 12:12-26, NIV]

Nowhere in the Bible have I found any evidence to support Nick Griffin's assertion that his Party represents the interests of Christian Britain. Racism has no place in Christianity. There is no grey area and the Bible is perfectly clear on the matter. The more you study the Bible, the more you find that the claims of the BNP are utterly groundless. As Christians we are instructed to celebrate our diversity, and we should take full advantage of our rich heritage - a heritage that can be traced back to well over a hundred different root cultures (including us Froggies!). But most of all, we should celebrate our salvation in Christ.

  • This week's word...

  • "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another."

    [John 13:34-35, NIV]

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