Disunited kingdom: peace-making in a time of polarisation – by Tony Uddin

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Last weekend’s ‘Uniting the Kingdom’ march underscored just how divided our nation is. Amidst the accusations and counter-accusations, demos and counter-demos, most of us are left asking how on earth we got here?

I certainly have a dog in this fight. I am half-Bangladeshi and half-British, and a hundred percent English. The child of an immigrant, raised on a large South London council estate in poverty and now married to a German and pastoring an intercultural church in one of the poorest and most racially divided boroughs in the UK.  

I may have a dog in this fight – but often I am not sure who that dog is barking at and whether it needs muzzling or letting off the leash…

Angry and sad

This weekend, I found myself watching on, angry and saddened by both the ugly racism of the right and the divisive identity politics of the left.

On the Isle of Dogs, in the Eastend of London where I live, the supposed ‘anti racism’ march was led by a masked figure in paramilitary style gear barking into a megaphone about ‘scum’. It could have been Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles. The march was close to being exclusively Bengali and male, with many carrying Palestinian flags.  It left the old lady that I spoke with as it passed by, frightened and angry.

Heart of the problem

The heart of the problem is the inability to speak openly and respectfully about the real challenges that we face. 

On both sides, there is a complete moral certainty of the rightness of one’s own position, coupled with accusations of inherently bad motivations of opponents. We’ve come to see people themselves as the problems, rather than their views.

In an intercultural church like ours, we benefit enormously from a diversity of cultures and we are blessed by the asylum seekers and refugees that have greatly enhanced our community. My faith is strengthened through the perseverance and deep faith of those who have come to Christ from Muslim backgrounds in places like Iran and Bangladesh and have had to claim asylum here. Their faith is lived out at great risk to themselves and their families and I am grateful the UK has provided them with a safe place to live.

On Sunday evening I spoke with one of these people who told me that she stayed indoors all of Saturday for fear of being attacked.

Proud

I am proud of being a British person of Bengali origin. My dad came to the UK in the 1950’s. He saw himself as British, proud of his Bengali heritage but not exclusively wedded to it. Like so many of his generation, he faced significant racism but refused to be defined by it.

Today, I genuinely see a Britain with much to be proud of, a flawed but decent country and one of the best western countries to grow up in as a non-white person. We should not allow extremists to define the country that we love.

Not racist

It is important to emphasise that having concerns about the way large scale immigration has happened in practice, does not make you a racist. For many of our inner city populations, and yes, that includes those of previous waves of immigration, the large scale people movements of the past 15-20 years have been challenging.

Immigration has many benefits to it, but the costs have not been shouldered fairly. Working class communities have borne the brunt of challenges and their concerns have not been listened to. But on much of the left, even raising these concerns is greeted with accusations of racism. And on the right those concerns are co-opted and distorted to create a narrative of fear.

Balanced conversations

We need to talk about how we balance the needs of new asylum seekers and refugees with the realities, aspirations and fears of people in poorer communities, who do end up ‘competing’ with them for scarce resources such as council housing and GP access.

Similarly, we need to have meaningful conversations about integration and how we manage an influx of people from cultures that have vastly different social perspectives,and  sometimes even abhorrent views on issues such as women’s rights. Pretending that these conversations aren’t needed simply adds fuel to the fire of extremists.

Divisive tactics

These kind of conversations require careful self-reflection and the ability to listen to those whose opinions differ.

The reality is that the large crowd in Central London was made up of some out-and-out racists, but also many ordinary people with very real fears and concerns.  Likewise, many of the people turning up to counter demos are motivated by a genuine desire to show solidarity with vulnerable minorities.

But as I have seen here in Tower Hamlets, often the organisers of these kinds of demos have a track record of divisive, ethnic based community politics. Often, the opponents of Tommy Robinson use the same tactics as he does. We need to challenge both.

Rather than building the common good through community building, leaders on both sides of this thrive and grow in popularity through creating a sense of fear and discord.  

Peace-making

Churches are called to be peacemakers. This does not mean burying our heads in the sand, naïve wishful thinking, or picking a side. It means that we listen, learn and love. It means being a community of hope that doesn’t write people off, either by dismissing them as ‘woke’ on one side or ‘far-right’ on the other. 

This means we model real community that crosses divides. The Bible tells us that from the very start, the church was deeply intercultural, both in ethnicity and class. We need to do the hard work of rediscovering what that looks like today.

Christian leadership is about creating places where those with vastly different backgrounds find common ground around the same table as we share space, possessions, hopes and fears. It means humility, vulnerability and bravery: speaking up for both the scared old lady that stood next to me and the refugee afraid to leave her home.

This means standing up not just for what we are against, but what we are for.  We must challenge those who thrive on fear, anger and division with a more positive vision.

The Gospel of Jesus

Ultimately, we approach these issues with a confidence in the salvation offered by Jesus.  His gospel doesn’t call us to seek power and social influence.

Jesus broke down the dividing wall between God and all of us. He laid down his rights and calls each of us repent of our own sin, not merely pointing out the sins of others. And, he is a saviour who calls us to love our neighbour, whoever they may be.

God’s grace does not lead to pointing fingers or angry chants. It leads to each of us examining the hardness of our own hearts.

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Tony Uddin is pastor of Tower Hamlets Community Church