Many ordinary citizens in this country probably let out a sigh of relief when the news broke that the leader of Hungary, Victor Orban, had been defeated decisively in his country’s general election some days ago. I cannot claim to be a close follower of the political story of Hungary, but the little I have gathered about the right-wing, even fascist, control of that society by Orban, meant that I was able to see that things could perhaps now change for the better in the whole of Europe. All of us who passionately long for a just and peaceful outcome to the Ukrainian conflict, will pray that the European community will be able to increase their military and economic support for that beleaguered country. This is perhaps easier now that Orban, a steadfast Putin ally, is no longer around to obstruct their efforts.
One of the features of contemporary politics is the way that right-wing, even fascist, regimes often seem to claim adherence to a faux set of Christian beliefs and values. We find a colluding between members of our own home-grown ultra-right party, Reform, and Christian nationalist ideas. Christian nationalism, with its strong attachment to flags and marches has become a significant political force in this country. Most of us, who do not support a version of the Christian faith imbued with such crude nationalism, simplistic versions of history together with a fondness for ideologies of discrimination and hate, find this link deeply disturbing. But such ultra-right ideas resonate with many people, Christian or not, because somehow, they satisfy a basic human instinct to feel powerful and important. Those who join such right-wing groups see the opportunity to become part of something bigger than themselves. Listening to slogans and simplistic notions of good and evil, the right-wing acolyte is attracted to a crowd energy which is new and exciting. By becoming part of it, the follower is buoyed up to be a somebody; they are raised up above the humdrum sensation of being utterly insignificant and ordinary to become part of a new and successful elite.
The insights I may have about the attractiveness of right-wing fascist thinking were first formed by living in Greece for ten months in the Sixties, under the totalitarian rule of the Colonels’ regime. Most people have now forgotten the horrors and cruelties of this group of middle-ranking soldiers who took over the running of their country for a full seven years. The dimension that shocked and fascinated me at the same time, was the appeal to Christianity to boost the ultra-right ideology that these rulers imposed on their country. They found a pliant group within Orthodoxy and persuaded them to support them. Together, the government and this Christian group, known as Zoe, created a pseudo-religious Christian veneer to justify their political activity against the ‘communists’ who opposed them. The word communist could then be stretched to describe anybody who did not follow the regime’s ideas. The British government of the day, a Labour administration under Harold Wilson, was certainly to be characterised in this way, particularly as he was outspoken in the face of the physical torture being used on many political prisoners languishing in camps on islands.
This blog is not intended to be an account of fascist right-wing regimes, but I want to remind my readers of the way that extreme politics, as seen in Hungary, Greece and large sections of the Republican party in the States, wants to use Christianity for their own political purposes. There is a simple three-word slogan which describes both the ultra- right-wing politics and expression of the Christian faith found in these conservative settings. The slogan declares quite simply that Might is Right. This bald statement expresses an ideology, whether in a political or religious setting, that deals with certainties and an authoritative version of truth. It is the task of the leaders, political or faith-based, to enforce that ‘truth’ with whatever means are available. Backed up with the forces of might, the dominant proponents of truth seek to impose their ideology on an entire society, or the parts of it who have surrendered to the leadership of the group with the most power. When only a single version of truth in any area of knowledge, religious, political or scientific, is tolerated, we find ourselves living in a society which is marked by sterility and a failure to thrive. Conformity and passivity are rewarded, and independence of thought and questioning are severely punished. I need not go back very far in history to be able to offer examples of sterility and cruelty contained in what we can describe as fascist thinking. To assume that any individual, any party or ideology can be irrefutably correct all the time is the stuff of fantasy thinking. Those of us who do not live in this ideological fantasy world know that truth is rarely attained in a pure form. The best that can be achieved is a theory that works as long as it does until a better theory comes along and cause us to rethink our assumptions. It is claimed that science works because those at the edge of research are constantly seeking to refine their theories by trying to prove them wrong. Truth in every discipline is attained only by a constant questioning and putting current theories to the test. This is somewhat different to an image of finding truth and then retreating behind castle walls to defend it from questioners and doubters.
There are two things that unite right-wing politics and conservative theologies. One is the assumption that those in charge, and they alone, have the truth. The second thing they share is the belief that their ownership of this truth gives them the right to forcefully act in opposition against those who take a different view. The holders of ‘truth’ always have the duty to persecute the ‘heretic’, the one who does not agree or who thinks independently. Paradoxically, such a claim to own the truth in this way is found to be something attractive and appealing to many. When the Christian leader/pastor makes such claims for his or her preaching the Word, in a way that nothing can be questioned or discussed, we enter an environment which is fascist in style. We come to a question that asks whether we should ever expect our faith to have a resemblance to a totalitarian system that seeks to control and dominate in the pursuit of one version of truth. This dominant truth is one beyond discussion or any kind of questioning. All that I have written so far will indicate which side I take in such a debate. I am a passionate believer in allowing truth to be discovered and explored in an attitude of tentative humility. When someone appears who wants to articulate their truth in a somewhat different way, I would want to listen and understand what they are saying rather than assume that one of us is right and the other wrong. Dialogue and discussion may open new dimensions of truth to both sides, if all are prepared to explore truth in this way. The problem is that the fascist mentality does not allow this kind of approach. It demands acquiescence in the diktat of the leader and so there is never room for exploring an approach to truth which wants to explore a quite different approach.
Authoritative answers, whether in religion or politics, are comforting in their claims. At one sweep we are relieved of the pain of uncertainty and allowed to enjoy the reassurance of being ‘right’ because our side in the argument has the ‘might’. There are churches who possess much in the way of institutional power and wealth and, because of this, they want to dominate and control other churches. Such misuse of power among Christians may resonate with many people. They believe it is somehow ‘biblical’ and it is preserving truth. The reality, as we have tried to suggest in this blog is that the path to real truth is being shut down. Truth is something towards which we travel while never fully possessing it in our human lifetime. Our journeying and our hope that the destination we have glimpsed is the right one is what keeps us on the Christian path and in a state of permanent expectancy. In the words of St Augustine, You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
You sometimes come across Christians who were into far-left or far-right extremism when younger. The striking thing often is how-“normal”-they are. I have met lots of them , and find them fascinating. They typically express deep regret for their earlier life mistakes, or things which resulted in charges or imprisonment.
Those involved in acts of crime or violence inevitably tried to escape the police and law. In a very clear sense, even in their time of extreme militancy, they recognised how their activities crossed normal civic boundaries or accepted moral values.
Words are “precious cups of meaning” according to Augustine. The glib use of “far-right” or “far-left” is often unhelpful. The Gulag and Holocaust have no equivalents in modern Western Europe: nothing that comes even remotely close.
I chanced upon a copy of a 211 page paperback called-‘UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUAL ABUSE-What It Is and How to Respond’-by Karen Roudkovski. Chapter Three [WEAVING A WEB] is broken into ten sections. The opening two are-‘The Good Beginning’-and- ‘Grooming’.
Drawing people into the clan, and brand, is where Church bullies and abusers can be at their most dangerous. That’s where similarities to the Far-Right and Far-Left possibly exist most strongly. Church abusers, and allies, are often so adept at covering up BAH (bullying-abuse-harassment) that ‘the web’ is hard to escape, and not getting caught in it is of paramount importance.
If able to talk to my younger self, I would emphasise the danger of listening to leaders who attack other parts of the Church or denomination. Anglicanism has a lot of this just now.
I remember the absolute certainty in himself that my old church leader had. Or, apparent certainty. Everything sewn up and neatly answered. We certainly believed that being a Christian meant that you could answer absolutely any question anyone had about anything.
That was all very well in the tiny, hermetically sealed environment we lived in, with a self-reinforcing feedback loop that meant we all thought everyone else was wrong. But when someone with a questioning frame of mind, who differed in their viewpoints and didn’t just roll over so easily, it could all seem spectacularly flimsy. The pastor could get quite angry – you could see the fear, almost – when someone questioned our ideology and didn’t just accept his simplistic answers.
Excuse the second post -but I remember going to Christian men’s conference about 10 or years ago, in the evangelical/charismatic type of church. It was run by a nationwide men’s ministry and I had an appalling time. Left very dispirited and depressed about myself.
I look back now and wonder about the overlap between the values of fascism and those expressed in that conference:
Talking about ‘strong leadership?’ check
Very rigid and traditional gender roles? Check
Expressions of manliness in sporting prowess? check
A tendency towards militarism/fetishisation of the military/police? check
Manliness expressed as physical action, if not violence? check
I apologise if this seems facetious, but I honestly believe that many of those traits were there. As was much talk about “God not being nice – he was good”. And Jesus cursing the fig tree because he could, because he was a man.
It doesn’t seem facetious at all. I’m sure your view was correct. I’m sorry you had an appalling time – but thank God you weren’t taken in by it.
Thank you, Janet. It’s strange because it was a one-off event, a long time ago, but it has really preyed on my mind.
If it’s still bothering you, it might be worth talking it over with a therapist or spiritual director, if you have one. Or a sensible pastor or vicar, or older Christian, if you know any.
There’s an awful lot of it around at present, especially on social media. I left Twitter because my feed was full of right-wing macho Christians saying men should always lead, women (not only wives) should always submit, women shouldn’t work outside the home or be entitled to vote, and so on. It’s pernicious rubbish, unbiblical, and not good for either sex.
I know what you mean about the trolling, although mine is directed by an entirely different demographic, namely female with a limited clothing budget. This is presumably because I’m biologically male and have a pulse (although I’m not convinced this second criterion is essential). Each can however afford a website, presumably deducing from the photographs, selling Botox. However since I already own a double chin, and am looking to reduce facial mass, I certainly can’t afford risking a third, I daren’t click on anything. This is my default twitter strategy.
Its owner, subsumed it into his space station service ‘X’, so we can no longer witness (financially at least) what a horlicks he’s made of it.
And we should all want to go to Mars apparently, although if I’m looking for somewhere bleak, I generally stick to Hadrian’s Wall. At least there’s plenty of O2 there and, at the Temple of Mithras, a mobile coffee wagon. As far as Mars goes, I remain to be convinced of the attraction.
Well, you not using Twitter doesn’t prove them wrong. Just shows that women can be bossed around willy nilly.
But here’s the thing. It’s a psyop. Lots and lots of money and coordination is being put to control Christian belief by the permanent American-centric regime, has been for generations now.
That it is not good for either sex is exactly the purpose. Anti-natalist, these men are seeking to groom other men into never having relationships, families and children and also tie up to the middle-eastern thing, most remaining Am support for the current regime of Israel is Christians that has been purposefully mislead by evil, corrupt liars.
As a mature adult it can still be very easy to get entrapped by cultist churches and church groups. Almost anyone can be vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. New Wine and Anglican Church staff tried to coerce me into getting married as a condition of receiving post-training placements.
I was around 50 at the time and might have been tempted to capitulate. But my partner was outraged by the bullying. She was adamant that nobody would force us into marriage. As a Cambridge educated professor she felt disgusted by such dreadful student bullying. She thought it was pointless to engage with Church or New Wine bullies, and that there was every likelihood of them forcing us to get married, but then reneging on promises of church placements being made available.
Alarm bells ring for me when questions get laughed at and ignored, or when ex-mafia type connections count for everything, and vocational life experience or high quality degrees are sneered at. It is good to celebrate your recognition of BS and subsequent steering clear of it!!! Younger people can suffer terrible damage at the hands of cultists.
The Mike Pilavachi and John Smyth QC tragedies have been eye openers!
Watch out for the Rev Kesh Govan story which is emerging.
The Rev Kesh Govan took his own life last year. There’s already been an investigation in Australia. What more can be added?
Why an investigation in Australia, if the alleged offences were in the UK? Does the UK and Irish Anglican response look very weak? The punchline in a Daily telegraph (Sydney paper of that name) article runs: “…groomed and sexually abused multiple female children within one youth group while living in the United Kingdom…” This looks like the all too familiar -‘Anglican NDA and/or secrecy’-in wake of abuse. Why decline to say if the abuse was in Lancashire or Lichfield? Did the abuser flee to Ireland first, or was the abuse in Lichfield after his time serving outside Dublin in Blessington? A wider press-public and church discussion, in a frank and honest fashion, might identify if there are even more victims. The spectre of John Smyth QC should make us all stop and think about Anglican vicars or workers switching region. The Rev William James Stewart case has been discussed here. It also reminds us of how a transfer can be fixed up, or stitched up, even after abuse is proven. No location, no victim age group, zero qualifying context, no reference to the discovery or any previous attempts by victims to highlight the abuse. This possibly does not reflect well on the Anglican Church. Also, would the CoE have fixed any independent inquiry here, or might it have been yet another in-house DIY assessment of abuse?
There is a statement on the Manchester Diocese website, with a link where any who were abused by Govan can report an allegation or get in touch. The allegations which are already known concern his time in Manchester. So there may possibly be more to add to the Australian investigation.
Mr Govan may be dead, but some at least of his victims aren’t.
The Australian Church might appear to have got to grips with this one, and to have fixed an independent inquiry.
But the vague utterances from Irish and English Dioceses are surely excessively circumspect.
There is a clear inference of multiple female victims at a UK youth group.
But does it clearly say anywhere if it was in Manchester or Lichfield Diocese?
A work record of Kesh Govan’s parishes appears in his Church Times notice of death from 28th of November 2025.
Was there intent to keep the site of the abuse hidden from public view, and is this an act of folly?
Could there be victims who do not know yet of the abuse exposure, and who have not come forward?
Hands across the oceans / Church Universal-Oecumene at its finest / Christian Transnationalism.
Why couldn’t they just let Chicago be Chicago?
‘The Anglican Church of Australia Directory’ has what looks like a comprehensive CV on Rev Kesh Govan. It might be helpful if Archbishop Mullally and Co could point us to the place and approximate dates of offences in the UK. So much for more transparency-that’s what comes to mind with me………
It’s just worth noting here that according to the Church Times report of 24 Feb 2024 one of the key figures behind GB News is a private donor to the Church of England training Colleges of St Mellitus. Two former Directors of St Mellitus College in the North West are now bishops.
“But man, proud man,
Dress’d in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d—
His glassy essence—like an angry ape
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens,
Would all themselves laugh mortal.”
Perhaps a much older problem than Far-Right or Far-Left extremism underlies a lot of Anglican Bah (bullying-abuse-harassment). ‘Bah humbug’ seems to define so much of Anglicanism.
Age segregation by:
– funnelling us into “Christian Unions” which they had taken over beforehand,
– throwing children out of church services generally,
– and teaching pastors to ignore older generations, or anyone who believes that Scriptures carry meanings, or anyone whose experience is wide;
makes it easier to drive wedges not only between boys and girls, but also between the power-wielding churches and those composed of old fashioned humble nonconformists or middle of the roaders.
Presenting themselves as a “resource” and as if they were a varied “coalition”, they are now infiltrating what used to be genuine Independents by vaunting their “successes”. Even some ordinary High Church or “Inclusive” give me an impression (to my observation) that they feel constrained to mirror some similar mannerisms or tactics. “Included” in what, and how?
All ye historians come to my rescue: is it fair to say that F D Maurice who was not partisan, treasured daily matins and evensong (more than “eucharist”) in every place, while since “Chicago-Lambeth” there has been a gradual abandoning of that lifeline of belief? A competent and pious person could be trained (preferably not at one of the chic colleges) – whether a vicar is on hand or not. p.s I always thought people wore a coat to church in winter?
Numbers games smack of post-French revolutionary sociobiology as per Durkheim and Claude Bernard and technomancy. In the evolutionary theology, we became pigeon-holable specimens.
“At this time reigned a priest called William of Wykeham. This William of Wykeham was so much in favour with the King of England, that everything was done by him, and nothing was done without him.” [A chronicler comments on a 14th Century Bishop of Winchester].
There is possibly nothing ‘Far-Right’ (or new) about bullying cover ups within the Church of England. The Rev Kesh Govan case maybe illustrates this. Sarah Mullally cannot make a plain statement telling Anglicans if the abuse of multiple youth group members happened in Manchester Diocese or Lichfield Diocese.
‘Keep them in the dark and feed them manure’-the mushroom farmer strategy-looks likely to continue under Archbishop Mullally. The late Rev Govan also spent some time in Blessington parish. But does the mushroom strategy extend to Irish Anglicanism? But a very bland statement is all we now see from Dublin and Glendalough Diocese.
There are many paths towards the destination that is glimpsed ahead but hope leads us on and knowledge. Unfortunately churches teach according to the leader ignoring the fact that we are learning on different levels and travelling on different paths.
Jesus taught by telling parables and when I listened to them as a child they helped me on a different level as they do now. The truth may be hidden at one stage of our life until at the right moment it will then be revealed. In my experience in churches we are stuck at the bottom level and we never reach the important truths.
I comfort myself with the words of John Robinson to the Pilgrim Fathers as they set sail to America: “The Lord hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his word”
For me it shows that the revelation of God in Jesus is not tatic, not bound to one particular theology or ecclesiology. It is greater than all of us ‘frail earthen vessels’.