TODAY, our family’s belongings are being packed as we prepare to move from Lancaster to London. Twenty years ago, I came to the UK as a Ph.D. student with a single suitcase, which contained some books, clothes, and well-wishes from my family in India. Twenty years later, I have made my home here, and married a fellow Commonwealth citizen here. We have two British daughters. That single suitcase has become two lorries.
Yesterday, I felt unsafe in England — and that my family were not safe, either. While running last minute errands in Lancaster, I came across anti-immigrant protesters with signs demanding “Stop the boats” and “Protect our kids”, and people yelling at any non-white people to “Go home.” Did they mean me? Did they mean my daughters?
Home is where we are welcomed, accepted, loved, and safe as we are. Lancaster has been my home. Indeed, the Lancashire Rose adorns my bishop’s crosier. I am preparing to make a new home in London, where I have been called to serve as the Area Bishop of Edmonton, in the diocese of London.
The disorder, hooliganism, and hateful mobs burning down community libraries and attacking hotels that house migrants, and the detestable anger being falsely directed at mosques and our Muslim brothers and sisters are far from civil. This nationwide violence and hatred threaten to overshadow the specific violence that took the lives of three young girls, and devastated their families, while the Southport community is left reeling and hurting.
The politicising of migration and migrants risks tearing our communities apart. The deep concerns fermenting in our society, shaped by manifold inequalities, need to be addressed. But scapegoating particular communities for the ills of wider society is unhelpful and unjust.
Of late, we have seen the convergence of racism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia, peddled through a proliferation of misinformation. The fact is that they all mar the beauty of our shared humanity. Across the country, people of colour share my fear. We are better than this.
THROUGHOUT his ministry, Jesus sought to restore human dignity by embracing the excluded and rejected. Jesus urged his followers to be good neighbours and friends, those who are willing to sacrifice their life for the sake of others.
At this time of discontent, hatred, and anger, the Church, as the disciples of Christ, is called to be the presence of hope and love in our communities. We have the ability to foster peace by being good neighbours. As friends, we have the power to build a home where others can feel safe and welcomed. This is the time for us to unite against hate and restore our shared humanity. Let us pray for a spirit of welcome and kindness.
As I prepare to call London home, I give thanks for those diverse churches and communities in every London borough who love their neighbours and offer words of welcome. It is my prayer that we may love our neighbours as ourselves, that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
Dr Anderson Jeremiah is the Bishop of Edmonton, in London diocese.