I believe it is the Christian presence that is the source of the peace and unity we are seeing outside Parliament.
When the protests very first started, they were led by the controversial figures Kyle Chapman, Adam Nuttall and Carl Bromley (known as the Christchurch crew or the originals). The commonalities between the three of them are quite extraordinary. All three had been marginalised for their political beliefs but also because of their faith. The same could be said for Billy TK who professes to be a Christian. This is in contrast to his media publicist Vinny Eastwood who appears to be more of an anarchist. During the protests of 2020 there were some Christians who also got involved. I remember seeing a Christian I knew talking to the followers of Billy TK about Christ as the true freedom. Also present were members of the ONE party, a Christian based party.
Fast forward to a year later when the Tamakis took up the challenge against the mandates. The Christian presence has grown. At the two big marches in October and November, a number of street preachers were present to preach the gospel both at Civic Square and at Parliament. From all denominations. The best moment was when a group of traditional Catholic monks appeared at the second big protest to show their support.
This presence has grown at the convoy and subsequent occupation of Parliament grounds. Churches have been helping to get food and other supplies for the occupiers. Christians have been holding church services at parliament. A street preacher has been spreading the gospel when he has the chance. One woman I spoke to said the convoy had been running on prayer. This is also the same for convoys around the world. Even in the original one in Canada, Christian messaging has been spotted on some of the vehicles.
This should not be a surprise. Christians have always been at protests. There were Christians who protested the 1981 Springbok Tour. Christians were also present at the Black Lives Matter and the Climate Change protests.
The reason that Christians make a stand could be based on the second greatest commandment: to ‘love thy neighbour’. However, the full verse actually says ‘love your neighbour as you love yourself’ which essentially means everything you want for yourself you must assume that your neighbour wants and so must provide. Of course, this has inspired charity, as shown by the number of donations made to the convoy. But it also commands Christians make a stand when their neighbours (read anyone) are deprived of their rights and freedoms.
For some time now scholars have been tracking what they are calling ‘desecularisation’, which predicts the rise of religion and the decline of secularism. Two explanations have been given. One put forward by Eric Kaufmann in his book Shall The Religious Inherit The Earth? suggests that this could be due to the higher birth rates among the religious compared to the secular urban liberals. This is coupled with young people from those families holding on to the traditional values they were raised with despite indoctrination by the universities.
The second, which is put forward by Stephen C Meyer in his book The Return of the God Hypothesis, suggests that people are unsatisfied by the currently popular ideas that explain the source of truth, morality and the universe. This dissatisfaction has further grown with the rise of postmodernism, which believes everything to be a perspective. Originally this philosophy was created to question objective truth and morality. However, I believe this has led to questioning of the very secular ideas taught by academia. What was created to question religion and moral objectivism has instead turned on the secular philosophers themselves. It also has possibly contributed to the declining trust in governments and media, as what they are saying is ‘simply their perspective’.
During the Hong Kong protests of 2019 one of the most beautiful moments was when thousands of protesters linked arms around the city and sang a hymn. It was the Christian presence there that kept the protests peaceful and I believe it is the Christian presence that is the source of the peace and unity we are seeing outside Parliament.