Whiggish or Woke?

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit, after the traditions of men, the rudiments of this world, and not Christ.” (Col. 2:8 KJV)

Tory nonsense aside, the ecclesiastical roost in the UK MoD is beginning to stink to high heaven, as this recent misstep by the Royal Army Chaplains Department seems to indicate – “Any religious symbol will henceforth be removed from the cap-badge of all members of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department. And, so as to make our department more diverse and multicultural, any Maltese Cross or Star of David, found at the badge’s center, will be shorn.” (msn.com, 3/10/25)

While multiculturalism and proliferation of religious expression across Britain is understandable due in large part to globalism and the unintended consequences of mass-migration, there are attendant factors such as cultural drift and neoliberalism. Even so, religious accommodation within the UK Forces, while appropriate in most cases, should neither come at the expense of Britain’s Christian heritage, nor that of that of its Christian and Jewish chaplains who are themselves representative of that heritage. If the MoD wishes to bring greater attention to itself, it could do better than this current initiative, which singles out the religious symbolism found on the cap badges of the Jewish and Christian clergy. Unfortunately, the intention is not only transparent, but incongruent with established norms of religious expression in the Western World. Worse, it is indefensible on the face of it, as in trying to make religion a one-size-fits-all proposition it has openly demonstrated what we already know to be true. – They are selling us out!

Badging aside, a similar case could also be made for The Church of England, which remains not only the national church, but representative of this country’s earliest faith traditions. Accordingly, it might then do well to acknowledge the fact in thought, word and deed. In doing so, it would not only serve to reaffirm our common faith and historical heritage, but The Church of England itself, as the standard bearer of our conservative Christian tradition throughout the Commonwealth. Sadly, the current effort within the MoD is not only vacuous in it’s attendant implications, but indicative of the Church’s inherent waywardness.