The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has condemned using the term ‘snowflake’ to refer to “younger generations” who are concerned about “the safety and protection of minorities”.
In a speech to the House of Lords during a debate about the challenges to freedom of speech, Archbishop Welby said that younger generations are more willing to call “for restrictions on speech” to protect minority groups.
Welby referred to criticism of younger generations’ values as “much nonsense” and claimed that that “freedom of speech sometimes means freedom for the powerful to bully and abuse”.
The Archbishop described the BBC, the state-backed British broadcaster funded by a compulsory licence fee, as an example of “true freedom of speech” but did admit at times “it gets things wrong”.
Archbishop Welby also mentioned he wasn’t offended when Spectator columnist Rod Liddle wrote that he hoped the Archbishop would be “mugged at knifepoint by a gang of refugees” — a dark joke referencing the Archbishop’s pro-open borders stance.
Welby additionally used his speech to make a subtle dig at former President Donald Trump.
When discussing false information in the digital sphere Welby said, “to put it another way, sunlight is no more always the best disinfectant —no more than disinfectant is ever medicine for treating Covid”, a reference to a sarcastic comment Trump made that some people took literally.
Archbishop Welby is known for taking a more “woke” approach with Anglican doctrine and the running of the Church of England.
It was reported in September this year that under Welby’s leadership a display that likened Black Lives Matter toppling statues in Britain to the struggle for the Magna Carta was placed next to the actual Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral.
Salisbury Cathedral displays one of only four original Magna Carta manuscripts which date back to the early 1200s.
The Magna Carta is an integral part of British history and is the foundation for many British laws.
The Magna Carta also had a large influence in the formulation of the United States’ Declaration of Independence and Constitution, as well as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At the peak of the Black Lives Matter protests a painting featuring a black Jesus at the Last Supper also replaced a Nativity Scene with the Virgin Mary at Church of England cathedral St Albans.
In a lecture at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London in 2018, Archbishop Welby described God as neither being “male or female”. This was perceived to be in support of transgender individuals and led to left-leaning publications declaring God was “gender neutral” — despite Jesus Christ having been male and instructing followers to offer prayers to a Father in Heaven, not a Mother or a genderless entity.
At COP26 Welby also equated not responding to reports on climate change the equivalent of ignoring the Nazis. After public condemnation Welby apologised and retracted this remark.
In terms of action rather than simply woke rhetoric, it emerged in 2017 that the Church of England had been baptising hundreds of asylum seekers — with some alleging that they did so to help them win the right to stay in the United Kingdom rather than for religious purposes.
If an asylum seeker from an Islamic country converts to Christianity it is less likely that they will be deported if there are high levels of Christian persecution in their home country, or if apostasy — leaving the Islamic faith — is criminalised.
One church alone baptised 200 Iranian asylum seekers.
It is believed that Liverpool taxi bomber Emad Al Swealmeen was one of these alleged Christian converts and that he reverted back to Islam — if he ever truly left it — before he attempted to bomb a women’s hospital on Remembrance Sunday this year.
This Church of England practice led to condemnation from Britain’s Home Secretary, Priti Patel, who said it was another example of Britain’s “broken” asylum system being “exploited”.
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