A former Brighton councillor has urged her fellow Christians to keep the faith – just not in the European Union – in a letter about local disappointment at Britain “coming out”.
The remarks were made by Christina Summers, a former member of Brighton and Hove City Council and Leave supporter, in a letter to the Christian newspaper Heart of Sussex.
Headlined “The People’s Republic of Brighton and Hove”, the former Hollingdean and Stanmer ward councillor wrote about Christians seeming to share the wider local dismay at the vote to leave the EU.
Almost 70 per cent of voters backed Remain in Brighton and Hove compared with 48 per cent nationally, prompting the People’s Republic to suggest that Brighton and Hove should leave the United Kingdom and remain in the EU.
And her remarks about coming out carry echoes of the row about gay marriage that led to her expulsion from the Green Party and sitting on the council as an independent.
She wrote: “It’s official: the city of Brighton and Hove is suffering from cynical depression.
“Under normal circumstances ‘coming out’ is heartily welcomed here – indeed encouraged – but not quite in the way the EU referendum result defines it.
“When the BBC’s David Dimbleby uttered those historic words at 4.40am on (Friday) 24 June – ‘the British people have spoken and the answer is, we’re out’ – Brighton slipped into a catatonic state and remained there for a whole day.
“Political leaders led the mourning with near-apocalyptic language: ‘devastating shock’, ‘deeply alarming’, ‘economic turmoil’.
“Naturalised foreign citizens suddenly expressed acute feelings of rejection. Reactionary activists added their signatures to the infamous petition demanding the government hold a second referendum and the confused republican separatists started a new one called ‘Brighton and Hove Independence Referendum – Leave UK, Stay in EU’, complete with draft passport, directed to Green MP, Caroline Lucas, who has the dubious honour of … doing something with it.
“Normal life in Brighton resumed.
“For me as an ex-city councillor turned government and politics commentator, the only aspect of this extraordinary world event (over which God continues to sit sovereignly on his throne) that brought dismay was the Christian input and reaction.
“As I saw the commentary on social media and debated with established Christians and those in positions of influence or leadership in the city, I could have wept.
“There came a point when I could no longer distinguish between the believer and the non-believer, not just in terms of argument and reasoning (most of which was patently rooted not in faith but in fear) but also, sadly, in spirit. It became like throwing pearls to pigs (Matthew 7:6).
“‘This catastrophic result must be God’s judgment on the UK,’ was the Christian Remainers’ conviction.
“The church in Brighton knows well how to interpret the ‘appearance of the earth and the sky’, but it cannot (yet) interpret ‘this present time’ (Luke 12:56).
This is not a sudden catastrophe. It is the result of years of high-handedness from remote unelected commissioners blithely pursuing a “common purpose” goal and failing to take the people with them. Pride goes before a fall.
I am sorry, but I am very angry on this article. Yup I am the Blaire blablabla.. I can deal with this. I cannot deal with abusing Christian Faith.Oh dear. I definetely keep my Orthodox Christian Faith, but what does Faith have to do with Brexit? I think her statement is rooted very much in evangelical movement excluding people with a different faith. As Orthodox Christian I pray that all citizens of our city pray for eachother and peace so that the current period of radicalisation in politics and faith is soon over and people return to common sense and respect for eachother.