To the Beeb, which these days is better at making news headlines than creating them. On Radio 4’s Thought of the Day this morning was Dr Krish Kandiah, who centred his sermon around fear. While he started gently, talking about feeling afraid of leaving his newborn children alone or taking them to school for the first time, his speech took a rather odd turn…
Pivoting to more current affairs, he turned to a growing fear many in the UK are beginning to feel more intensely: that of immigration. But, worry not, those who can identify: by Kandiah’s reading, this is irrational. Taking aim at shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, he remarked:
A front page story in the Mail on Sunday quoted shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick, talking about his fears for his young daughters. He said: I certainly don’t want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally and about whom we know next to nothing. These words echo a fear. Many have absorbed fear of the stranger. The technical name for this is xenophobia.
All phobias are by definition irrational. Nevertheless, they have a huge impact. It is understandable that many people are scared by the unknown, especially if they’ve been told illegality and unfairness are part of the story.
And Kandiah didn’t stop there:
Over the past year, xenophobia has fueled angry protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, deepening divisions in our communities.
After rigorous Home Office assessment, the majority of people arriving in small boats are found to be genuinely fleeing war, persecution and famine. Circumstances we would never wish on our own families. The idea that they pose a greater risk to our children than those already within our communities isn’t supported by evidence. Most crimes against children are committed not by strangers, but by people they know, often from within their own families or neighborhoods.
Fear, when it makes us cautious can keep us safe. But when it makes us unnecessarily suspicious, it can be dangerous.
He omitted to mention that some of these protests have been sparked by concerns about sexual offences committed by migrants coming from other countries. How curious…
Mr S was interested to find out that Dr Kandiah is the founder the Sanctuary Foundation which is, as he writes on his website, ‘a charity supporting refugees to find welcome, work and worthwhile housing in the UK’ and is considered an ‘expert in refugee resettlement’. Not that this would make him unduly sympathetic to a particular side, eh?
The Tories have hit back, with a spokesperson fuming:
Thought for the Day has long descended into a bunch of nobodies wittering on about their mad hat socialist ideas. If the BBC are not prepared to broadcast serious religious voices, they should at least ensure the second-rate ones they do find are balanced.
For its part, the Beeb have said:
Today’s episode of Thought for the Day contained reflections from a faith perspective on fear in society but has been edited to remove some of the language used and we apologise for its inclusion.
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