A Hindu Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak has become the first Hindu Prime Minister of the UK following a series of political twists and turns.
The former chancellor was selected by more than 180 Conservative MPs to succeed Liz Truss as Tory leader. Mr Sunak’s appointment has been described by supporters as nothing short of a miracle.
Nevertheless, there are deep concerns as to what his religion will mean for Britain and the body of Christ. That being said, a widely-circulated photo of the new prime minister making a Hindu prayer in front of a Downing Street door is not all it seems.
’My religion is Hindu’
Rishi Sunak is of Indian descent. He is the first British Prime Minister to be a practising Hindu who bows down before graven images as gods. The Bible says:
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. … 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
When Rishi Sunak became a minister in the Theresa May Cabinet, he took his oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita. At the time he said, ‘I am now a citizen of Britain. But my religion is Hindu. My religious and cultural heritage is Indian. I proudly say that I am a Hindu, and my identity is also a Hindu.’
Having a leader who worships a god aside from the Prince of Peace is a challenge and appears to normalise other gods in our constitutionally Christian nation.
Diwali:’Festival of Lights’
A video shared widely on social media in the last few weeks of the Prime Minister lighting candles outside a door on Downing Street attracted thousands of comments, all assuming it has just happened.
However, our investigations revealed that the video was taken in October 2020 while he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. We are of course concerned that such rituals will continue under his leadership. He has already held a Diwali reception in N0 10. What spirits or even spiritual altars will he leave behind?
Diwali, or Dipawali, is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolise the inner light they claim protects them from spiritual darkness. Over centuries, Diwali has become a national festival which non-Hindus partake in. For instance, in Jainism, Diwali marks the nirvana, or spiritual awakening, of lord mahavira on October 15, 527 B.C. In Sikhism, it honors the day that Guru Hargobind Ji, the Sixth Sikh Guru, was freed from imprisonment. Buddhists in India celebrate Diwali as well. The Bible says:
Joshua 23:7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them.
Britain remains a Christian Country
In AD871, King Alfred the Great established legal codes known as the Doom Book to govern England after his victory over Viking invaders. The Vikings submitted and accepted the peace treaty, which stated that their leader and thirty of their most honourable men would become Christians.
King Alfred codified three prior Saxon codes to which he prefixed the ten commandments of Moses. He incorporated rules of life from the Mosaic code and the Christian code of ethics. During his reign, Alfred was advised by a council of nobles and church leaders. This council was called the Witan.
King Edgar’s Coronation
The stage was set for the later coronation of King Edgar by Bishop Dunstan in Bath Abbey in 975AD.
King Edgar made the first Coronation Oath:
‘In the name of the Holy Trinity. I promise three things to the Christian people subject to me:
‘Firstly, that God’s church and all the Christian people of my dominions will be held in true peace
‘Secondly, I forbid robbery and all unlawful deeds by all ranks of men.
‘Thirdly, I promise and command justice and mercy in all judgments, in order that the gracious and merciful lord, who liveth and reigneth, may thereby forgive us all through his everlasting mercy.’
Coronation Oath 1953
Thus it was that 978 years later, on 2nd June 1953, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth made her own oath, responding to Archbishop Fisher, in a communion service full of Christian teaching and symbolism:
Archbishop. ‘Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgements?’ The Queen. ‘I will’.
Archbishop. ‘Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England?’ The Queen. ‘All this I promise to do.’
Only then was the Queen anointed and crowned as monarch.
United Kingdom is constitutionally Christian
Britain’s laws are based on Judeo-Christian thinking. The Church of England is the established Church, and our history, heritage, and arts are all profoundly influenced by Christianity.
Christianity and the UK are inseparable. Our Head of State and monarch of the British empire is represented as ‘Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories. King, Head of the Commonwealth, ‘Defender of the Faith.’
By way of convention and practice, the Prime Minister is sworn in to govern based on the laws and Christian doctrines that established the United Kingdom. How will these doctrines be understood, let alone upheld, by Rishi Sunak, who is Hindu?
‘A very bad Christian’
To be fair, Mr Sunak’s immediate predecessor Liz Truss was not a professing, let alone confessing Christian. The best she could do was: “I share the values of the Christian faith and the Church of England.”
As for Boris Johnson, he told The Times journalist, Tom McTague, that he counted himself “a kind of very, very bad Christian”. Christianity “makes a lot of sense” and “is a superb ethical system”, he continued. Furthermore, in his Easter message last year, Boris declared: ‘Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, not just today but every day. His teaching and the message of his death and resurrection permeates through every aspect of daily life.’
That is more than Mr Sunak would say. Nevertheless, although Mr Johnson understood the EU’s paganism, and why the UK should be free of it, his Covid policies of lockdowns and restrictions, let alone his Net Zero fanaticism, strayed far from the ways of the Lord.
Hindu beliefs
Hinduism dates back four thousand years. The name ‘Hindu’ comes from the word Indus. It is made up of different religious practices and originated near the Indus River in India. Most of the world’s Hindu worshipers live today in India where Mr Sunak’s family heritage is from.
Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic, a term invented by one Max Müller. They worship a single deity, known as Brahman, but still recognise other gods and goddesses. Mr Müller stated that henotheism means ‘monotheism in principle and polytheism in fact’.
The Institute for Human Knowledge says a Hindu can pick a personal deity of choice from 330 Hindu gods. Hindus revere all living creatures and worship animals and things like ‘luck’ and ‘wealth’ (that’s ‘Lakshmi’). Hindus make wooden or plaster images of the gods of various sizes and place them up in their temples and houses. Ganesh, the elephant, and Hanuman, the monkey, are favourites. Around Diwali time ignorant teachers trying to be ‘inclusive’ will set these up in state school classrooms. However, the pantheistic element of Hinduism also sees god in everything and everything in god.
Moreover, followers believe there are multiple paths to reaching the divine. It is complicated by the ‘Karma’ concept of constant rebirth based on conduct in this life. Hindus are on a journey towards understanding the ultimate reality of nothingness. The goal of the Hindu is to be absorbed into the godhead through Nirvana, literally, ‘snuffing out’. Evangelists say: ‘Never offer a Hindu eternal life; that is what he is trying to escape from.’
God broke into creation
Christianity teaches that God is separate from creation. He made it, sustains it, relates to it, and broke into it when he became incarnate in Jesus Christ. Hinduism with its pantheism will never have this. The God with whom Britain identifies is not made with wood or plaster. Neither does our God share his name with other gods:
Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord: that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me, there is no God.
There is but one God and only one God and Saviour:
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear oh Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
Hosea 13:4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
Furthermore, the only way to reach the Supreme Being, Almighty God, is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The United Kingdom now has a leader who does not recognise the God of Abraham. What happens to our faith as a nation? As Christians, our work just began. We must continue to defend and uphold the Christian Faith. Our prayer is that Britain remains united by the name of Jesus Christ in the love of God.
Prayer
The United Kingdom now has a leader who does not recognise the God of Abraham. What happens to our faith as a nation? For us Christians, our work just began.
Pray against every attack on Christianity and the people of God. Pray against principalities and powers in higher places. Pray that the coronation on 6th May 2023 upholds the full heritage of the UK’s Christian Faith. Pray for our leaders, especially that the Lord Jesus convicts Rishi Sunak to repent of Hinduism and find the true faith. Pray that the Holy Spirit convicts Rishi Sunak of his need for a Saviour, Jesus Christ, God incarnate. What better time for that conviction to come at that feast of the incarnation we call ‘Christmas’.
Read also: Deut 8:19; 2 Kings 17:35; Psalm 81:9; Isa 45:5,21; Jer 25:6, 29:7; 1Cor 8:6; 1 Tim 2:1-5; Gal 3:20.
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