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Rowan Williams accused the Reform UK leader of seeking a 'presentational strategy that allows him to be taken seriously outside England'
The former Archbishop of Cantebury has been slammed by a Christian activist for his "divisive" attack on Nigel Farage.
Speaking to GB News, Fleur Elizabeth Meston declared Rowan Williams's claim that the Reform UK leader is "using Christianity to channel anti-Muslim feeling" is "entirely false".
In a new interview Mr Williams claimed there is an "inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction".
He told the New Humanist magazine: "I suspect really that (Nigel) Farage and others want to channel anti-Muslim feeling, and it helps to have 'we're a Christian society' to fling back. It gives a sort of ballast.
"Ironically, for someone like Nigel Farage, it’s about trying to find a presentational strategy that allows him to be taken seriously outside England. He’s often not here, after all."
Reacting to the remarks, Ms Meston told GB News that the former Archbishop's attack is "probably more to do with his own left wing views than anything based on reality".
She said: "I think it is entirely false, and the fact that Farage has entrusted Zia Yusuf, a Muslim, in a prominent position within the Reform party just immediately puts to that any claims of Reform or Farage having a anti-Muslim agenda.
"I think it's mischief making, it's divisive and he just needs to stop repeating these claims, it's wrong."
The Christian activist argued that Mr Williams has "always been a friend to the religion of Islam".
She said: "He obviously has historically been amore liberal Archbishop of Canterbury, and has definitely had close ties with the Muslim community.
"He came under a lot of scrutiny with his comments saying that Sharia Law was something that we couldn't resist and shouldn't resist in the UK within Muslim communities."
Ms Meston continued: :And he's always sort of been a friend to the religion of Islam, but if I were him, I would probably be approaching making statements these days with a bit of humility after how his tenure as the Archbishop ended.
"If he follows the Bible, then it would say to take the plank out of your own eye rather than the stacking someone else's, and I think that's probably what he needs to start doing before criticising Farage for standing up for a Christian nation that Rowan Williams did formally represent."
Ms Meston suggested that Mr Williams should have "approached Nigel Farage as a prominent Christian figure" rather than criticise his character.
She told GB News: "If Rowan Williams doesn't like the character, I know he mentioned Tommy Robinson as well as Farage because of their different beliefs, I wonder, has he ever tried to reach out to them as a prominent Christian in the UK and showed them the Gospel?
"I just think that the judgement is not his to give. I think it is unwise to be making public statements that you don't believe that someone else is really a Christian.
"I mean, who are any of us to say what someone else believes truly in their hearts? I think that's where he's going wrong."
In February, Reform UK pledged to restore Britain's Christian heritage if the party won the next General Election.
The party's home affairs spokesman, Mr Yusuf, vowed to end the practice of converting churches into mosques after being urged to do so by "anxious" Britons, he told The Times.
He also said large numbers of migrants flooding into Britain from "low-trust societies" had led to an erosion of Christian values across the country.
