Priest Calvin Robinson defrocked for imitating Musk salute at pro-life summit – National

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Priest Calvin Robinson defrocked for imitating Musk salute at pro-life summit – National

A priest has been fired from his church for imitating Elon Musk’s straight-arm, Nazi-like gesture during his speech at U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Calvin Robinson, who was leading an Anglican Catholic Church parish in Michigan, spoke at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, D.C. last weekend and repeated the gesture while speaking to the crowd.

“This is the last stand for Christendom. It’s make-or-break time. The whole of the old world is crumbling,” Robinson said

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“Every country in Europe is embracing death,” Robinson continued. “America, as far as I can see, is the only country fighting for life. And that’s down to you guys. So God bless all of you for doing what you’re doing. Please keep doing it.”

“I hope that I can encourage you, and my heart goes out to you,” he added before mimicking Musk’s arm gesture and smiling at the crowd, who erupted in applause and laughter.

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1:03
Elon Musk defends one-armed gesture at Trump inauguration

Robinson shared the

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on X, writing, “Today I received hundreds of ****** calls, texts, voicemails and emails today from very bitter, angry, vile leftists. They are often the very thing they accuse you of. I am not a Nazi. But I forgive you of your ignorance! My heart goes out to you!”

In another post, Robinson he was pleased to have contributed to “the most important of causes” by speaking at the pro-life event.

“The joke at the end was a mockery of the hysterical ‘liberals’ who called Elon Musk a Nazi for quite clearly showing the audience his heart was with them. Context is key, but sometimes people ignore context to confirm their own prejudices. People see what they want to see,” Robinson continued.

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“My attempt at dry wit, in that typical British way, was not a joke at the expense of WWII, nor an admission of my membership in the Nationalist Socialist Party. That would be an incredibly ignorant and bad faith assumption to make.”

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Robinson also said that he will “take the consequences as they come,” adding, “You can consider my joke crass. But I ask you to consider if your responses have been proportionate?”

The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) posted a statement on their

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in response to Robinson’s actions, letting the public know that the members of the College of Bishops of the ACC were made aware “of a post made on X showing the end of a speech made by Calvin Robinson at the National Pro-Life Summit.”

“In it, he closed his comments with a gesture that many have interpreted as a pro-Nazi salute. While we cannot say what was in Mr. Robinson’s heart when he did this, his action appears to have been an attempt to curry favor with certain elements of the American political right by provoking its opposition,” the statement continued.

“Mr. Robinson had been warned that online trolling and other such actions (whether in service of the left or right) are incompatible with a priestly vocation and was told to desist.”

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5:16
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The church said that Robinson’s licence in their church has been revoked and he is no longer serving as a priest in the ACC.

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“Furthermore, we understand that this is not just an administrative matter. The Holocaust was an episode of unspeakable horror, enacted by a regime of evil men. We condemn Nazi ideology and anti-Semitism in all its forms,” the church’s statement read. “And we believe that those who mimic the Nazi salute, even as a joke or an attempt to troll their opponents, trivialize the horror of the Holocaust and diminish the sacrifice of those who fought against its perpetrators. Such actions are harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity.”

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After the church shared their statement, Robinson posted

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on X, writing, “Yes, it does seem my license has been revoked. I cannot go into any detail yet because I have none. I am obedient to my bishops, and I have not heard from the Archbishop yet — so I do not know the situation or what I am able to share. I learned this the same way you did, via social media.”

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Robinson said that once his archbishop agrees to take his calls, he will be able to share more information.

“Until then, we are all in roughly the same boat. Thank you for your support. Please keep St. Paul’s parishioners in your prayers,” he

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.

The controversy with Robinson follows Musk’s speech on Jan. 20 at Trump’s inauguration.

“I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk said to the crowd at Capital One Arena, referring to Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election. Then he slapped his hand on his chest and extended his arm straight out and up with his palm facing down.

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“My heart goes out to you,” Musk said, after turning around to make a similar gesture facing the other way.

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2:44
Elon Musk calls for Germans to ‘move beyond’ Nazi guilt at far-right rally

Musk responded to the accusations that his gesture looked like a Nazi salute on X several hours after he left the stage.

“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” Musk 

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.

The tech billionaire also posted a series of Nazi-related puns on X last Thursday to his more than 210 million followers.

Musk referred to Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and leading members of the Nazi Party, Rudolf Hess, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler.

“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down!” Musk 

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 on X, the social media platform he owns.

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“Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! Bet you did nazi that coming,” Musk added.

Musk has not commented on Robinson’s hand gesture as of this writing.

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