ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with exploring the underlying roots of Brexit. The key point that should be borne in mind is that the book is not about the merits of remaining in or leaving the European Union. The primary focus of the book and in particular this chapter is to explore the religious and theological origins of Brexit, illustrating how the tropes of empire and colonialism and Britain’s imperial past have given rise to an unresolved set of ideas and constructs that have remained dormant in the body politic of the nation. An important dimension of this work is a trenchant critique of Whiteness and White privilege. This chapter explores the means by which notions of manifest destiny and the theologies of the election of empire have given Britain, especially amongst the English, a sense of grandeur and importance that has outlived the empire. In short, Britain is possessed of a narrative that sees itself as different from and better than others, so the privations of being locked into a common entity called the European Union as an undifferentiated, non-special member remains a corrosive aspect of British identity.
