Church kicks out priest and the staff of his gaming website quits after he imitates Elon Musk’s Inauguration Day salute during an anti-abortion speech

Calvin Robinson is a far right political commentator and former games journalist who founded and still owns the gaming website God is a Geek. He was also a priest until Wednesday, when the Anglican Catholic Church revoked his status over behavior deemed “incompatible with a priestly vocation.” On Thursday, the entire editorial staff of God is a Geek resigned. In both cases, the final straw was an imitation of a Nazi salute.

Robinson made the gesture at the end of an anti-abortion speech on January 25, directly referencing the infamous salutes made by Elon Musk on Inauguration Day earlier this month.

Musk followed his gestures by saying “my heart goes out to you,” and some of his defenders have argued that he was miming that action rather than doing what it looks like he did: throwing out a pair of hearty Nazi-style salutes. Robinson repeated the “heart goes out to you” line as he tapped his chest and raised his right arm, receiving laughter and applause from the audience. He posted a clip of the salute to X.

According to the church, which described Robinson’s sign-off as “a gesture that many have interpreted as a pro-Nazi salute,” the priest had been previously warned about his political provocations.

“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,” reads a statement posted by the Anglican Catholic Church on Wednesday. “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. Clearly, he has not, and as such, his license in this Church has been revoked. He is no longer serving as a priest in the ACC.”

On Thursday, the entire God is a Geek editorial team announced that it had resigned. The site has been operating “independently of Calvin for several years,” according to a statement posted by the editors, who say they kept working on the website despite their objections to the politics of its “estranged owner” because they didn’t want to lose the effort they’d put into building it up.

“To be absolutely clear, we do not support, share, or condone Calvin Robinson’s politics or actions,” the editors said.

Robinson has defended himself on X, saying that he is not a Nazi, and suggesting that the church’s response was out of proportion.

“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,” said Robinson. “Context is key, but sometimes people ignore context to confirm their own prejudices.”

In its statement, the church said that mimicking a Nazi salute is “harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity” even if it is “a joke or an attempt to troll.”

Robinson was previously more involved in the day-to-day operations of God is a Geek, acting as executive editor from January 2009 to September 2016, according to his LinkedIn page. Robinson’s most recent byline on the site is a 2019 preview of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Robinson also lists “content creator on Disney’s Yogscast YouTube channel, Bros with Fros” among his former roles and says he has previously acted as a judge for the Games Media Awards, MCV Awards, and eSports Industry Awards.

In recent years, however, Robinson has dedicated his media efforts to far right politics, and is the lead spokesperson for the UK Independence Party.

The former staff of God is a Geek plans to form a new publication.

“Whatever the future holds we will be working together to bring content that is fair, inclusive, and entertaining—as we always have,” the editors wrote. “But we will be doing it under a new banner and we hope that some of you will come with us on the new journey.”