Gamer priest defrocked and the staff of his God is a Geek website quits after he imitates Elon Musk's salute

Calvin Robinson addresses right wing protesters in 2023.
(Image credit: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

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 of the Anglican Catholic Church until Wednesday, when the Church revoked his status over behavior it 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. He says now that it was a joke and that he is "not a Nazi."

Musk followed his gestures with the words "my heart goes out to you," and defenders have argued that the Tesla and X owner was miming that action rather than 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 Clearly, he has not, and as such, his license in this Church has been revoked.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, 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 even if it is done as "a joke or an attempt to troll," mimicking a Nazi salute is "harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity."

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. His most recent article 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."

Tyler Wilde
Editor-in-Chief, US

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.

Read more
A phone showing the premium subscription menu in the Twitter/X mobile app. The screen reads, "Premium subscribers with a verified phone number will get a blue tick once approved." The X logo is visible behind.
The biggest PC gaming subreddit has blacklisted X for being 'hateful' and 'toxic', citing Elon Musk's 'distasteful' behavior
Reddit logo on mobile phone
Reddit users are officially as sick of Elon Musk as I am, with a number of popular subreddits completely banning all links to X
Spartan armour in Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 director decides to kick off 2025 by wading into a conversation about DEI: 'Make good games, don't make a contemporary political statement'
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: Elon Musk listens as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. As is tradition with incoming presidents, Trump is traveling to Washington, DC to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House as well as meet with Republican congressmen on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Elon Musk and Asmongold are beefing over who the best gamer really is, and no matter who wins, we lose
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 13: Elon Musk attends the 2024 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on April 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Elon Musk admits account-boosting on PoE2 and Diablo 4 but says deal with it: 'What would I be apologizing for?'
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: Elon Musk listens as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. As is tradition with incoming presidents, Trump is traveling to Washington, DC to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House as well as meet with Republican congressmen on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
'Elon is a father who gets lots of sex' somehow leads to renewed claims that Elon Musk superfan Adrian Dittmann is actually Musk himself
Latest in Gaming Industry
Gabe Newell looks into the camera, behind him is a prop of a turret from Team Fortress 2.
Gabe Newell's cult of personality is intense, but a Valve exec who worked with him says his superpower is how he 'delighted in people on the team just being really good at what they did'
The Spy from Team Fortress 2 holds up a folder with an accusatory expression.
One of Valve's original executives shares a very simple secret to its success: 'You can't use up your credibility' by trying to make bad games work
Gabe Newell in a Valve promotional video, on a yacht.
Gabe Newell had his eyes on a social network in the '90s that 'was not in a games context at all'—meaning Valve-owned social media could've been a very real thing
Shadow of Mordor's beloved nemesis system exists because the publisher threw a tantrum about second-hand sales
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 22: A view of Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California, United States on August 22, 2024.
'Google must divest the Chrome browser:' DOJ renews call for Google to sell Chrome, and Android could be next
Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach concept art
'The dream of the tech industry is to sell off your company at an overinflated price and retire,' says actor behind Baldur's Gate 3's Karlach, 'And I feel that's being done with game studios right now'
Latest in News
A True Kin knight stands in a ruin in Caves of Qud, flanked by bloodstained furniture and a freshly mortalized corpse.
Despite making a roguelike where you can have countless arms and legs, Caves of Qud's creators say the ideal form is a limbless sphere: 'We started in perfection and only moved farther from God'
Civilization 7 Great Britain - Modern Civ art (via YouTube)
As Civilization 7 struggles to keep up with Civ 5 player counts, a new patch is coming tomorrow with still more UI changes and gameplay tweaks
Metaphor: ReFantazio character art
Metaphor: ReFantazio battle director says turn-based RPGs can still be just as popular as action RPGs: 'I personally believe turn-based games have a long future ahead of them'
assassin's creed shadows review
Assassin's Creed Shadows streamer goes viral after confronting whining commenters: 'Normal people don't get upset about this sh***'
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
'This is just the beginning': Assassin's Creed Shadows dev team thanks fans for their support and promises more to come in the future
Geralt sitting on a wall wearing a Cyberpunk jacket modded by TheRealArdCarraigh
The Witcher 3 devs had to practically remake the game engine to make official modding possible