Why the right is flocking to Christianity

The coming together of tens of thousands of people at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona to commemorate the life of Charlie Kirk was a truly remarkable event. Sunday’s memorial, attended by US president Donald Trump and nearly every senior figure in his administration, combined evangelical Christianity with a political rally. As speaker after speaker reminded us, Kirk cared deeply about both freedom and faith, free speech and Jesus.

A week earlier, I walked with similarly huge crowds of people on the Unite the Kingdom march in London. The same combination of politics and religion was also a feature of that event. Unlike any other demonstration I have attended, this rally kicked off with gospel singers and an evangelical preacher. Some of those marching carried cardboard crucifixes along with English flags. Chants of ‘Christ is King’ could be heard.

On both sides of the Atlantic, there is talk of a Christian revival as lapsed or non-believers find faith in God, leading some to ask if America is undergoing another ‘Great Awakening’. I suspect not everyone brandishing a ‘Turn Back to God’ placard at the Unite the Kingdom rally turned up at church the following morning. However, research for the Bible Society suggests that church attendance in Britain is indeed on the increase, particularly among Gen Z men.

Among cosplayers and believers alike, there is something distinctive about the form of Christianity that is being embraced today. If a revival is underway, it is as far from cross-legged, guitar-strumming, ‘Kumbaya’ Christianity as it is possible to be. Notably, the Bible Society reports that the increase in church attendance in Britain has not benefitted Anglican communities. Young converts are looking to Pentecostal or Catholic denominations. In the UK, as in America, the type of Christianity that seems to be in demand today combines traditional values with evangelical fervour.

It is this blend of the traditional and the evangelical that has migrated out of churches and become a political rallying point for conservatives. Whether or not more than a tiny proportion of people are actually becoming more devout, what’s significant is that the language and iconography of Christianity are fast becoming entwined with a distinct set of political views. Most especially, at Kirk’s memorial and the Unite the Kingdom rally, there was a strong emphasis on patriotism. Love of God and love of one’s country were combined.

For decades, people have been told that national pride is not just illegitimate, but likely marks you out as a racist, to boot. They have been told it’s bigoted to believe in two sexes or that heterosexual marriage is best for raising children. You do not have to be a Christian to believe any of these things, yet it seems many on the right now feel they can best defend such views with references to God and Jesus.

Kirk believed that Christianity was central not just to the idea of America and a nation, but also to freedom. ‘The body politic of America was so Christian and was so Protestant that our form and structure of government was built for the people that believed in Christ our Lord’, he said in 2024. ‘You cannot have liberty if you do not have a Christian population.’ After his assassination, many more, it seems, are reaching the same conclusion.

Tellingly, the leaders of Britain’s established church are squirming at this more conservative, patriotic expression of Christianity. In an open letter published last week, luminaries including lords, bishops and a former Archbishop of Canterbury warned against the ‘misuse of Christianity’. The letter admonished the Unite the Kingdom marchers in particular: ‘Jesus calls us to love both our neighbours and our enemies and to welcome the stranger. Any co-opting or corrupting of the Christian faith to exclude others is unacceptable.’

One problem for these church bigwigs is that they have themselves been all too happy to entwine Christianity with all kinds of right-on political causes, from criticising Brexit and promoting open borders to celebrating gay marriage and transgender identity. They are in no position to condemn the ‘co-opting’ of Christianity for political ends.

Indeed, it is precisely their version of Christianity that many are now revolting against. People are tired of our era of moral relativism, in which even religious leaders are unable even to say what a man or a woman is. And they are tired of the consensus that says Islam is to be held in the utmost esteem, while Christian faith should not be openly acknowledged in public.

Many newcomers to the church are no doubt looking for a way out of our atomised society. They are yearning for meaningful lives with strong, shared values, and hope that a robust Christianity can offer this.

Can this newly politicised Christianity, with its defence of national pride and traditional values, unite people while remaining tolerant to those of other faiths or none? And can it do so without undermining the key Enlightenment values of rationality and reason that did so much to transform Western civilisation? That much remains to be seen.

Joanna Williams is a spiked columnist and author of How Woke Won. Follow her on Substack: cieo.substack.com/