Rising Christian nationalism: a threat to us all

[IwantToRetire]

Article by Humanist UK, so doesn't really reflect on the impact on women although does mention abortion rights.

But I do think that our politics are far more influenced by the US, not for any deep reasons, but so much of our TV is now americanised.

And some of the fundamentalist UD christian groups have very regressive attitude towards women.

https://humanists.uk/2025/09/17/rising-christian-nationalism-a-threat-to-us-all/

Was being sarcastic.

Was referring to the fact that women have had to go to court to confirm that sex is recognised in law.

'Dualsim' in she sense of having a soul that is separate to the body, so it's possible to have the 'wrong' body.

Yep me too.

I don't think there will be a rise of Christian fundamentalism in the UK. But the US Christian right is quite clearly funelling money and talking points into UK politics and media. The Christian message won't wash here, but I do worry they will just frame the misogyny in a way that will resonate here among some of the already targeted demographic; joining the men's rights movement/Tate shit/angry men online explicitly to right wing politics. I'm sure there is already a huge overlap, so that gradually including some of the talking points into the news channel and marches is not a massive stretch.

Yeah, that's my feeling. There's nothing like the culture 'infrastructure' here for fundamentalist Christianity, but that isn't to say they won't throw a lot of money after anyone who might advance their ideals to control women and move towards forcing us out of the public sphere.

Reform, for example, wouldn't go 'women should all be back in the home' but I can certainly imagine them advancing ideas that maternity leave is too long and too much for business, and women being out of the workforce makes the UK 'uncompetitive'. And then reducing mat leave and making it easier to discriminate against mothers without consequences (sad to say, that's not too hard now), causing more women to have to drop out of the workforce and making it harder for childbearing age women to get work. I could see regressive American movements encouraging this in the background with ££££

I share a lot of your views—especially the challenge of being progressive within a traditional faith. That said, I do think there’s more happening beneath the surface than people usually realise. Catholicism seems to be quietly growing again, especially in London. At first, I thought it was just media spin or sensationalism, but from what I’ve seen myself, churches are now full, standing room only now at my local church if I don;t get there early —and not just with older people, but young men. Also, when I was on holiday in Cornwall - I noticed the same thing. The around the corner, the Pentecostal churches are full to bursting, and seems a vibrant community. There are green-shoots for sure

Agree. I am a Christian feminist. I recoil from the idea of so- called Christians hanging around abortion clinics to re-traumatise patients and it’s the very opposite of how Jesus behaved. But, on the plus side, their numbers are few. I don’t like to be complacent but I think it’s highly unlikely you’ll see the insane right in this country claiming to act in the name of religion - as others have said, it’s a very different culture from the US and much more female-focused. Most believers at the churches I go to are very wise and wonderful women - and they’d hate the idea of abortion protests every bit as much as I do.

What's interesting to me is that the evangelical churches in the UK, which you'd think are the equivalent of these big, political, evangelical churches in the US, are culturally so far removed.

They tend to attract a lot of young people due to lively services and music etc. They often have some conservative values such as no sex before marriage and some encourage women to take a more traditional role. However in my years of attending (although this is now 15-20 years ago) I never heard any politics discussed. The people I mixed with were if anything generally more left-leaning, and interested in following Jesus' example of looking out for vulnerable people in society. Many of the Christians I know are actively involved in things like refugee support charities, women's refuges and so on.

I have a Christian family member who moved to the US and eventually gave up on church there because they were all so extremely political. And so contrasting to what she had been brought up with and been used to in UK churches her whole life.

In terms of women's rights, I definitely don't think the typical Christian view here is as regressive as in the US. I'm not really sure what to think or expect though to be honest - I don't have much faith in the church as a whole standing up for women's rights to the extent that I would like.

If the far right here try to weaponise Christianity (which I do think is a danger) and encourage this form of Christian Nationalism, it will be interesting to see how the modern UK churches respond to this. I really hope they would take a public stand against it.

I agree Christian nationalism is a threat to women in the UK not so much for its conservative approach but because its a proxy for white nationalism. Christianity is exploited by white nationalists in name only. They don't ascribe to the word of Jesus rather they equate it with a 'superior culture' & thus bring new people into the fold who are worried about foreign cultures engulfing the UK. What's very concerning for women is that white nationalists are very concerned about the birth rate declining which necessitates the economic need for immigrants who are more likely to come from non white cultures. They see reproductive rights & women working as a direct threat to the proliferation of the white race hence the anti abortion/birth control movements in the US gaining popularity particularly amongst men.

So its important to not just understand Christian nationalism & Reform in the context of 'anti immigration' but for the potential of what less immigration will mean for women's rights.

I'd prefer it if society tackled the importing of destructive American Left victimhood omnicause politics instead of catastrophising about what some cranks might or might not do. We even had George Floyd riots in the UK ffs. Frankly, the article smells like shit-throwing and DARVO to me.

What does more immigration mean for women's rights? Many immigrant groups are very right wing and regressive and make odd bedfellows witg the progressive left (which is nothing of the kind of course). Is it right that many women in the UK have to wear burkas?

My parents immigrated from a small village in Italy to Australia along with their very regressive views on women. Those views died with my birth, my siblings & my first generation peers even though we were raised in Italian immigrant ghettoes. I think you will find that where liberty allows, people overwhelmingly choose liberty over slavery given the choice.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. No women in the UK are required to wear burkas, in fact we'd generally prefer they not do that. Women have equal rights to men so I can't so that changing anytime soon

Can you list all the christian-dominated / historically christian countries in the world, and all the muslim ones, and present me an argument that the culture in the muslim ones is as good or better than in the christian ones.

I believe that countries / cultures with less authoritarianism, misogyny, homophobia, FGM, forced marriage, cousin marriage and hiding of women's faces are objectively better than those with more of those things.

I find it hard to see how someone can credibly claim that "western culture" is not superior to "muslim culture", and that's even taking into account the insane misogyny and homophobia of TQ+.

"No women in the UK are required to wear burkas" are you seriously claiming that? Every single muslim woman covering her face is doing so with 100% free choice and 0% "requirement". That mosques, Imams, husbands, fathers, sons, brothers and wider Islamic community have no impact?

Justify what you are saying by reference to photos of Iran in the 1970s compared to now.

GB News regularly and sympathetically has Lois McLatchie from ADF on to spread her anti-abortion shtick.

We aren't talking about Iran. So of course I'm claiming no women are required. It's lunacy to claim otherwise. It may be fair to say some women are influenced by their culture or familial values but there is absolutely zero requirement to wear anything like that.

Iran on the other hand literally has decency police to ensure correct attire.

Clearly freedom is better than slavery. But to assume culture is inherent is false given that the majority of Muslim immigrants are law abiding & assimilate over time.

While I concur the West is superior in terms of freedom of individual expression that too encompasses slavery in terms of hedonistic addictions. A culture where drinking, drugs, gambling & exploiting people as commodities is normalised can hardly be throwing stones…

Really depends on where and when western culture starts - if the latter part of the 20th century I think we can be proud of our progress on human rights.

We have had our ups and downs though...

I believe that countries / cultures with less authoritarianism, misogyny, homophobia, FGM, forced marriage, cousin marriage and hiding of women's faces are objectively better than those with more of those things.

There have been points in history when Europe has been full steam ahead on authoritarianism, misogny, homophobia, forced marriage and cousin marriage.

(I will give you the the point on covering faces and FGM)

We've had killings of young women in this country. I don't want to use the term normally applied because it's anything but 'honour'.

It's also extremely foolish to assume assimilation and progress. We have MPs for Gaza, ghettos, schools where no child speaks English as a first language and authorities bending over backwards to prioritise other beliefs.

British people are too lazy to adopt fundamental Christianity in the U.K. One of the interviews I saw with a Palestinian protestor was the reason Britain is so popular is it is considered to have no recognised wide scale religion, so it’s easy to practice any religion here.

I think if we are to worry about anything that America is peddling online it’s a severe lack of critical thinking and a lack of education for the masses. So many people seem to be unable to debate or understand

I understand we've had killings and that's abhorrent. I'm not for these types of people I actually believe if Islam had just surfaced recently it would be banned as a religion and indeed, although, impractical, think it should be banned.

I think that someone who smokes a bit of weed, bets on the horses and tries to get away with not giving pay rises to the staff in his small business is infinitely culturally better than a man who supports all women having to cover their face, the destruction of Israel and the idea that his daughter should be forced to marry her Pakistani cousin and bring him to the UK.

I was trying to compare contemporary culture. Perhaps we should start a new thread to compare life in western europe and the middle east in the 1200s?

I agree if it was just a little weed & the occasional bet but we both know its significantly worse hence broken relationships, AA, millions of people being exploited by barely a living wage & only fans skyrocketing not to mention white men hardly strangers to domestic violence.

Anywhere where fundamentalist religious belief of any type takes a hold on society is not a good place for women or gay people. Tommy Robinson supporters extol the virtues of living in a ‘Christian’ society as a shorthand for meaning non-Muslim. Most of them are as interested in seeing the inside of a church and reading the bible as I am ie. not in the slightest. And their championing of those opposed to trans gender ideology often grinds to a halt when it comes face-to-face with any sort of Feminism - they just don’t want Muslim men touching ‘our’ women. Both sides want women to inhabit a world controlled by their male desires and ideas of what a ‘good’ woman should be.

We see the manipulation and false ‘ally ship’ - we’re not stupid.