Rachael Tearney argues that Christianity is under sustained cultural pressure in Britain and America, and that Donald Trump is one of the few Western leaders prepared to confront it openly.
Never before have I seen a President of the United States pin his Christian colours to the mast in the way President Donald J. Trump did last week.
Perhaps it is simply that, in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was President, Christianity was still secure in America, particularly in the Deep South, or the Bible Belt as it became known. Perhaps no President of the United States ever imagined Christianity could be driven from public life and so saw little need to make such a bold and explicit declaration of support.
The creep of Marxist ideology has reached a peak in America. The history of the twentieth century shows that the United States has experienced similar fears before. The infamous McCarthy era is still held up as an example of innocent people being persecuted in Hollywood. President Reagan, of course, gave evidence during those hearings. As an actor, he was well placed to recognise the rumblings of communism within the entertainment industry and amongst his peers. Arguably, it ended his acting career, but it also set him on the path to the White House, from where he would help oversee and accelerate the collapse of the Soviet Union.
This time around, there have been precious few Ronald Reagans in Hollywood, and left-wing ideology has successfully taken hold within much of the movie business. Its proponents have wrapped it up and rebranded it as enlightened, open-minded liberalism, but the underlying hostility towards traditional Western values remains much the same.
The assault on Christianity has been practical, ideological and relentless. The image of Christians has been dragged through the mud. Rarely is a Christian portrayed in a film or television programme in a positive light. At best, they are depicted as eccentric, prissy or ridiculous charlatans; at worst, as insane murderers, cult leaders or paedophiles.
We all understand the importance of positive public relations in business and politics. The art of spin reached extraordinary heights under Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell, yet many of us have remained largely unaware of the sustained negative campaign directed against one of the central foundations of Western civilisation: Christianity.
President Trump, as ever, has his finger on the pulse. In his now infamous straight-talking manner, he is telling Americans that those who seek to dismantle traditional Western institutions will ultimately seek to undermine the Christian Church as well. Whether one agrees with his language or not, history demonstrates that many communist regimes have systematically sought to remove Christianity from public life and restrict religious practice.
The most severe persecution comes only after alternative centres of authority have been weakened or eliminated. Until then, the attacks are typically ideological, cultural and institutional.
In the United Kingdom, we have seen increasing pressure placed upon the Church of England, not least through the ever-expanding safeguarding framework. Safeguarding is, of course, a worthy objective in principle. Nobody disputes the need to protect the vulnerable. Yet in practice it has become an increasingly burdensome layer of bureaucracy that often deters volunteers from serving their local churches.
For centuries, thousands of unpaid churchwardens and volunteers kept our churches open. They opened the doors for weddings, christenings and funerals. Today, many face mandatory training courses, DBS checks and growing administrative demands. Some Christians report being discouraged from activities that were once considered entirely normal acts of pastoral care, such as praying with others or offering physical comfort to those in distress.
In Northern Ireland, a case heard in 2025 challenged aspects of religious instruction in schools, arguing that pupils withdrawn from such lessons at their parents’ request could be stigmatised. The ruling intensified debate about the place of Christianity within public education. Yet throughout these discussions, many Christians have felt that the established Church has been reluctant to defend the public expression of faith.
The Church of England has also remained notably quiet on a number of moral issues where scripture provides clear guidance. It has often appeared hesitant to speak with conviction on matters such as abortion, gender ideology and the treatment of children. Many believers find this silence increasingly difficult to reconcile with the Church’s historic role as a defender of Christian teaching.
Defending scripture and being guided by it is the responsibility of bishops and archbishops. If they refuse to do so, many would argue they are failing in their duty. As Pope John Paul II famously declared:
“We must defend the truth at all costs, even if we are reduced to just twelve again.”
Since the financial control of the Church of England was transferred to the Church Commissioners under Clement Attlee’s government in 1948, critics have argued that the institution has become increasingly detached from its traditional foundations. Whether one agrees with that assessment or not, there is little doubt that Christianity occupies a far less prominent place in British public life today than it did a generation ago.
There is very little time left for British Christians to decide whether they are prepared to defend what remains of the nation’s constitutional faith.
When that bullet missed President Trump, it set in motion a remarkable series of events. Perhaps you believe in divine intervention; perhaps you do not. Yet from that day to this, President Trump has taken increasingly visible steps to defend the Judeo-Christian tradition upon which much of Western civilisation was built.
He remains the most powerful man on the planet and is supported by one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential entrepreneurs, Elon Musk. It is no accident that these two men have found themselves at the forefront of debates about freedom, faith and the future direction of Western society. Whatever one’s opinion of them, neither appears afraid to speak openly about their beliefs or to defend the name of Jesus in the public square.
The question for Britain is whether anyone here is prepared to do the same.
Follow Rachael at @WritesRachael
