The ARC conference conflates religion and politics. And that’s a dangerous game

When deciding what film to watch, I usually take a short cut by asking: “Who’s in it?” If the answer is say, Tom Hanks or Meryl Streep, I’m confident it’ll be a good evening. So, I order pizza and popcorn and settle in for a good night.

I’ve often wondered whether I unwittingly do the same thing with my favourite Christian speakers, writers, commentators, businesspeople and politicians. Am I tempted to outsource my thinking on topics such as climate change, immigration and AI to those whose opinions I respect and whose thoughts and observations I have valued in the past?

Assuming the worst

These thoughts came back to me while watching the ARC 2025 conference. Throughout the three days, a number of assumptions were set out that emerged as a sequential argument. The first was that Western civilisation was ‘a good thing’; secondly, it had Judeo-Christian foundations; thirdly, that it had either been stolen or was in a bad way, and finally that the remedy was to rebuild it - with the 4,000 delegates present being key to that process.

Oh, and most importantly, it needed to be rebuilt on those same Judeo-Christian values, a point made repeatedly from the platform. They’d all clearly got the memo about messaging. But this constant referencing of Judeo-Christian values raised a couple of warning flags.

Firstly, the majority of those contributing were from the right wing of politics and, unsurprisingly, there was a great deal of agreement, rhetoric and comment on familiar topics for this group: immigration, nationalism, multi-culturalism, globalism, family values, a critique of climate change concerns, all the while repeatedly speaking of the importance of Judeo-Christian values.

Judeo-Christian packaging

So, I began to consider the implications of passively listening to presentations on these important topics, realising it would be easy to unthinkingly absorb their perspectives, especially if they are wrapped in Judeo-Christian packaging. Have I the time, inclination or theological confidence to discern whether their views and policy ideas are truly commensurate with Jesus’ teaching?

Rather than being encouraged by the clear affirmation of Judeo-Christian values in a public forum, I often felt uncomfortable at the manner in which they were being flaunted. Many of the speakers appeared to be using ‘Judeo-Christian values’ as a shield against criticism, dissent or challenge.

And I was pretty sure some of the views should be challenged. For example, it was sickening to hear applause when one speaker spoke of the dismantling of USAID. I don’t know how the immediate loss of urgent, vital support to the world’s most destitute and vulnerable could in any way be celebrated as a fundamental Judeo-Christian value.

A respect for Christian values that doesn’t include protecting the vulnerable, feeding the hungry and “speaking up for those who can’t speak up for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute” (Proverbs 31:8) is a travesty of Christian faith.

The problem was that Judeo-Christian values was used as a generic umbrella term, allowing each speaker and delegate to read into it what they wanted. With only a couple of exceptions, the meaning was not unpacked or made explicit. At first, I assumed this was an innocent omission, but I grew to wonder if it was actually the point.

Conflating religion and politics

Here lies the big stumbling block – the conflation of Christian faith with right-wing political ideology. We’re used to seeing this in America but, so far, it has not been a prominent feature in British society.

As the saying goes, America sneezes and the rest of world catches a cold. We can now see the religious right in America actively exporting its methodology to Western Europe and beyond - with ARC emerging as a key partner and facilitator.

Am I suggesting we ignore events like the ARC conference and embrace only left of centre approaches to politics? Not in the slightest. I am a strong advocate for Christians being actively involved in public life and politics across the political spectrum. But I would advise vigilance lest any political party, group or ideology seeks to co-opt Christian language or symbolism to smuggle in ideas that may otherwise not be readily considered or theologically sound.

Maybe we all need to get better at articulating exactly what those Christian values are (2 Timothy 2:15). Not just to avoid being deceived, but to be equipped to build the Kingdom of God which, in my book, is a far more compelling vision than relaying the foundations of Western civilisation.