{"id":2587107,"date":"2026-04-04T10:59:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/british-actor-who-mocked-christianity-receives-scorn-for-mourning-rise-of-islam\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:01:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:01:49","slug":"british-actor-who-mocked-christianity-receives-scorn-for-mourning-rise-of-islam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/british-actor-who-mocked-christianity-receives-scorn-for-mourning-rise-of-islam\/","title":{"rendered":"British Actor Who Mocked Christianity Receives Scorn for Mourning Rise of Islam"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbritish-actor-who-mocked-christianity-receives-scorn-for-mourning-rise-of-islam%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2587107&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece centers on John Cleese, the British actor and Monty Python co-founder, who historically mocked Christianity (notably in Life of Brian) and faced backlash after lamenting Britain\u2019s decline of faith amid rising Islam. It notes that cleese has as softened his stance, arguing that the UK has deep Christian values at its core regardless of dogma, a view he shared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is Voting for Donald Trump\">social media<\/a> and in commentary about how Christ\u2019s teachings have influenced British life despite church mistakes.The article also cites Richard Dawkins, who has called himself a \u201ccultural Christian,\u201d highlighting a broader trend of public figures reexamining Christianity in the face of immigration and changing religious dynamics. It discusses the tension between celebrating a Christian-influenced culture and maintaining a living, personal faith in Christ, arguing that Christianity without Christ is untenable for a nation\u2019s identity. The piece concludes by suggesting that believing Britain can sustain Christian values without genuine faith is itself a contradiction, referencing the ongoing criticisms and ironies surrounding such claims.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>John Cleese &mdash; a British actor who mocked Christianity through his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/strategies-for-gop-to-outperform-pro-abortion-dems-in-fundraising-and-messaging\/\" title=\"Strategies for GOP to Outperform Pro-Abortion Dems in Fundraising and Messaging\">work &#038;mdash<\/a>; drew backlash for lamenting the decline of the faith in the United Kingdom amid the rise of Islam.<\/p>\n<p>Cleese was a member of the comedy group Monty Python, which released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-cuts-force-pbs-to-slash-15-of-its-staff\/\" title=\"Trump Cuts Force PBS to Slash 15% of Its Staff\">movie called &#038;ldquo<\/a>;Life of Brian&rdquo; &mdash; a project that in many ways served as an extended mockery of Christianity and even Jesus Himself.<\/p>\n<p>But Cleese is now much less hostile toward the faith he once lambasted as his nation increasingly witnesses the alternative.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The UK has always been based at the deepest level on Christian values, regardless of dogma,&rdquo; he said Monday on social media, sharing a video about the importance of Britain as a Christian nation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The UK has always been based at the deepest level on Christian values, regardless of dogma<\/p>\n<p>Despite the many mistakes made by churches, for centuries British people have been influenced by Christ&rsquo;s teaching<\/p>\n<p>If these values are replaced by Islamic ones, this will not be Britain&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7wbwlz5lIC\">https:\/\/t.co\/7wbwlz5lIC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; John Cleese (@JohnCleese) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnCleese\/status\/2033510372628427037?\">March 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); 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\t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Despite the many mistakes made by churches, for centuries British people have been influenced by Christ&rsquo;s teaching,&rdquo; Cleese added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If these values are replaced by Islamic ones, this will not be Britain any more.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Fellow social media users immediately observed the irony of Cleese&rsquo;s statement &mdash; and noted how his work directly contributed to the decline in Christianity he is now bemoaning.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Mr Cleese, you and your boomer celeb ilk mocked Christianity relentlessly, and not just through Life Of Brian&hellip; and now you are wondering what happened to the Britain of Christian values&hellip; do you read what you have written?&rdquo; one commenter <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GrayConnolly\/status\/2033870530575798275\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I agree wholeheartedly, but have you not spent your career mocking these values only to find that they were what held society together?&rdquo; another <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheMuppetPastor\/status\/2033875285871939744\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">added<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But cultures are not preserved by just history or slogans. They are shaped by continual, living faith. If Christians want Christ&rsquo;s values to endure, we must actually believe, speak, disciple, and live as salt and light today,&rdquo; a third <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ScottRoberts\/status\/2033524573069594994\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a>, commending actual belief in the Christian faith rather than merely retaining some of its ethics.<\/p>\n<p>Cleese is not the only British public figure of his generation to walk back contempt for Christianity when presented with mass Islamic immigration and its consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Dawkins, who <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >spent decades publicly militating<\/a> in favor of atheism, said in 2024 that the United Kingdom is &ldquo;culturally a Christian country&rdquo; &mdash; and even described himself as &ldquo;a cultural Christian.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Interesting comments from Richard Dawkins:<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are culturally a Christian country and I call myself a cultural Christian. I feel at home in the Christian ethos. If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I&rsquo;d choose Christianity every single time.&rdquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I5FJx3qsKH\">pic.twitter.com\/I5FJx3qsKH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CitizenFreePres\/status\/1774804105359450403?\">April 1, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I feel at home in the Christian ethos. If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I&rsquo;d choose Christianity every single time,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Men like Cleese and Dawkins are not only hypocritically walking back decades of anti-Christian subversion in the twilight years of their lives &mdash; and quite possibly the twilight years of Britain as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>They are also trying to retain the effects of Christianity on their culture without the actual cause &mdash; namely, the sort of living faith in Jesus Christ that transforms individual hearts, and eventually everything else.<\/p>\n<p>Believing that Britain or any other nation can have a Christianity without Christ is greater comedy than anything ever produced by Monty Python.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Cleese, the British actor and Monty Python member, faced backlash after lamenting what he sees as the United Kingdom\u2019s decline in Christianity amid a rise in Islam. Once famous for mocking Christianity in Life of Brian, Cleese now suggests that Britain\u2019s deepest values are Christian beyond any dogma and warns that replacing them with Islamic values would alter what Britain is.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters and critics clashed online: some pointed out the irony that Cleese spent years mocking Christianity, yet now complains about its perceived decline, while others argued that a living, practiced faith sustains culture far more than slogans. The piece also notes that Richard Dawkins, long a vocal atheist, has similarly softened his stance, saying the UK is culturally Christian and calling himself a \u201ccultural Christian.\u201d He is quoted as feeling at home in the Christian ethos and, if forced to choose, would pick Christianity over Islam.<\/p>\n<p>The article suggests that attempting to preserve Christian heritage without truly embracing Christ is itself a kind of irony, arguing that a nation cannot truly have Christianity without living faith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2587108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-875.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[77138,5695,50410,26161],"class_list":["post-2587107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-british-actor","tag-christianity","tag-controversy-2","tag-islam"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-875.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2587107"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2587111,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587107\/revisions\/2587111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2587108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2587107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2587107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2587107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}