Believe it or not, Christianity is returning to the centre of public life. In Poland, Christ has been crowned as king. In Hungary, the Holy Crown of St Stephen has been moved to the Parliament building and enshrined in a new constitution. In the US, Trump won his campaign in part by asserting that Americans should say “Merry Christmas.” And in Bavaria, the cross is being hung in government buildings. The nations are moving to acknowledge Christ's reign.
In strict formal terms, all of these jurisdictions remain more secular than a country like Britain, where the head of state is also supreme governor of an established church. So it seems a bit overwrought when the rather moderate measures of Poland and Hungary are denounced as illiberal. If the critics of “populism” really want to defend democratic liberalism, they should depose Britain's kindly old Queen.
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