John Cleese — a British actor who mocked Christianity through his work — drew backlash for lamenting the decline of the faith in the United Kingdom amid the rise of Islam.
Cleese was a member of the comedy group Monty Python, which released a movie called “Life of Brian” — a project that in many ways served as an extended mockery of Christianity and even Jesus Himself.
But Cleese is now much less hostile toward the faith he once lambasted as his nation increasingly witnesses the alternative.
“The UK has always been based at the deepest level on Christian values, regardless of dogma,” he said Monday on social media, sharing a video about the importance of Britain as a Christian nation.
The UK has always been based at the deepest level on Christian values, regardless of dogma
Despite the many mistakes made by churches, for centuries British people have been influenced by Christ’s teaching
If these values are replaced by Islamic ones, this will not be Britain… https://t.co/7wbwlz5lIC
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) March 16, 2026
“Despite the many mistakes made by churches, for centuries British people have been influenced by Christ’s teaching,” Cleese added.
“If these values are replaced by Islamic ones, this will not be Britain any more.”
Fellow social media users immediately observed the irony of Cleese’s statement — and noted how his work directly contributed to the decline in Christianity he is now bemoaning.
“Mr Cleese, you and your boomer celeb ilk mocked Christianity relentlessly, and not just through Life Of Brian… and now you are wondering what happened to the Britain of Christian values… do you read what you have written?” one commenter said.
“I agree wholeheartedly, but have you not spent your career mocking these values only to find that they were what held society together?” another added.
“But cultures are not preserved by just history or slogans. They are shaped by continual, living faith. If Christians want Christ’s values to endure, we must actually believe, speak, disciple, and live as salt and light today,” a third noted, commending actual belief in the Christian faith rather than merely retaining some of its ethics.
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.
Richard Dawkins, who spent decades publicly militating in favor of atheism, said in 2024 that the United Kingdom is “culturally a Christian country” — and even described himself as “a cultural Christian.”
Interesting comments from Richard Dawkins:
“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’d choose Christianity every single time.”pic.twitter.com/I5FJx3qsKH
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 1, 2024
“I feel at home in the Christian ethos. If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I’d choose Christianity every single time,” he said.
Men like Cleese and Dawkins are not only hypocritically walking back decades of anti-Christian subversion in the twilight years of their lives — and quite possibly the twilight years of Britain as we know it.
They are also trying to retain the effects of Christianity on their culture without the actual cause — namely, the sort of living faith in Jesus Christ that transforms individual hearts, and eventually everything else.
Believing that Britain or any other nation can have a Christianity without Christ is greater comedy than anything ever produced by Monty Python.
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