Title: The Blending of Crown and Creed

The Rhetoric of Deception: Are ‘Christian Values’ a Mask for Universalism?

In modern political and social discourse, the term “Christian values” is frequently deployed as a stabilising catchphrase. However, a critical analysis suggests that when used by institutional or political powers, these values often undergo a process of secularisation that strips them of their specific theological distinctiveness. This creates a “deception” where the label remains, but the content is swapped for a generic humanism that facilitates the argument that all religions are effectively equal.

For many observers, the monarchy stands as the ultimate guardian of the Church of England. King Charles III holds the titles of “Defender of the Faith” and “Supreme Governor of the Church of England.” These are not merely ceremonial honours; they are constitutional anchors. Yet, beneath the ermine and the ancient liturgy lies a more complex philosophical reality. The King is not acting as a traditional guardian of a specific flock. Instead, he is a practitioner of “Perennialism”—a school of thought that seeks a single, underlying truth beneath all major religions. While this sounds inclusive, it typically necessitates a strategic thinning of Christian doctrine to make it compatible with other traditions, particularly Islam.

The Dilution of Specificity

The primary way “Christian values” serve as a deception is through the broadening of definitions. Values like “charity,” “tolerance,” and “justice” are rooted in specific biblical contexts and the person of Jesus Christ. When these are repackaged as “universal values” that underpin Western democracy, the specific religious requirements—such as the exclusivity of salvation or the unique authority of scripture—are discarded.

By framing Christianity as merely a moral framework for “being a good person,” the door is opened to claim that any religion providing a similar moral framework is identical in value and purpose. This is the “Equality Excuse”: if the goal of religion is simply social cohesion and basic ethics, then one religion is as good as another. In this paradigm, the Cross is no longer a symbol of redemption but a placeholder for “kindness.”

The Evolution of the Islamic Tone: A Four-Year Analysis (2022–2025)

Over his first four Christmas broadcasts, King Charles has subtly shifted the “Islamic tone” from a message of mere inclusion to one of philosophical alignment. By examining the subtext of these annual addresses, we can see a deliberate move toward a “Green Islam” framework as a solution for a fractured West.

• 2022: The Universal Light. In his first message from St George’s Chapel, the King introduced “the power of light overcoming darkness.” While paying tribute to his mother’s faith, he immediately pivoted, stating that this light is “celebrated across the boundaries of faith and belief.” This introduced the Perennialise “Light of Truth” that supposedly shines equally through the Mosque and the Church, effectively demoting the specific “Light of the World” proclaimed in the Gospels.
• 2023: The Stewardship of Creation. This speech was arguably the most “Islamic” in its environmental focus. Standing beside a living, replantable tree, Charles spoke of “honouring the whole of creation” as a “manifestation of the Divine.” This is a direct echo of the Islamic concept of Amanah (trusteeship). By framing the environment as a “sacred trust,” he utilised a vocabulary he has championed at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, positioning the Islamic view of nature as the “bridge” for the Abrahamic family.
• 2024: The Art of Listening. Following a summer of civil unrest in the UK, the King used the Nativity story of Mary and the Angels to advocate for “listening” and “understanding.” He claimed the message of “peace on earth” echoes through “all faiths and philosophies.” Here, the Christian narrative was used as a vehicle for the Islamic concept of the Ummah (community) and the necessity of social cohesion through mutual respect, rather than through a shared national creed.
• 2025: The Shared Pilgrimage. The most recent message frames the Nativity entirely through the lens of a “pilgrimage”—a term of immense weight in Islam (Hajj). By defining the holy family as “homeless” and “relying on the kindness of others,” he transformed the Incarnation into a generic human journey. This message was reinforced by footage of his historic visit to the Vatican, where he prayed with the Pope. This was presented not as an ecumenical Christian moment, but as part of a wider “Jubilee” of “Pilgrims of Hope” that includes all faiths.

The Constitutional Head Amidst Disarray

As the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the King is the formal head of an institution currently described by many of its own clergy as being in “free fall.” The Church is no longer the “Conservative Party at prayer”; it has become a central battleground for “woke” cultural shifts. The confusion and disarray are palpable, as the leadership appears more focused on secular social justice than on the spiritual health of the nation.

The recent resignation of Justin Welby and the subsequent appointment of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury in late 2025 have acted as a lightning rod for this division. For progressives, it is a triumph of gender equity. For traditionalists and much of the Global South, it is the final signal that the See of Canterbury has surrendered to secular “wokeness.” The Church’s obsession with diversity quotas, economic refugees, climate change activism, and slavery reparations has created a vacuum where many worshippers feel the core message of the Gospel has been lost to a “wokerati” agenda.

The ‘Woke’ Infection and Institutional Crisis

The “woke” culture that has permeated the Church’s hierarchy has led to a bizarre identity crisis. Reports have emerged of new “faith-based institutions” intentionally avoiding the word “church” in favour of “community centres” to appear more inclusive. This is not merely a branding exercise; it is a theological retreat. By prioritising “relevance” over “revelation,” the Church has alienated its conservative base while failing to attract the secular youth it hopes to win over.

The disarray is further exacerbated by the King’s own approach. While he is constitutionally bound to “maintain and preserve” the Church, his “protector of faiths” stance often feels like a soft-dismantling of the Establishment. When the Supreme Governor suggests that all spiritual paths are parallel, he undermines the “supreme” status of the very institution he leads. This creates a leadership vacuum where the Church is left to drift in the winds of whatever cultural trend is currently dominant.

The Hidden Hierarchy: Islam as the ‘Superior’ Tradition?

While the King’s messages are couched in Christian aesthetics for the British public, he has been far more candid in his academic speeches. Historically, Charles has suggested that Islam maintains a “superior” connection to the natural order that the West has lost.

In his 1993 and 2010 addresses at Oxford, Charles admitted that “Islam can teach us a way of understanding and living in the world which Christianity itself is the poorer for having lost.” He praises Tawhid (the oneness of God and nature) as a necessary “corrective” to Western materialism and the “Reign of Quantity.” In this view, Islam is not just an equal; it is a more “intact” tradition because it refuses to separate man from nature or religion from science. By using the pulpit of the Church of England to advocate for “kindness,” he may be hiding a deeper belief: that the modern West—and its “woke” Church—is spiritually inferior to the traditionalist East.

Religious Pluralism as a Political Tool

The argument that all religions are equal often relies on the “Christian values” label to provide comfort to the majority while dismantling the religion’s unique claims. In this view, “Christian values” are a civic tool. If they are synonymous with “universal human rights,” then the specific deity becomes irrelevant. This allows the King to praise “our Christian heritage” while the Church hierarchy implements a multi-faith landscape where the specific tenets of the Church are relegated to the same status as any other philosophy.

This political use of religion is a defensive move. As the UK becomes increasingly secular and pluralistic, the monarchy and the Church are trying to survive by becoming “everything to everyone.” However, as the 2025 Christmas message shows, when you try to speak for all faiths, you end up speaking for none. The message of pilgrimage and “kindness” is so broad that it loses the power to transform the individual soul, serving only to pacify the citizen.

The Theological Conflict

For the traditionalist believer, the idea that all religions are equal is a contradiction of the Great Commission. When the state uses “values” to bridge faiths, they ignore fundamental differences in deity, afterlife, and law. Islam’s Sharia, Christianity’s Gospel, and Secularism’s Humanism are not different paths to the same mountain; they are different mountains altogether. The “values” become the lowest common denominator, effectively turning the faith into a tool for civic management rather than a pursuit of divine truth.

The confusion within the Church of England is not an accident; it is the logical result of trying to serve two masters: the ancient, exclusive Gospel and the modern, universalist culture. As long as the Supreme Governor and the Archbishops continue to pivot toward the latter, the institution will remain in a state of disarray, unable to offer the spiritual certainty that a fractured nation truly needs.

Conclusion: The Temple of Pluralism and the Strength of the Incarnation

When “Christian values” are divorced from the divinity of Christ and the authority of the Bible, they become a hollow shell. In this state, they are easily used as an excuse for religious indifferentism—the idea that it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you adhere to the social contract. King Charles III’s speeches from 2022 to 2025 illustrate this perfectly. By wrapping universalist-leaning and Islamic-aligned concepts in the language of the Nativity, the Crown maintains its historical image while building a new, pluralistic “temple” where the specific truth of the Cross is no longer the foundation, but merely one of many decorative stones.

However, we must be clear about what Christmas actually is. It is not a generic celebration of “kindness” or a “shared pilgrimage” of vague hope. Christmas is the theological reality of the Incarnation: the moment God became man in the person of Jesus Christ to judge, redeem, and reclaim a fallen world. This is the source of true theological strength. Unlike a set of “values” that can be edited by a “woke” committee or a political broadcast, the Incarnation is an objective, historical, and divine intervention. It offers a hope that is anchored in a Saviour, not a sentiment. While the state may seek to use Christmas to pacify a pluralistic society, the true power of the season lies in its refusal to be equal to anything else. It is the scandal of the Gospel—a truth that saves because it is uniquely and exclusively true.