It is 20 years since Richard Dawkins published The God Delusion. The book triggered fiery debates between bishops and “new atheists” about whether the world would be better off without religion. Dawkins came to Dublin and got a standing ovation in the National Concert Hall. Christians dismissed his arguments as unbalanced and superficial.

Looking back, the war of words over “Dawkinism” seems rather quaint. Today there is a more troubling religious debate – and this time it’s the Christian right stirring things up.

Western civilisation has sown “the seeds of its own demise”, according to Cambridge theologian James Orr. Militant feminism, “wokeism” and liberal multiculturalism have taken us down a dangerous path; to recover we must return to our Christian roots. So argues Orr, Reform UK’s head of policy and a self-proclaimed member of the “new right”.

Other prominent figures in this camp including United States vice-president and Catholic convert JD Vance; and Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of military defence company Palantir. It is Orr, however, who gives the movement some intellectual clout. He sees himself in the tradition of the nationalistic English philosopher Roger Scruton who explored how society moves from “me” to “we”.

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