Politics Can't Rebuild Christianity

When politicians create legal and rhetorical space for religion, that alone does not revive the social authority of churches or families; cultural and spiritual renewal must come from communities themselves, and legal victories (e.g., banning or delaying same‑sex marriage) only postpone, not solve, deeper institutional decline. Dreher uses Hungary — a worried Catholic voter, Orban's speeches, and the prospect of legalized same‑sex marriage — to argue this is playing out now. — If true, this reframes conservative strategy: electoral or legislative wins that shore up 'Christian' national identity may be politically durable but ineffective at reversing the long‑term social decline that produced cultural secularization.