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September 30, 2024 - 9:00pm
Russell Brand, the British comedian once known for his Hollywood films and New Age spirituality, has embarked on a full-fledged journey toward traditional Christianity. This transformation recently reached its zenith when Brand joined forces with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson to lead 25,000 people in reciting the Lord’s Prayer, a spectacle that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
Brand’s pivot to Christianity began in late 2023, coinciding with a series of sexual assault allegations that threatened to derail his career (Brand maintains these encounters were consensual). In a video posted to his social media accounts, the podcaster explained his newfound faith as a product of personal growth and a need for a “personal relationship with God.” Although he hasn’t yet announced his conversion to Catholicism, he has begun sporting a crucifix, telling his followers that the figure of Christ was becoming “inevitably” more important to him.
“I suppose it takes a certain amount of adulthood, and it might be different for all of us — for me, it seems that it’s taken quite a lot — to recognise that you need — I need — a personal relationship with God,” Brand mused in one of his characteristically rambling monologues.
This spiritual transformation isn’t just a case of a celebrity finding religion. It’s a wholesale adoption of a new worldview, one that emphasises personal responsibility, scepticism of secular institutions, and a return to traditional moral values. The comedian, who has long trafficked in anti-establishment rhetoric, has found in traditional Christianity a ready-made structure for his contrarian views, now beginning to be peppered with religious imagery and references to a higher power.
But Brand isn’t alone in his Rightward religious drift. He’s part of a broader trend of high-profile figures embracing traditional Catholicism. Candace Owens, conservative commentator and former Daily Wire host, announced her conversion to Catholicism in 2023, following a split with her employer over her use of the phrase “Christ is king.” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, has increasingly framed his political activism in explicitly Christian terms, regularly invoking religious rhetoric in defence of Right-wing values. The aforementioned Jordan Peterson, who shared the prayer stage with Brand, seems to be drawing closer to a full conversion experience himself. Even tech titan Elon Musk has made noises about being a “cultural Christian,” — whatever that may mean.
For Brand, this new faith provides a framework for his existing critiques of consumer capitalism and technocratic governance. His YouTube diatribes now come with a sprinkling of Christian imagery and allusions to divine order. It’s a potent cocktail, one that’s attracting a growing audience of disaffected young men searching for meaning in a chaotic world.
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SubscribeI see no reason to doubt his testimony. I get the feeling some people want to believe that another person’s faith is a sham. It’s as though by disproving another person’s faith they can then disprove God and breathe a great sigh of relief and say: “I’m just a computer program running on squishy hardware. When the power goes out, I’ll just end, and nothing will matter anymore.”
Good luck with that.
“Christianity as both a badge of honour and a shield against criticism.” Since when has this ever been the case?
Some people IMO on the anti-establishment right see the value – and the important role – that Christianity played in the development of the most benevolent, free states in the history of the world.
How long have I been asleep? When did Christianity become “a shield against criticism”? If Brand has picked up his cross in an attempt to use it as a shield, it’s not working. He’s received snide skepticism almost uniformly from the MSM, of which this article is close to being an example.
Sooner or later, virtually everyone realizes that they are not really in control, like they have been told throughout their life, and find their way back to God. I pity those who never do.
I’ve never believed I’m in control, life is more luck than anything else. Why that means I need a God to tell me it’s all luck though I’ve no idea
God can certainly rescue sinners like Russell Brand and all of us.
1 Timothy 1:15 NIV
[15] Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
But the fact that this has allowed him to stay popular despite the shameful allegations against him (albeit with a different audience) can make us ask whether he has died to his old life.
Galatians 2:20 NIV
[20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
There is also the warning of Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8. It seems he was truly converted, but he loved “showbiz” (you could say). It led him to conflict with the apostles and a sharp rebuke. We can pray that Russell Brand too is accountable to a switched-on local pastor.
This isn’t to say that Brand’s conversion…isn’t sincere.
Heh. There’s nothing sincere about Brand.