Is Liberalism “Evil?”

Is Liberalism “Evil” as Many Christians in America Claim?

In many Christian conservative circles today there is a powerful narrative that liberalism is inherently evil. It is described as a force that tears down tradition, undermines morality, and attacks religion itself. Yet this narrative does not withstand careful reflection on how liberal ideas have actually functioned in history or on the moral commitments at their core. If we look beyond caricature to serious philosophical and historical sources, we see that liberalism is not the enemy of Christian ethics. In fact, liberalism, understood as a political system that protects individual dignity and restrains cruelty, has been one of the most effective political frameworks for safeguarding the vulnerable, including Christians in religiously diverse societies, women, and oppressed castes. Moreover, the roots of liberal thought were deeply shaped by Christian ethical commitments to the value of every human life. This essay seeks to persuade thoughtful Christians that Jesus’ influence on history can be seen even in liberalism’s protection of the weak and marginalized.

At its ethical core, liberalism is built on a conviction that no person should be subjected to arbitrary cruelty by the state or by social majorities. The political theorist Judith N. Shklar argued that the “liberalism of fear” is rooted in the insight that cruelty is the worst political evil and that constitutional democracy is justified because it restrains abuses of power that harm ordinary people. This perspective places the protection of the vulnerable at the center of politics rather than at its margins. In a world where hierarchical power often hurts those least able to defend themselves, liberalism’s procedural guarantees, such as freedom of speech, rule of law, and checks on power, offer real protections against arbitrary violence and discrimination.

This matters profoundly in a pluralistic country like India. India is the world’s largest democracy and home to hundreds of millions of people across religions, castes, and languages. In recent years democratic and liberal values have been under pressure from majoritarian forces that seek to impose a singular cultural identity on the nation’s diverse population. Scholars have documented how democratic backsliding and increasing restrictions on dissent disproportionately affect lower caste communities and religious minorities, including Christians, Muslims, and other groups outside the Hindu majority. The erosion of liberal democratic norms has made it more difficult for marginalized groups to secure equal treatment under law and enjoy the protections that democratic liberalism promises.

In contrast, India’s liberal constitutional commitments, although imperfect, have provided a framework for claims to equality and dignity. The Indian Constitution includes affirmative action in education and employment designed to address historical injustices faced by Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, groups long devalued by rigid social hierarchies. These provisions are grounded in the liberal idea that equality before the law is not merely formal but must account for existing structural disadvantages. While the implementation and politics surrounding these policies remain contentious, the very fact that the Constitution provides a legal basis for challenging oppression demonstrates the protective power of liberal frameworks in contexts of entrenched hierarchy.

This protection of the vulnerable is not limited to caste. Women in India have historically faced structural inequalities in property rights, education, and public participation. Legal reforms rooted in liberal principles have sought to remedy these injustices by extending formal rights and encouraging social inclusion. The spread of legal protections for women’s rights in education, employment, and domestic law reflects an underlying commitment to equal human dignity.

To understand why liberalism has these protective effects, it helps to examine its intellectual roots. Contrary to the claim that liberalism is a secular ideology hostile to religion, many scholars of philosophy and history have shown that liberal ideas grew within Christian cultural contexts. Elements of Western liberalism, such as the belief in the intrinsic dignity of every person and constitutional restraints on arbitrary power, emerged out of a Christian ethical environment deeply concerned with the moral worth of individuals. Its earliest proponents often sought to reconcile freedom, moral accountability, and social peace within societies shaped by Christian theology.

This historical connection matters because it shows that liberalism’s focus on freedom and rights is not a rejection of Christian values but a political expression of certain Christian ethical insights in a world of plural belief. In societies where no single faith dominates, liberal democracy allows believers of all traditions to live out their convictions while protecting the rights of neighbors who differ. It creates legal space for Christians to build institutions, preach, educate, and participate in civic life without fear of coercion by state or majoritarian religious authority.

This does not mean liberalism is the ultimate culmination of God’s plan for human history. Christian theology teaches that all human institutions are fragile and subject to sin. Liberalism can be misused or turned in directions that betray its ethical foundations. But to dismiss it wholesale as evil is to overlook both its moral roots and its historical role in protecting those whom Jesus repeatedly identified with the least among us. Liberal democratic frameworks have provided legal and political tools for challenging oppression, and they have done so in ways that resonate with the Christian ethical imperative to care for widows, orphans, foreigners, and the socially despised.

Christian followers of Jesus should therefore consider liberalism not as an existential threat but as a political order that can serve, however imperfectly, the Gospel’s concern for human dignity. The lesson from history, whether in the United States or India, is not that liberalism is perfect, but that its core commitments to human dignity, fairness under law, and the restraint of cruelty echo central Christian moral convictions. Recognizing this does not require surrendering theological convictions. It requires acknowledging that Christ’s influence in history may operate in ways that protect the vulnerable even through imperfect political systems.

Read more essays by Surit Dasgupta here.
Buy Surit’s novella The Reenchanted here.