Defensive secularism reconsidered: religion, doctrinal concern, and anti-Muslim sentiment in contemporary Britain

The concept of ‘defensive secularism’ has gained traction as an explanation of contemporary anti-Muslim sentiment in Britain: as Christian identity fades, non-religious Britons are said to reject crude stereotypes about Muslims while harbouring intellectualised concern about Islamic doctrine, perceived as a threat to liberal values. This paper tests that claim using a nationally representative survey of 2,141 UK adults conducted in May 2025, distinguishing affective hostility, measured through seven negative claims about Islam, from doctrinal concern, captured by an item expressing worry about Islamic teachings while explicitly disavowing ill-will towards individual Muslims. Contrary to the thesis, non-religious Britons are significantly more tolerant than Christians on both registers. Doctrinal concern is instead most likely among respondents who consider religion a force for good in the world, an effect concentrated among the religiously affiliated and absent among the non-religious. The religious–secular gap is widest on false claims, such as the assertion that Islam encourages violence, and narrowest on contested practices such as halal slaughter. These findings are robust to education and political-values controls. Intellectualised concern about Islam is rooted less in secular liberal anxiety than in religious engagement with a rival tradition, and the concept’s empirical centre of gravity requires relocation.