Conservatives in the government, however, were once advocates for the revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians movement, and strongly opposed the abolishment of the Ban on Christianity without hiding their hostility to Christianity, saying that 'Shinto is the state religion (to establish Shinto as a state religion), so the religion from other countries should be removed' and that 'Europe and the U.S. are unlikely to immediately agree to revise treaties after lifting the ban on Christianly.'
しかしかつて尊皇攘夷運動の活動家であった政府内の保守派は「神道が国教である（神道国教化）以上、異国の宗教を排除するのは当然である」、「キリスト教を解禁しても直ちに欧米が条約改正には応じるとは思えない」とキリスト教への反発を隠さず禁教令撤廃に強硬に反対した。