Many Christians are very uncomfortable with separating their culture from their faith. Many people are not willing to stand against the fundamentals of our culture. Ohiyesa, a well known Native American, said that he thought Christianity had nothing in common with Western Civilization.
I believe that it is a slippery slope, when you allow reason to enter into faith. Throughout most of history, the culture and faith were so intertwined that they could not be separated in most people’s minds. What happens when you join both together is that the faith is used to justify violence and, in exchange, the religious establishment gets more power or more souls.
The philosophers we often think of as free thinkers, but most of the time they had a benefactor, who paid the bills and heavily influenced what was written down. The major changes we see in world beliefs are heavily intertwined with both economics and technology. To fight against these huge moves in civilization can seem insurmountable most of the time.
One of the metrics for how good a civilization is by the violence it uses to enforce its power. People in power always have to compromise their morals, because people without vices are blocked from moving up the chain in power. Politics is all about moral compromise and it is very slow moving.
The things we want changed are hard to change, because someone wants them to stay the way they are. Christianity is best understood by traditional societies, because, frankly, the current world civilization, which we are the homeland of, sounds very much like Mystery Babylon of the Bible. Mystery Babylon is the name for the evil empire run by the devil in Revelations.
What would make our society more stable and moral is not more people sitting in pews. Jesus said we will not know who is really saved, until we enter Heaven. Furthermore, just being in Church or following Christian morals does not mean you are going to Heaven. One of the most disruptive things we could do, to undermine the violent aspects of our society, would be to choose an Amish level of technology.
Our very technology is what makes our civilization possible. The only reason the West took over much of the world was because of a change in the technology of war and the cultural values that made us better, at this narrow form of warfare. Technology, disease, and weather made huge contributions, as well. The ideology was a factor, but that alone would be too weak an influence, to sustain the growth.
We today think of ourselves as smarter than those before us, because we have Science. We believe we can think our way out of our problems. Long before anyone in America realized, we were willing to accept a society that was not based on a belief in God. We made faith optional and a private matter, that we could determine for ourselves.
So this way of spreading the Gospel, by convincing people through rational speech, to become believers, is not going to work in the world we live in today. We are going to have to work much harder, for many fewer people, until we accept that God brings people to Himself.
Our flirting, with those in power, just to get our cultural norms made into laws, for everyone to follow, is the reverse approach of what Jesus taught. We first need to come to Jesus, just as we are, and then, with His help and out of gratitude, we will exhibit kindness and humility. This combined effort will help us prove our faith is real.
What kind of world do we want to live in? Our world is becoming more and more based on fear and revenge. People still do not do what we want them to do. We need to consider, if the rest of the world has come largely to a consensus, about our true nature and methods we use to interact with them, maybe they are right and we are wrong.
We can say we care about those who are disabled and weak, but if we don’t give more to charity, when we pay less in taxes, where are we putting our faith? If our faith costs us very little, how will we ever show others our faith is genuine? Many Christians today say the world hates us for our faith, but I think this is unlikely. Unbelievers are likely more concerned by our methods for gaining power, than our personal faith.
As a Christian, I see no person as my enemy. Paul was one of the biggest enemies of the early Church, but then God made him the lead ambassador, to the ancient Greek civilization. Maybe we need to look within, to the Holy Spirit, for answers, instead of using a stick, to merely get compliance, from those that disgust us. If we think that our biggest struggle is with other people, this is not something I see the Bible endorsing.
So why do I believe in Christ? I believe the Bible accurately reflects what I understand to be God. Furthermore, I have good proof for God for what He has done in my life. I am not interested in any other proof.
I do not pretend to be an expert on the Bible, but I am focusing on the things I do know. This is what makes me sure that my culture, at its fundamental ideals, is contrary to what I believe about God. I have deconstructed my culture and this has only deepened my faith.
-- November 2025