The label “cultural Christian” has become a new way to position oneself between theism and a rejection of the value of Western culture and civilization that has its foundation in Christianity, according to the Christian Science Monitor (December 18). Sophie Hills reports that Elon Musk, a name usually associated with atheism, now calls himself a “cultural Christian” and is joining other prominent figures, such as scientist and atheist spokesman Richard Dawkins, who are using the phrase to describe themselves. She notes that the term seems to “exist almost exclusively online.” Many people call themselves cultural Jews or cultural Catholics, and in practice many people culturally value Christian traditions, such as by decorating Christmas trees or gathering with family on Easter, without attending church or believing in the Christian God. “As fewer Americans attend church, a space has opened between religion and spirituality. ‘Cultural Christian’ is one of the terms people are using to define themselves in that space.” According to Robert Royal, president of the Faith & Reason Institute, figures like Musk and Dawkins may be realizing that societal norms they value come from religious culture, prompting them to try to hold on to those norms without the religious basis for them.
Source: TED Conference 2017 (Flickr).
Royal says that Musk “has a kind of bellwether quality. I think he senses kind of a shift in the culture when he says he’s a cultural Christian.” The utilitarian nature of the new interest in and even conversions to Christianity among intellectuals and other elite people (such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali) is clear from Musk’s view that Christian beliefs “result in the greatest happiness” and his suggestion that the decline of religion is a driver of dropping birth rates. Arthur Farnsley II of Indiana University says he is “pretty sure that when a Christian calls somebody else a cultural Christian, they mean, ‘You feel like all this stuff is true and important; you just don’t want to make any commitment.’ It’s a low-level insult. But when someone smart calls themselves a cultural Christian, they mean, ‘I think this religion is an important part of Western civilization, and I like Western civilization. I just don’t believe the hard parts.’” In his 2012 ethnography of flea market dealers, Flea Market Jesus, Farnsley found that while most of these dealers were “folk Bible believers,” few attended church. They held religious beliefs because they were what their mothers and grandmothers taught them, were “what good people believe.” “That’s one way to be culturally Christian,” he adds.
