Elon Musk has embraced “cultural Christianity” and there is commentary all over the place. Except that no one really knows what “cultural Christianity” is supposed to be. Probably an affiliation with Western civilization (in the historical sense of the word, not in the sense of sympathy for a particular political agenda). Something like the attitude of Viktor Orbán, who is clearly committed to Christianity and Christian civilisation, but whose critics accuse him of not having been seen in church for a long time.
We are used to there being a certain tension between being close to someone’s Christian worldview and having a fervent personal faith (Max Weber uses the term “religious virtuosi”). But when we look more closely, we see at least two meanings of that societal “Christian” worldview.
- There is the direction that seeks to fill public space with Christian religious symbols. It counts how many churches there are, how many crosses, how many church services have been held, etc. This is something that is easy to measure, but it is increasingly clear that the real impact on human behaviour is zero.
- Furthermore, it is possible for social customs and institutions to be shaped by what is written in the Bible and in the writings of the Church Fathers. This points to issues such as rationality, personal freedom, belief in progress, and the equality of all people. Incidentally, Christian writings are also very skeptical of family life and certainly do not encourage high fertility. On the contrary. Being childless is better than having children. Is it possible to take anything from this? Maybe so.
We know from history that we can either have a society full of Christian symbols or a society whose lifestyle is influenced by real Christian teachings. The two options are only compatible in the rare short term.
In short, the whole matter is extremely complicated. Much more complicated than political proclamations can accommodate.