#christians! 'culturally christian' sounds VERY loaded to anyone not like. conscious rhat it's not an indictment

[bitegore]

What "culturally Christian" does not mean: "you are Christian forever, you've been permanently tainted and you can never stop being Christian ever because you were touched by Christianity at some point"

What "culturally Christian" is supposed to mean: "this behavior or attitude that you or others hold is filtered through the lens of the dominant religion, in these discussions Christianity, and we are attempting to call attention to that so that you can choose how to engage with it"

Notable issues with the term include: a positively toxic level of America-centrism in discussion, the ever-present "culturally Christian x" strawman, the fact that this is Tumblr and no one has an abundance of good faith any more, a lack of acknowledgement to some degree that cultural Christianity affects everyone exposed to dominant -strain Christianity (some of my local kosher shops are closed on Sundays! Because everything is closed on Sundays! But the Jewish Shabbos is on Saturdays), and the fact that it keeps being treated by people on both sides as a handy attack phrase because this is Tumblr and we misuse words to argue with strangers here. But it's a word about the religion in charge getting into the groundwater where you live and underpinning a lot of the workings of society and philosophy, sometimes in less obvious ways than others, and it's a useful thing to be able to engage with consciously and in good faith with

#atheists are great! people deconstructing their upbringing are great! people who have turned their back on Christianity are literally not #christians! 'culturally christian' sounds VERY loaded to anyone not like. conscious rhat it's not an indictment #i promise the mean online jews and muslims aren't trying to say that baptism is forever or whatever #the discussion needs nuance so badly lmao here. i am attempting to add some #red rambles #cultural christianity