# Christianity as a culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164 "2009-09-07T15:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/1 "2009-09-07T15:32:12Z")
I was reading [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=530923), and got to wondering if there’s a Christian equivalent to say, atheistic Jews or non-religious Jews. What I’m wondering is whether there’s a better term than “closeted atheist” for atheists who are intellectually atheist, but socially and culturally Christian (without the going to church part)? That term seems rather perjorative- there’s a lot of leeway and overlap between being an “out” atheist, and being an atheist only in one’s mind. I’ve wondered about this; I know some atheists who aren’t into Christmas or Easter, but then I know some who actively enjoy Christmas for all the positive aspects, and just leave out the birth of Christ part. Or the same thing about Easter- they love to see their nieces and nephews have fun at Easter egg hunts, and eat ham with the family that Sunday, but don’t believe (and make no secret of the fact) that Christ was resurrected on that day. I realize Jews are an ethnic group in their own right, but there’s a lot of overlap between the cultural and the religious aspects, and I wondered if there’s not something similar among Christians. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/2 "2009-09-07T15:36:32Z")
Sure – I’ve been describing myself as “culturally Christian” for more than 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/3 "2009-09-07T15:59:30Z")
Something like an “atheist with Judeo-Christian ethics?” ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/4 "2009-09-07T18:15:15Z")
I had a coworker who questioned my celebrating Christmas because I am an atheist. I explained I was culturally Christian. I was raised in a Christian household and Christmas has been tradition for my entire life. I have no problem with Christianity as a culture. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/5 "2009-09-07T18:29:55Z")
I’d call myself (and many other Irish atheists) Post-Catholic atheists. There are aspects of the culture that we maintain, or react against but it is by and large a Christian culture that we live in, regardless of belief. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/6 "2009-09-07T18:38:39Z")
I don’t believe there is any such thing as a Christian culture. It’s a religion not a culture. It’s not analogous to Judaism because Judaism is also an ethnicity while Xianity is not. ---
**Author:** ![StaudtCJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@StaudtCJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StaudtCJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/7 "2009-09-07T19:25:20Z")
I often hear of “lapsed Catholics”. They seem to be the same thing as Post-Catholic atheists. There are also “death bed Catholics”, which are those who do whatever they like, but as they lay dying, they confess to the priest and get to receive last rites and so on. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/8 "2009-09-07T19:49:58Z")
I think the OP has shown himself, time and time again, to have a deep-seated hatred for… christian people, for christian culture… ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/9 "2009-09-07T22:33:30Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t believe there is any such thing as a Christian culture. It’s a religion not a culture. It’s not analogous to Judaism because Judaism is also an ethnicity while Xianity is not. Let’s see, from Merriam-Webster: > [@](#): > > Culture…5 a : the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man’s capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group c : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a company or corporation It’s not the same as Judaism, no, but not every culture or subculture shares a common ethnicity. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/10 "2009-09-08T02:38:54Z")
Look, if 90% of the US decided some arbitrary date like May 25, to celebrate the spirit of “Star Wars”; I’d do it. Not because I believe in the spirit of Star Wars but rather it’s just a convenient time to do so. As in spend time with family and friends. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/11 "2009-09-08T15:20:37Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t believe there is any such thing as a Christian culture. It’s a religion not a culture. It’s not analogous to Judaism because Judaism is also an ethnicity while Xianity is not. I don’t think there’s one Christian culture. There are many cultures that are influenced by the religion of Christianity. People from two different Christian-influenced cultures might both celebrate Christmas, but the foods and traditions associated with the holiday might be very different. Or one Christian culture might make a big deal out of a Christian holiday (maybe a particular saint’s day) that another Christian culture pretty much ignores. Judaism has this too- Sephardic Jewish culture is different from Ashkenazic Jewish culture. The Jewish culture you see in the US is mostly Ashkenazic (Eastern European). Hanukkah is a much bigger deal in US Jewish culture than it is (or was) in some other Jewish cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christianity-as-a-culture/509164/12 "2009-09-08T15:45:00Z")
We have official legal paperwork declaring my husband as a ‘cultural Christian’ - our adoption homestudy.