We keep being told, especially by right wing political parties that our Judeo-Christian western culture and values are under threat from various places mostly Islam, but then I think they forget that Islam has the same roots as Chrisitianity and Judaism, they see the old testament as thier foundation too.
But are we really are we really a christian country anymore? I know a couple of people who go to church, but from what I see very few people actually identify as christian, I certainly don't. I agree that many of our values such as democracy and stuff have grown up alongside christianity and often in spite of it, but I see many of those values as having thier roots in secularism.
I also think that a lot of what's put forward as culture wars are really just a bunch of people who are too lazy to think about the feelings of others, who want to hurt others and proscribe thier liberties and choices. A survey I saw some years ago reckoned that for many middle aged white men 20% representation of groups other than thier's was anough for them to feel some sort of existential threat. In other words, they no longer have the privilages that they believe and have been brought up to believe belong to them.
One of the questions that keeps coming back to me is, what are these western judeo-christian values supposed to be? As an historian, when I look at the conversion periods of several countries I see a removal of rights, proscription of behaviours beliefs and parctices and enforcement of others often at sword point or other threats of violence. I'm thinking particulalry of the fate of one of the worlds greatest mathmaticians, Hypatia of Alexandria, set upon and flayed publically with pot sherds for daring to be an intelligent woman, or Iceland and Lituania who were told to convert to christianity or face invasion, this was all before the Crusades of which we are encouraged to revel in.
As I say I think modern western values have happened despite christianity not because of it and various church groups have co-opted them so as they can attempt to stay relevant when people get sick of the hypocracy.
