“Good riddance to cultural Christianity” bemoans false conversions. But it ignores the obvious: widely held Christian standards restrain evil and encourage good, even among unbelievers.
This essay brings up so many things to talk about. Obviously, the collapse of Christianity is successful through Bible illiteracy. No one reads their Bibles anymore and the justice system is increasingly corrupt. Wickedness is rewarded and the righteous are laughed at. I think what I liked most is that the essay gave me freedom as a Christian to not lose focus on promoting righteousness without the reward of the regenerate soul. Righteousness for righteousness sake is how I would sum it up.
In the Lindsay Clancy case, everyone is focused on the rights of the confessed murderer. In so many of these "cultural Christianity" cases, everyone is focused on the "rights" of the lost person.
Well what about the victims? What about society as a whole? Do the innocent just not matter at all?
Note well the consistent thread in that first paragraph: transference. People focus on these individual evil-doers because they identify with them. They are terrified that if those people are held to account, they may someday themselves be held accountable.
No. Loving your neighbor requires more than that. Your neighbor might well be Lindsay Clancy. But you know who else is your neighbor? Her dead kids. Her husband. Anyone else affected by this. Don't they matter?
Does Charlie Kirk's assassin matter more than Charlie's grieving wife and kids? Or than the society Charlie was making better?
Obviously everyone should get a fair trial, and if they don't, we may not someday either. Justice is a requirement in both directions: due process for everyone, innocent until proven guilty.
But compassion on the guilty is cruelty to the innocent. Our societal priorities are utterly backward. Too often, our church priorities are too.
So yes, evangelism! Evangelism! Evangelism! But I think it would also be nice if we enforced sufficient standards to ensure that my kids live long enough to be evangelized.
A tour de force of an article that every Christian in the western world needs to read! Thank you, David Mitzenmacher for writing it and Dr. Martin for republishing it on the Rod Martin Report! There is much valuable wisdom in this piece! There can be no question that in 2026, we need cultural Christianity now more than ever! American society should NEVER accept things like adultery, lying, cheating, stealing, sleeping around, having children out of wedlock, polyarmy, corruption, spousal abuse, child abuse, murder, jealousy, pornography, prostitution, OnlyFans, celebrities posing nude in ads, Trans kids, gender-affirming care for minors, drunkenness, drug use, falsely accusing men of crimes against women they didn’t commit, identity politics, political violence, shoplifting, pedophilia, necrophilia, zoophilia, kids being exploited for social media clout, and open marriages. Only a society where Christian values are solidly entrenched in its culture can largely prevent these sinful practices and create a better overall quality of life for us all. Cultural Christian values can restore the health and vitality of western society and make us into better people. What we need is a society that reflects more the morals and values of TV shows like Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, The Andy Griffith Show, The Danny Thomas Show, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Waltons, Little House of the Prairie, and Family Matters and less like those of Glee, Riverdale, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Bel Air, 13 Reasons Why, Maury, The Jerry Springer Show, and The Steve Wilkos Show with all their moral depravity and promotion of sin. Moral law doesn’t just do one thing, that being reveal sin and bring the sinner to Christ. Oh no, it also retrains the outward expression of wickedness by the broader society and direct the believer in a life of obedience. For example, when God calls on Jonah to go to Nineveh he is not concerned that they don’t believe in Him. He is more concerned with the outward behavior of the pagan city’s common life.
John Calvin describes the second use of moral law as a bridle that can restrain the behavior of even those who are not Christians. God’s law can keep a man from doing some of what his sinful heart would otherwise incline him to do. This is not just true of Christians, but God’s law applies universally to everyone! Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, Jains, Sikhs, and others will also restrain themselves and regulate their behavior to come into line with moral law. For example, it would’ve prevented the brutal racist murder of Iryna Zarutska, it we would’ve prevented the BLM rioters from burning down their own cities and it would’ve prevented Charlie Kirk’s assassination by Trantifa activist Tyler Robinson and the disgusting celebrations of his death that followed. It would’ve restrained Lindsay Clancy from slaughtering her three precious children. If someone who is not a believer doesn’t have the internal restraint provided by God’s laws and commandments, the consequences of his lawbreaking will be borne by other people not him. Christians should 100% desire the restraint of sin among nonbelievers! This is for three reasons. 1) Sin harms both the sinner and his neighbor, but before it does either of those things, it dishonors God. 2) Loving thy neighbor, part of doing so is desiring that he live among those whom wickedness is suppressed rather than among those for whom it is given free expression. 3) For the good of the Church and the advance of the Gospel. The law’s constrained and forced righteousness is nessecary for the tranquility of human society, since without it men would be totally free to act on the wickedness within their hearts. The church lives within the same society with these folks. Moral anarchy makes the world in which the church must worship, disciple, and preach more dangerous.
You know what I want to see in the future when I someday raise a family of my own? I want to see a United States of America where Culturally Christianity is baked into every aspect of society. Where liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, white, black, brown, red, and yellow, male and female, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, gay and straight, North and South, rich and poor behave in a way that is consistent with the laws of God and American society can flourish! I want to see a strongly Christian Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland that are “Godly Kingdoms” so to speak that are as close to Heaven as possible where Arab and African men respect European women, the EU restrains its powers by choice, free speech is absolute and guaranteed, immigration is regulated, political corruption plummets, better, more moral people are elected to parliament or to be prime minister, birth and marriage rates are high, the nuclear family is restored, divorce rates fall, cultural assimilation is achieved, Christians, Jews, Atheists, and Muslims all live together in harmony, all forms of prejudice decrease, the far-right and far-left go back to being fringe movements, and cities like London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, Brussels, and Amsterdam are Shining Cities on a Hill that all of humanity can look to as an example!
Many of today’s Christian’s have not internalized what the Law of Sacrifice truly means in terms of their own life because they have no foundation in doctrinal truth.
Excellent essay.
David is really outstanding. My old friend Tom Ascol is blessed to have him.
This essay brings up so many things to talk about. Obviously, the collapse of Christianity is successful through Bible illiteracy. No one reads their Bibles anymore and the justice system is increasingly corrupt. Wickedness is rewarded and the righteous are laughed at. I think what I liked most is that the essay gave me freedom as a Christian to not lose focus on promoting righteousness without the reward of the regenerate soul. Righteousness for righteousness sake is how I would sum it up.
In the Lindsay Clancy case, everyone is focused on the rights of the confessed murderer. In so many of these "cultural Christianity" cases, everyone is focused on the "rights" of the lost person.
Well what about the victims? What about society as a whole? Do the innocent just not matter at all?
Note well the consistent thread in that first paragraph: transference. People focus on these individual evil-doers because they identify with them. They are terrified that if those people are held to account, they may someday themselves be held accountable.
No. Loving your neighbor requires more than that. Your neighbor might well be Lindsay Clancy. But you know who else is your neighbor? Her dead kids. Her husband. Anyone else affected by this. Don't they matter?
Does Charlie Kirk's assassin matter more than Charlie's grieving wife and kids? Or than the society Charlie was making better?
Obviously everyone should get a fair trial, and if they don't, we may not someday either. Justice is a requirement in both directions: due process for everyone, innocent until proven guilty.
But compassion on the guilty is cruelty to the innocent. Our societal priorities are utterly backward. Too often, our church priorities are too.
So yes, evangelism! Evangelism! Evangelism! But I think it would also be nice if we enforced sufficient standards to ensure that my kids live long enough to be evangelized.
You are very kind, Rod! I am very happy that you found this piece beneficial. Blessings!
A tour de force of an article that every Christian in the western world needs to read! Thank you, David Mitzenmacher for writing it and Dr. Martin for republishing it on the Rod Martin Report! There is much valuable wisdom in this piece! There can be no question that in 2026, we need cultural Christianity now more than ever! American society should NEVER accept things like adultery, lying, cheating, stealing, sleeping around, having children out of wedlock, polyarmy, corruption, spousal abuse, child abuse, murder, jealousy, pornography, prostitution, OnlyFans, celebrities posing nude in ads, Trans kids, gender-affirming care for minors, drunkenness, drug use, falsely accusing men of crimes against women they didn’t commit, identity politics, political violence, shoplifting, pedophilia, necrophilia, zoophilia, kids being exploited for social media clout, and open marriages. Only a society where Christian values are solidly entrenched in its culture can largely prevent these sinful practices and create a better overall quality of life for us all. Cultural Christian values can restore the health and vitality of western society and make us into better people. What we need is a society that reflects more the morals and values of TV shows like Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, The Andy Griffith Show, The Danny Thomas Show, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Waltons, Little House of the Prairie, and Family Matters and less like those of Glee, Riverdale, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Bel Air, 13 Reasons Why, Maury, The Jerry Springer Show, and The Steve Wilkos Show with all their moral depravity and promotion of sin. Moral law doesn’t just do one thing, that being reveal sin and bring the sinner to Christ. Oh no, it also retrains the outward expression of wickedness by the broader society and direct the believer in a life of obedience. For example, when God calls on Jonah to go to Nineveh he is not concerned that they don’t believe in Him. He is more concerned with the outward behavior of the pagan city’s common life.
John Calvin describes the second use of moral law as a bridle that can restrain the behavior of even those who are not Christians. God’s law can keep a man from doing some of what his sinful heart would otherwise incline him to do. This is not just true of Christians, but God’s law applies universally to everyone! Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, Jains, Sikhs, and others will also restrain themselves and regulate their behavior to come into line with moral law. For example, it would’ve prevented the brutal racist murder of Iryna Zarutska, it we would’ve prevented the BLM rioters from burning down their own cities and it would’ve prevented Charlie Kirk’s assassination by Trantifa activist Tyler Robinson and the disgusting celebrations of his death that followed. It would’ve restrained Lindsay Clancy from slaughtering her three precious children. If someone who is not a believer doesn’t have the internal restraint provided by God’s laws and commandments, the consequences of his lawbreaking will be borne by other people not him. Christians should 100% desire the restraint of sin among nonbelievers! This is for three reasons. 1) Sin harms both the sinner and his neighbor, but before it does either of those things, it dishonors God. 2) Loving thy neighbor, part of doing so is desiring that he live among those whom wickedness is suppressed rather than among those for whom it is given free expression. 3) For the good of the Church and the advance of the Gospel. The law’s constrained and forced righteousness is nessecary for the tranquility of human society, since without it men would be totally free to act on the wickedness within their hearts. The church lives within the same society with these folks. Moral anarchy makes the world in which the church must worship, disciple, and preach more dangerous.
You know what I want to see in the future when I someday raise a family of my own? I want to see a United States of America where Culturally Christianity is baked into every aspect of society. Where liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, white, black, brown, red, and yellow, male and female, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, gay and straight, North and South, rich and poor behave in a way that is consistent with the laws of God and American society can flourish! I want to see a strongly Christian Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland that are “Godly Kingdoms” so to speak that are as close to Heaven as possible where Arab and African men respect European women, the EU restrains its powers by choice, free speech is absolute and guaranteed, immigration is regulated, political corruption plummets, better, more moral people are elected to parliament or to be prime minister, birth and marriage rates are high, the nuclear family is restored, divorce rates fall, cultural assimilation is achieved, Christians, Jews, Atheists, and Muslims all live together in harmony, all forms of prejudice decrease, the far-right and far-left go back to being fringe movements, and cities like London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, Brussels, and Amsterdam are Shining Cities on a Hill that all of humanity can look to as an example!
Hello Dr. Martin, I left two comments on your piece from yesterday on President Trump’s accomplishments! :)
Many of today’s Christian’s have not internalized what the Law of Sacrifice truly means in terms of their own life because they have no foundation in doctrinal truth.