Culture Defined....

What is culture? It seems to be the word of the decade as everyone is either writing about it or blogging about it... including me. So, what is it, really?

According to Webster's Dictionary, culture is "the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations." It is also "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group."

When we think of culture we usually think of hearts and minds or worldviews. But, James Davison Hunter, in his new book, To Change the World, describes culture in a very different way. Hunter writes that culture first is a "normative order by which we comprehend others, the larger world, and ourselves and through which we individually and collectively order our experiences." Hunter believes that at the heart of culture are commanding truths that define the "shoulds" and the "should nots" of our experiences.

Hunter believes that culture involves "the obligation to adhere to these truths, obligations that come by virtue of one's membership in a group." Hunter believes culture is "a system of truth claims and moral obligations." It is not simply a worldview but a complexity of norms that affects how we view reality. Hunter writes that culture is not just our view of right and wrong or true and false, but "our understanding of time, space and identity - the very essence of reality as we experience it."

And, right now there continues to be an attack on time, space and identity. We have been trained to look at reality through the lens of others. We have been lulled into a false sense of trust and dependence on others to do our thinking for us, and it gets worse. We have allowed a small majority to define reality for us. Think about how you look at reality... is it through an experience you have had or a show you have watched? Do you define reality through what you know or what a song has taught you? Do you go find out what is true or turn the channel until you find a channel that communicates truth according to your preferred reality?

We are the frog in the frying pan, and the water is almost to a boil. What is truth? Is it what you thought it was, or could it be something totally different? Those of us that are Christians walk to a different beat; a beat that rings true and clear. It is a beat that is consistent and stands up to all applied standards, but it is a beat that is attacked by the world from all sides. When has truth not come under attack?

What are the commanding truths that define you? What are the "shoulds" and "should nots" of your experience? Most of us do not want to think on these things because they are not "fun" and "exciting." But, can you afford, in this day and age, not to think on these things? Blessings!