The strands of culture and the strands of our personalities are so interwoven that we cannot recognize them as separate. Our challenge is to intentionally look at how our theology and our world views have already been shaped. Our simplest entertainment may teach us that God is distant, that bad children will be destroyed, that good children never question authority or that Jesus was white. Celebrations Secular rituals play a powerful role in shaping our view of the world. The celebration of Christmas, for instance, can unintentionally reinforce a materialistic view of the world that equates good behavior with wealth.
National holidays reinforce certain values.
In America, the Fourth of July tends to underscore a view of the world created to serve the needs of one mighty nation sanctioned by God. The cultural icons whose portraits and statues surround us exist to shape what we believe and to control our allegiance to our society. Military heroes are elevated and the wars they fought honored, even when those wars may have been fought to preserve slavery or to take the homes of the innocent. Sexual roles From the color of the baby blanket to the roles we adopt while at childhood play, it is made clear what our standing ought to be in society, who will have power over whom and how we will exercise that power. These and other cultural lenses shape us all.