{"id":160020,"date":"2025-03-27T16:33:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T16:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/hey-silicon-valley-christianity-is-not-a-religion-that-can-reliably-deliver-socially-desirable-outcomes-nor-is-it-intended-to-be\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T16:33:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T16:33:15","slug":"hey-silicon-valley-christianity-is-not-a-religion-that-can-reliably-deliver-socially-desirable-outcomes-nor-is-it-intended-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020","title":{"rendered":"Hey Silicon Valley, “Christianity…is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.”"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n
\n
\"\"\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Over at The Atlantic<\/em>, Elizabeth Bruenig reviews<\/a> Zo\u00eb Bernard\u2019s Vanity Fair <\/em>essay<\/a> on Silicon Valley tech workers converting to Christianity. A taste of Bruenig\u2019s piece:<\/p>\n

American Christianity has a tendency to produce forms of belief and practice that are facially antithetical to Christian teaching. Consider, for example, the purveyors of the\u00a0prosperity gospel<\/a>, who promise worldly riches as a reward for moral uprightness. (One adherent has now been\u00a0appointed<\/a>\u00a0the head of a new faith office created by Donald Trump.) Although the prosperity preachers still teach certain core Christian concepts\u2014such as the resurrection of Christ\u2014the overall drift strikes me as self-serving, devoted to money: decidedly unchristian. The emerging variety of techno-libertarian Christianity appears to have faults of a similar type.<\/em><\/p>\n

Based on Bernard\u2019s report, Christianity is gaining ground in Silicon Valley partially because it encourages a kind of orderly behavior that secular liberalism fails to enforce. \u201cNo one wants the Palantir guy to be high on acid for two weeks at Burning Man,\u201d the same venture-capital executive told Bernard. \u201cYou want hard workers. People who are like, \u2018I learned that at West Point.\u2019 We have Israelis who served in the IDF and are religious and conservative and super libertarian. And we\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah, that seems focused. We\u2019ll take that.\u2019\u201d Religious faith is a tool for keeping people productive, in other words, a private code of ethics that enforces the kind of activity that lends itself to producing wealth.<\/em><\/p>\n

In that sense, Silicon Valley Christians perhaps see Christianity as a kind of technology, which is to say a product used to accomplish human purposes. Granted, Christianity promises certain benefits to its adherents, such as inner peace, eternal salvation, the comfort of community, and prosocial ethics. That said, Christianity at its core is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be. In Matthew 19:21, a disciple asks Jesus how to live as a model Christian, to which \u201cJesus said to him, \u2018If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.\u2019\u201d Christianity disrupts life as we know it rather than reinforcing a self-serving status quo. It venerates generations of Christian martyrs whose examples are prized precisely because they placed obedience to God before more advantageous beliefs or activities. The formation of their faith was contingent not on temporal success, but rather on another principle altogether: that Christianity is worth following not because it has the potential to improve one\u2019s life, though it can, but rather because it is\u00a0<\/em>true.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is key, because if Christianity is true\u2014if we really were created to love God and one another and were then rescued from our sins by the sacrificial intervention of Christ\u2014then everything else one believes must flow downstream of that essential reality. Believers\u2019 personal philosophies, practices, and politics are all answerable to the Christian religion: There is no domain of life outside God\u2019s interest, and he requires that all things be brought in accordance with his will. This means that economics is God\u2019s business, which is bad news for techno-libertarians, because Christ\u2019s teachings decidedly militate against the rapacious acquisition of wealth. \u201cNo servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other,\u201d Jesus says. \u201cYou cannot serve God and money.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Read the entire piece here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over at The Atlantic, Elizabeth Bruenig reviews Zo\u00eb Bernard\u2019s Vanity Fair essay on Silicon Valley tech workers converting to Christianity. A taste of Bruenig\u2019s piece: American Christianity has a tendency to produce forms of belief and practice that are facially antithetical to Christian teaching. Consider, for example, the purveyors of the\u00a0prosperity gospel, who promise worldly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[65763,65764,65766,11087,62289,65765,1486,65768,22744,65767,2450,3365,35280,19826,4751],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-160020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-history","tag-american-christianity","tag-christianity","tag-christianity-is","tag-deliver","tag-desirable","tag-elizabeth-bruenig","tag-hey","tag-intended","tag-outcomes","tag-reliably","tag-religion","tag-silicon","tag-silicon-valley","tag-socially","tag-valley"],"yoast_head":"\nHey Silicon Valley, "Christianity...is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be." - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hey Silicon Valley, "Christianity...is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be." - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over at The Atlantic, Elizabeth Bruenig reviews Zo\u00eb Bernard\u2019s Vanity Fair essay on Silicon Valley tech workers converting to Christianity. A taste of Bruenig\u2019s piece: American Christianity has a tendency to produce forms of belief and practice that are facially antithetical to Christian teaching. Consider, for example, the purveyors of the\u00a0prosperity gospel, who promise worldly […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-27T16:33:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Hey Silicon Valley, “Christianity…is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.”\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T16:33:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020\"},\"wordCount\":611,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"american christianity\",\"Christianity\",\"Christianity...is\",\"Deliver\",\"Desirable\",\"Elizabeth Bruenig\",\"Hey\",\"intended\",\"Outcomes\",\"reliably\",\"RELIGION\",\"Silicon\",\"Silicon Valley\",\"socially\",\"Valley\"],\"articleSection\":[\"American History\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020\",\"name\":\"Hey Silicon Valley, \\\"Christianity...is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.\\\" - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T16:33:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hey Silicon Valley, “Christianity…is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hey Silicon Valley, \"Christianity...is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.\" - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hey Silicon Valley, \"Christianity...is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.\" - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Over at The Atlantic, Elizabeth Bruenig reviews Zo\u00eb Bernard\u2019s Vanity Fair essay on Silicon Valley tech workers converting to Christianity. A taste of Bruenig\u2019s piece: American Christianity has a tendency to produce forms of belief and practice that are facially antithetical to Christian teaching. Consider, for example, the purveyors of the\u00a0prosperity gospel, who promise worldly […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-03-27T16:33:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Hey Silicon Valley, “Christianity…is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.”","datePublished":"2025-03-27T16:33:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020"},"wordCount":611,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg","keywords":["american christianity","Christianity","Christianity...is","Deliver","Desirable","Elizabeth Bruenig","Hey","intended","Outcomes","reliably","RELIGION","Silicon","Silicon Valley","socially","Valley"],"articleSection":["American History"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020","name":"Hey Silicon Valley, \"Christianity...is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.\" - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-27T16:33:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Silicon-Valley-2-scaled.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=160020#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hey Silicon Valley, “Christianity…is not a religion that can reliably deliver socially desirable outcomes, nor is it intended to be.”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=160020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/160022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=160020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=160020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=160020"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=160020"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=160020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}