Welcome my friend, come on in & we’ll enjoy a lovely cuppa together. As you may have noticed I’ve been absent from here for a little while as I’ve had some lovely family time out to met my new great grandson, Bennett, which was a wonderful blessing.

Today we’ll enjoy our time in reflecting upon a discussion that was had recently.

But before we do let’s grab a cuppa, a treat & get comfy. It’s absolutely freezing here on the east coast of Australia, as it’s our Winter season & the wind is definitely blowing in from the Antarctic! So we’ll be inside where it’s warm & cosy today.

I have a hot mug of Earl Grey & a gf toasted Crumpet with honey melting upon it’s deliciousness. Now we’re comfy let’s begin…

What constitutes a Robust Discussion?

The dictionary definitions are as follows;

Robust – strong and healthy.

Discussion – the action or process of talking about something in order to reach a decision or to exchange ideas/awareness.

Answer: a robust discussion is a strong and healthy process of talking about something in order to exchange awareness.

Setting the Scene

Recently, a discussion over a cuppa raised a topic on how differing cultural practices impact actions, reactions & behaviour that are often foreign to those who have not lived in that culture or have understanding of the spiritual meanings of such Cultural practices.

But before we continue I want to seperate ‘Culture’ from ‘Social Justice’ here, as they are very different & distinct entities.

The definitions;

• Social justice is the concept that everyone deserves equal rights, opportunities  & treatment regardless of their background or culture.

• Culture is a pattern of behavior shared by a group/society of people. Many different things make up a group’s culture including language, customs, beliefs & religion.

Now I have been an advocate for Social Justice all my adult life & will continue to be until I step into Heaven. So this discussion was not about Social Justice but Culture.

In many countries around the world, as in my own, there is discourse taking place on what constitutes Culture (& the spiritual meanings behind such cultural practices) today.

Have you noticed how there’s a push for the resurgence of old cultures, beliefs & practices to be adopted by the wider population in many countries through governments, public ceremonies, schools & even fellowships?

You see what many people don’t realise is that most past & present cultures  are inherently intertwined with some type of spiritual belief & practice.

Let me demonstrate from my own cultural heritage…

In my traceable family history, going back to around 450AD there’s a direct linage to Celtic heritage beginning in Ireland, then Scotland & then to the Isle of Man.

Now until around 1200AD my ancestor’s Culture, spiritual beliefs & practices were Celtic which were inherently intertwined with Celtic spirits & gods – polytheistic.

Now I know that in parts of Ireland & Scotland, where my ancestors once dwelt, there’s a resurgence of the old Celtic culture with its rituals, beliefs & practices of Celtic spirits & gods – polytheism. 

However, this is not an isolated occurrence as the resurgence of old gods beliefs & practices under the guise of ‘Culture’ is being pushed by a certain movement around the world. While appearing  philanthropic in its intentions for Social Justice there is a far more insidious agenda.

You see belief in old spirits & ancestral worship with their practices place very heavy burdens upon their followers, literally putting them under bondage to those beliefs, rites & practices that were inherently intertwined with the old Culture.

That’s why those who went before us abandoned them & came into the freedom of knowing the living God, through His Son Jesus Christ, who doesn’t place heavy burdens upon His followers at all. In fact we are called joint heirs with His Son, Jesus.

As He said in the following;

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Matthew 11:28 AMP

I’d like to share a little about myself at this point;

Over my lifetime I wasn’t just a Clinical Counsellor but also a cross cultural Counsellor for many years. 

And having lived & worked in several cultures over that time both here in Australia & overseas, I have a greater understanding of many & various cultures with their inherent spiritual beliefs, practices & rituals.

And I can inform you that we need to be very, very careful in what is adopted from ‘cultures’, either past or present for there are often underlying spiritual meanings in the way things are done that are not understood by those in the West.

This brings us to a topic that is popularly bantered around today; Cultural Identity. 

Is Culture an Identity in itself?

I often hear many state that they identify with this culture or that culture claiming a particular culture as their identity.

I always cringe at these statements as this understanding of culture is unfortunately mistaken.

Let’s look at the meaning of Culture again;

Culture is a way of behaving & doing things

Thus Culture is not an identity in itself but a way of behaving & doing things within a particular group or society.

And often those spiritual beliefs & practices attached to that culture are inherently interwoven through the way everyday things are practised.

You see partaking in these old ‘Cultural’ practices with their inherent spiritual meanings & beliefs for the wider population is often partaking in old spiritual &/or ancestral worship.

And as a daughter of the living God, through His Son Jesus Christ (my Saviour), accepting these rituals is not only spiritually dangerous, it is not honouring to my Heavenly Father & negates my Saviour’s sacrifice for me!

The Great Deception

Unfortunately, there is a great deception being propagated that these Cultural practices & rites are; ‘just supporting or acknowledging various people groups within the wider population to reclaim their cultural heritage’.

However, this is not true. While this is what’s being propagated, in reality it is a resurging of old gods with their spiritual practices &/or ancestral  worship with their associated ceremonies, enforcing them on the wider population under the guise of correcting past Social injustice.

Now don’t get me wrong here I’m not saying that individuals don’t have a right to choose their own spiritual beliefs & practices, of course they do.

In fact Freedom of Choice is actually God given from the very beginning of Creation.

No, what I’m stressing here & did in the recent discussion is that as followers of Jesus, we need to have the Holy Spirit’s discernment to see what is actually happening in our countries, governments, schools & being allowed into our fellowships.

As adopting, even naively, these old spiritual rites/practices into fellowships is actually a form of old god spiritual &/or ancestral worship that have absolutely no place in Christian fellowship.

As Jesus warned in the following;

“Listen carefully: I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wary and wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.  Matthew 10:16 AMP

You see salvation in Jesus is the greatest equalizer for in Him;

‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, there is not male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Galatians 3: 28 AMP

Until next time,

Jennifer

You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

Or 

In Prayer

© 2025 Jennifer M. Ross, All Rights Reserved. Photos by Kindel Media at pexels.com

Blog Party link ups