Just so. “Culture” is derived from the Latin word “cultus,” or cult. All cultures originally derive from religion. The basic culture underlying the West is Christianity, and behind that as well as running like a thread through it, Judaism, along with borrowings from Rome and Athens that can already be found in the New Testament.
As I said earlier, this does not mean that everyone must be forced or obliged to be Christian. We would still have freedom of religion (but not the ACLU’s freedom from religion). It means that we need a religious and moral renewal, another Great Awakening, and only God can do that. We can hope and pray that we live to see it happen. Otherwise our culture will continue to die.
In the event that such a renewal happens, those who choose not to be Christians will have the freedom to refuse, but they, too, will benefit from such a renewal of our cultural foundations, so long as a critical mass is swept up in the religious conversion experience.
This has happened often in the past. The Wesleyan renewal in England. The Great Awakening in 19th century America. Many moments of reform and renewal throughout the long history of the Catholic Church.
Fan of Toynbee, I see?