The Non-Christian Overculture and the Stockholm Syndrome

John West, Vice President and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington, spoke at the Southern Evangelical Seminary National Apologetics Conference in Rock Hill, South Carolina on October 10 regarding the massive change in mores regarding sex and marriage and corresponding changes in public stances and framing on the part of Evangelical leaders.

West’s new book, Stockholm Syndrome Christianity, describes how many contemporary Christian leaders assume the framing, attitudes, and positions of the wider secular culture that are in fact hostile to Christian teaching. The term “Stockholm Syndrome” refers to a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden in which hostages bonded with their captors, rather than with authorities and law enforcement. It now refers to any situation in which captives bond with their captors rather than the people from whom they were taken.

A New Hostile Environment for Biblical Teachings

The backdrop of the leadership change is a dramatic change in beliefs and attitudes on the part of the wider secular culture regarding sex and marriage. He said that a substantial majority of Americans (68 percent) believe “that sexual intercourse between an unmarried man and woman is morally acceptable,”  Seventy-five percent believe that divorce is acceptable, 67 percent “think that having a baby outside of marriage is moral … these views represent a sea change in American public opinion … as recently as 2001 only half of Americans thought that sex outside of marriage was moral (53 percent), and less than five in ten thought that having babies outside of wedlock was acceptable.” Similarly, acceptance of divorce in 2001 was 16 points less than in 2025.  Yet another “massive shift” is acceptance of same-sex marriage, which is now nearly 70 percent, versus “less than a third” in 1996. LGBT identification has exploded, with 21 percent of Generation Z so identifying in 2022, while the figure is nearly 40% at “certain liberal arts colleges.” By contrast, 20 years ago, only 3.5% of American adults identified as LGBT. There are today about 18 million cohabiting couples and 11 million single parent households. In some states, as many as 55% of children are born outside of marriage, more than 1 million unborn children are killed by abortion, and there are roughly 700,000 divorces each year.

The population of self-identified Christians is markedly affected by this, with half of such persons believing that “casual sex” between consenting adults is “sometimes or always acceptable,” and this includes 36% of self-identified Evangelicals.

West referred to the 2019 television dating game show, “Bachelorette,” and two of its Evangelical stars Hannah Brown and Luke Parker, who “were self-identified Evangelicals.” They “both acknowledged previously having had sex outside of marriage.” Nevertheless, Luke was now endeavoring to be abstinent until marriage, but as the season progressed, it became clear that Hannah held an essentially antinomian approach to sexual morality.  She boasted of sexual encounters with another of the contestants, and declared “I’m a grown woman, I can make my own decisions … I sin daily and Jesus still loves me, and if it’s all forgiven, then no other man, woman, animal can judge me.” West also pointed to an adulterous couple, noted in the news, who each divorced their spouses, sought the forgiveness of God and their divorced spouses, got married, and then defended their choices. But this is not Biblical repentance, West said. He noted that all three Evangelicals were born and raised in the “Bible Belt” of the South.

West said that at Seattle Pacific University, where he once taught, “70% of the faculty voted no confidence” in the Board of Trustees, since the board would not give up the college’s statement on sexual morality, which defended opposite-sex monogamy as the only venue for sexual relations. But the board permitted the hiring of faculty who disagree with the statement and will teach their opinion to students.  Similarly, Fuller Theological Seminary reiterated its commitment to opposite-sex marriage but also said that faithful Christians can reject opposite-sex monogamy. West said that the church at which he had been an elder failed to uphold its own standards on divorce with respect to the divorces of persons “at various levels of leadership” in the church. Also, teaching on Biblical sexuality was not incorporated into the youth program at the same church for fear of alienating the youth. Yet if people are never discipled in this area, either in public or private, sexual sin has gained practical acceptance in the church.

It is in this radically liberalized environment that many Christian leaders are in fact facilitating and defending the anti-Christian morality in which they live and work. Churches and Christian institutions may have formal statements that affirm Biblical faith and morality, but this commitment often is not respected in practice.

He referred to Francis Collins, formerly Director of the National Institutes of Health, a self-professed Evangelical. West said that “under his leadership, the NIH spent millions of tax dollars to fund doctors and hospitals in their promotion of puberty blockers and sex destructive surgeries” for minors and also “identified himself proudly as an ‘ally and advocate’ (his words) of the LGBTQIA+ movement.” Additionally, “he oversaw millions of tax dollars spent to harvest body parts from late-term aborted babies for use in medical research.”  He also pointed to Jimmy Carter, who said in 2018 “that Jesus would approve of gay marriage and I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else.” As another example, West referred to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, a life-long Roman Catholic who cast the deciding vote imposing same-sex marriage on the nation, in defiance of the “history and text of the Constitution itself.”. While “Christians are supposed to be salt and light in the culture,” yet we cannot be if our “salt is insipid, and our light is dim.”

These examples led West to say that “most Christians in America grow up in cultural captivity, we are immersed in a hostile culture.” This, he said, is true at “home, school, college, and the workplace.” Especially professional people who become “pastors, professors, ministry leaders, journalists, politicians, or work in the entertainment industry. After you have been immersed for years in an elite culture that rejects orthodox Christianity, you can easily start identifying more with those who hate Christianity.” This is made all the worse because the secular or otherwise non-Christian people one lives with may be personally nice people. In the late twentieth century, as cultural conflict intensified, many Christians believed that getting Christians into leadership positions would win the culture. But experience has shown that many “self-identified Christians in leadership positions at all levels of American society” has not had a significant effect on the culture. Many of these people support by their words and actions the cultural attacks on Christianity. They are “Stockholm Syndrome Christians.”

What Can Be Done

To rectify the problem of Stockholm Syndrome Christianity, we need stronger Christian communities and a greater willingness to emphasize and defend contested standards. We must “lead by example … it’s hard to lead others further than you’ve gone yourself.” Such things as non-marital sex, use of pornography, or treating one’s children “in ungodly and unloving ways” should have no part in a Christian’s life. Secondly, Christians should be equipped to engage the hostile ideas in the culture. Apologetics and even one’s own research are vital here. Thirdly, we should be conscious of the sources of our information. “Many Christians end up adopting … non-Christian views” because they rely on the same secular sources of information hostile to Christian faith and morals as their non-Christian friends and coworkers do. Secular journalism is one source that such ideas can come from. Journalists “overwhelmingly support” abortion and same-sex marriage. In 2013, for instance, the American public was closely divided on same-sex marriage, but a survey of 500 news stories showed stories “slanted to gay marriage” outpacing those opposed by more than 5 to 1. Public opinion regarding same-sex marriage then dramatically changed after this pro-same-sex marriage reporting.

American entertainment is also strongly supportive of non-marital sex and same-sex marriage. In one study, references to non-marital sex outnumbered references to marital sex on the major networks by three to one. Netflix produces scenes about sex between high school and middle school students, rating them not appropriate for adolescents under 17 years old, “but of course Netflix is hoping that they do watch.” A Disney executive claimed that there are many “LGBTQIA” themes in Disney’s stories but pledged to do more. Many Christian news and entertainment sources do exist, but they need to be used instead of secular sources.

Christian parents need to be intentional about raising their children, and ensure that it is not secular entertainment, non-Christian peers, news media, or social media that is actually raising their children. Once a week attendance at church or membership in a youth group “is not enough.” Young people must be helped to develop spiritually by their parents. They must be trained to “see through the culture’s lies.” Teaching about sex in particular should come from parents, not from the many non-Christian sources children and adolescents are exposed to. The culture spends a lot of time trying to convince people that it is impossible to live according to Biblical sexual standards. This seems to have had a real effect, since the majority of self-professed Evangelicals now engage in pre-marital sex. But for those attending church, “the percentage drops significantly.” The more likely a Christian community teaches Biblical morality, the more likely the members of that community are to live by those standards.

Strong religious communities will assist the natural bent of human nature, which the wider society once supported, but now far less so. West mentioned data from the well-respected National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health as confirmation that adolescents do move overall toward opposite sex attraction as young adults. More  optimistically a 2024 study from the Netherlands tracked gender dysphoria, and found that 11% of participants at age 11 “wished to be of the opposite sex,” but at age 26 only 4% did.

West said that there is “a path of fulfillment” within Biblical morality for everyone, whether single or married. He observed that the faith of parents is “significantly correlated” with the morality and resiliency of the parents’ children. If one has fallen away from Biblical faith or morals, God always invites one back.

Questions about Stockholm Syndrome Christianity

A questioner asked where West identified “the roots” of secular ideas in conflict with Christianity. West pointed to Darwin, observing that Darwin held morality to be based “on that which aids physical survival.” It includes the maternal instinct but also includes infanticide. Darwin supported the Victorian morality of his day but held that all morality is relative to time and place, and the underlying basis of morality is fluid. The effect of Darwinism in cultural breakdown he reviewed in a subsequent lecture.

Another questioner asked what Christians who are in positions of influence in the secular culture can do to promote righteousness. West said that in the questioner’s case – working in student government at a secular university – the most important thing is to be a strong supporter of free speech and religious liberty. Many Christian organizations on campus are being pressured to function “under strictures that others aren’t.” He added, however, that there “are some things that are so evil” that a faithful Christian simply must abstain. He gave the example of processing insurance claims for transgender surgeries. One may have to resign if no accommodation to conscience is allowed.

It was also asked if in view of the bleak cultural picture, is there anything Christians can do at this point, what hope is there, and what should we do to be most effective? West responded that “God surprises.” At times in the past, the situation has seemed hopeless, but God intervenes with revival or change of circumstances that moves the world back toward the truth. The Roman persecution in the early history of Christianity, the communist persecution in China and the tremendous growth of Christianity under the communist regime, and the deism and unitarianism of the American Revolution and the early federal period followed by the Second Great Awakening were pointed to. Transgenderism, at least for minors, has become a debatable issue in much of American society. Yet, he emphasized that “our ultimate hope is in God.”