The “SuperZips,” American Elitism, and Church Planting

Charles Murray recently authored a noteworthy piece in the Wall Street Journal that called attention to cultural divergence in America between the upper middle class (represented by Belmont, MA) and the lower class (represented by Fishtown, PA).  There’s much to think about here, including whether it’s a good thing that cultural creators group themselves together in so-called “SuperZips.”

Here’s a bit:

Taken separately, the differences in lifestyle that now separate Belmont from Fishtown are not sinister, but those quirks of the upper-middle class that I mentioned—the yogurt and muesli and the rest—are part of a mosaic of distinctive practices that have developed in Belmont. These have to do with the food Belmonters eat, their drinking habits, the ages at which they marry and have children, the books they read (and their number), the television shows and movies they watch (and the hours spent on them), the humor they enjoy, the way they take care of their bodies, the way they decorate their homes, their leisure activities, their work environments and their child-raising practices. Together, they have engendered cultural separation.

Read the whole thing.  There are interesting implications here for believers, both in terms of taking the gospel to social factions that don’t want it (and that move away from evangelicals) and in terms of being a gospel witness in more old-fashioned communities.