The agnosticism to which Karp refers is culturally, instead of spiritual. But just like Trae Stephens, he believes that the technology sector has been too focused on solving trivial problems and ignoring the most urgent issues of society. The problem, Karp argued, could be resolved by rebuilding the United States from the ground as a technological republic. (Probably that would include that Palantir sells its technology to the government.)
The Bay Area, where Silicon Valley has been nested, has long been a refuge for progressive values and is often considered largely agnostic or atheistic. The prevailing Rich-hippie-Vibes are well documented, with technical employees turning to biohacking, psychedelics, burning man and esals retreats such as forms of introspection and self-discovery.
Those activities will probably not decrease in popularity, but for some people the ACTS 17 Collective presents an alternative community, one that combines a combination of technical startup culture with avid faith.
“I have been working in Silicon Valley since 2005 and my first impression was that it was Antivalley to talk about religion and religious systems,” said Nate Williams, a starting entrepreneur and investor who attended the event last week, then to Wired. “But now it is more normalized to wear it on your sleeve,” he says, a trend that he partially attributes to people looking for community after the pandemic.
At times during the event, the twin themes of work and religion were mixed so that it was difficult to distinguish between the two: is work the new religion, as it has been and will ever be in Silicon Valley? Or does religion offer a different framework for how people should think about what meaningful work is?
“If you come to the startup world – there are some things in life that you can be casual about, but probably work is not something you can be casual and have successful, do you agree?” Ben Pilgreen, founded by Pastor of the Non -Hondelstation Christian Epic Church in San Francisco and the pastor of Stephens, told the crowd. “The themes that were lifted tonight don't seem to be something that you can be casual about.” (The presence of the Epic Church has steadily increased in recent months, Pilgreen said in a recent interview with the SF standard.)
After the conversation, those present swung the Stephens pair, thank them for the discussion and asking questions about future events. One participant told Wired that he is now interested in visiting the epic church of Pilgreen and attending his dinner series, which, like the House of Worship, has a start-up-worthy name: Alpha.
