Free Indeed
What would you say is the biggest difference between "The Western World" (by which I mean Australia, NZ, UK, USA, Canada, Western Europe, and similar countries and their cultures) and the rest of the world?
I think one answer would have to be freedom. The US in particular seems to make a big deal of individual freedom, but they are by no means alone in enjoying it. Most western cultures do, while many African, Asian, and East European countries do not enjoy as much freedom (I'm not sure about South America..)
By freedom I mean many things. Freedom to speak one's mind in public. Freedom to worship as one pleases. Freedom to choose how to uses one's time and property. Indeed, freedom to own property. It also includes the concept of a free market to buy and sell goods and services.
Freedom from poverty, freedom from ignorance, freedom from curable disease are also important parts of freedom and whiile they may not be as prevalent in the west as we might like, they are much more prevalent thant in the rest.
So where does this freedom come from? The answer would seem to be "From Christians".