Religious practices and institutions respond to the universal quest for a higher meaning and purpose in life, by offering human rituals, narratives, and communities offering a bridge between the mundane and the sacred. When traditional religion declines, people will create or seek out a variety of different substitutes to ease their longing for meaning.
Whether you believe in God, are a member of a faith community, or consider yourself agnostic or atheist, it is hard to deny that the demise of traditional religion has tangible consequences for social and political life.
The vacuum left behind by the decline of a lived, everyday religion in the West is palpable. It leaves people searching for alternative belief systems and rituals that promise to confer meaning on their life, in the absence of traditional authorities to help them live a God-fearing life and guide them to salvation.
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In a society that has turned its back on traditional religion, people seek meaning and purpose in other places. For example:
social recognition of who I "really" am: trans ideology, identity politics etc. In a relativistic culture that has lost its faith in God and in natural law, personal identity is whatever you want it to be, and both nature and conventional morality are perceived as hindrances to self-expression.
the exaltation of romantic relationships and the inevitable ensuing disappointment - expecting to find your meaning and happiness in another human being, rather than God.
hedonism - just living for cheap pleasures to numb the pain of longing for meaning. The “hook-up” culture on college campuses - sex without commitment - is a clear illustration of this.
social conformism - surrendering yourself uncritically to the dictates of your peers or of this or that opinion leader. If there is no God and no divinely inspired church to guide your steps, then public opinion will quickly step in to do the job instead. The old reassurance of divine love and forgiveness is replaced by the new reassurance of social approval.
intolerance of criticism of one’s moral viewpoint and/or way of life - the profound insecurity of the Woke movement, which effectively treats critics as heretics to be hounded and persecuted, may well reflect a desperate existential longing for unconditional love and redemption, a longing difficult to satisfy in a godless universe.
Even if people stop believing in God or stop going to church, the longing for transcendent meaning remains. The question is, can we channel it in non-destructive, non-pathological ways without the stabilising influence of well-established religious institutions broadly in sympathy with the values of a free and open society?
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Nicely written. This is easily observable in secular societies like Sweden where I live. People are floundering in an attempt to find meaning in something, anything. I don’t think you necessarily have to have a particular faith and I’m not religious myself but at this point I’m a bit jealous of people who are because it appears to give them purpose and strength. And a group with strong sense of belonging that’s more palpable.
Those of us who simply believe in and abide by what could be called “Christian values” have a harder time keeping a grip on them. But we’re holding on for dear life!
I have been saying something very similar to this for the last two years, but you have certainly outlined it far more completely and eloquently. So, thank you! The people who really need to hear this sadly and probably cannot hear it or won’t. The same people whose new found, but short lived meaning in life came from Covid and the vaccines are likely in very desperate condition. But all is not lost, Pandemic 2.0 is around the corner but this is going to have some harsh lessons for us ALL I am afraid.