Good article. I would add that the decline of organized religion has also undermined political partisanship, increasing pressures for populism. Partisan dealignment has long been a trend in the West, weakening established parties and empowering populists. Though religious groups are not the most important influence on partisan identification, they have been significant. This is particularly so in Catholic countries, the Church often encouraging political moderation. In the US, the decline of moderate conservatism may be associated with declining church attendance. Many factors explain the rise of populism; but the decline of organized religion may be another!
I would like to go deeper. I have seen very little analysis of what effect this DIY religion is having on our society. I know many a person who has left planet earth and now believes they can channel spirits, read that Akashic Records, and place their knowledge in Shamanistic traditions and "human design". These were people that a decade ago were content to party and ignore spirituality by and large. I have struggled to bring them back to a world that prioritizes empiricism and a shared reality. They all have one thing in common, IMO, their driven by a form of spiritual narcissism that I find off-putting. A type of "prosperity gospel" (only without the Christianity) and with some blend of eastern wisdom and Indigenous traditions combined with bat-shit stuff like healing crystals all adopted with the central concept of acquiring material "abundance". It been very upsetting.
“Once statistical models account for a person’s religious participation, however, religious belief per se does not systematically bring additional benefits.”
I don’t buy that religious belief doesn’t bring systematic benefits. Consider research on the AA program, which has helped as many as 10 million achieve sobriety:
“A pattern emerged. Alcoholics who practiced the techniques of habit replacement, the data indicated, could often stay sober until there was a stressful event in their lives—at which point, a certain number started drinking again, no matter how many new routines they had embraced. However, those alcoholics who believed, like John in Brooklyn, that some higher power had entered their lives were more likely to make it through the stressful periods with their sobriety intact.” (The Power of Habit)
The problem is not with atheism per se. The problem is with atheists who do not consistently apply an across the board skepticism toward all paranormal and supernatural claims. If one's atheism derives from an interpretation of our physical world as being self contained, with no supernatural realms, then belief in astrology, fortune telling, reincarnation, and the like would automatically drop off. A consistent atheism incorporates an empirically based skepticism toward all claims of occurrences and abilities that, if true, would violate the laws of nature as we currently understand those laws.
I understand the article but find it as overflowing things. For example, polarization is a part of democracy as during the civil rights movement. People have different opinions and choices in free and open societies. There are also "memetic tribes" and not all of them are far-right nor far-left. Also, secularism should also be about going beyond outdated and nationalist ideas on culture, community, and state in order to create universal states based on human rights and global affections, decentralized communities, and some kind of world citizenship.
But is it anything new? My impression is that New Agey stuff was more popular a generation ago than it is now. And a generation before that it was the peak of cults (Hare Krishna, Moonie, Guru Maharaj Ji etc.).
Good article. I would add that the decline of organized religion has also undermined political partisanship, increasing pressures for populism. Partisan dealignment has long been a trend in the West, weakening established parties and empowering populists. Though religious groups are not the most important influence on partisan identification, they have been significant. This is particularly so in Catholic countries, the Church often encouraging political moderation. In the US, the decline of moderate conservatism may be associated with declining church attendance. Many factors explain the rise of populism; but the decline of organized religion may be another!
I would like to go deeper. I have seen very little analysis of what effect this DIY religion is having on our society. I know many a person who has left planet earth and now believes they can channel spirits, read that Akashic Records, and place their knowledge in Shamanistic traditions and "human design". These were people that a decade ago were content to party and ignore spirituality by and large. I have struggled to bring them back to a world that prioritizes empiricism and a shared reality. They all have one thing in common, IMO, their driven by a form of spiritual narcissism that I find off-putting. A type of "prosperity gospel" (only without the Christianity) and with some blend of eastern wisdom and Indigenous traditions combined with bat-shit stuff like healing crystals all adopted with the central concept of acquiring material "abundance". It been very upsetting.
“Once statistical models account for a person’s religious participation, however, religious belief per se does not systematically bring additional benefits.”
I don’t buy that religious belief doesn’t bring systematic benefits. Consider research on the AA program, which has helped as many as 10 million achieve sobriety:
“A pattern emerged. Alcoholics who practiced the techniques of habit replacement, the data indicated, could often stay sober until there was a stressful event in their lives—at which point, a certain number started drinking again, no matter how many new routines they had embraced. However, those alcoholics who believed, like John in Brooklyn, that some higher power had entered their lives were more likely to make it through the stressful periods with their sobriety intact.” (The Power of Habit)
The problem is not with atheism per se. The problem is with atheists who do not consistently apply an across the board skepticism toward all paranormal and supernatural claims. If one's atheism derives from an interpretation of our physical world as being self contained, with no supernatural realms, then belief in astrology, fortune telling, reincarnation, and the like would automatically drop off. A consistent atheism incorporates an empirically based skepticism toward all claims of occurrences and abilities that, if true, would violate the laws of nature as we currently understand those laws.
I understand the article but find it as overflowing things. For example, polarization is a part of democracy as during the civil rights movement. People have different opinions and choices in free and open societies. There are also "memetic tribes" and not all of them are far-right nor far-left. Also, secularism should also be about going beyond outdated and nationalist ideas on culture, community, and state in order to create universal states based on human rights and global affections, decentralized communities, and some kind of world citizenship.
But is it anything new? My impression is that New Agey stuff was more popular a generation ago than it is now. And a generation before that it was the peak of cults (Hare Krishna, Moonie, Guru Maharaj Ji etc.).