In The Narcissistic Personality of Our Time, I discussed the trade-off of modernity, which recapped the ideas of A Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch. The belief of modern society, and perhaps even more so in the future, with the rise of techno-utopianism, is the belief that a combination of multiple autophile behaviors will be an adequate substitute for traditional communities and social contracts – that impel the individual to direct their libidinal energy away from the ego.
In the past, when people directed this energy outwards, it grounded them and gave them a sense of humility. In today’s more self-centered world, the individual believes that the community owes them something. That is not to say that the community does not owe the individual, a hard-working member, anything for their efforts. But it is the attitude that is in question.
In the modern world, as Harari points out in Homo-Deus (summary), it is not so much the cult leaders or religious leaders that are worshipped anymore, but the technologists in Silicon Valley that promise a post human utopia, or the meditation/wellness enterprises that sell you a selection of spiritual products for a monthly subscription with a money-back-guarantee. But the picture is more nuanced that what Harari would have you believe. The modern narcissist worships many new forms of religion.
If you’ve ever been to a yoga studio or a CrossFit class, ever practiced “self-care” with a ten-step Korean beauty routine or a Gwyneth Paltrow–sanctioned juice cleanse, ever written or read Internet fan fiction, ever compared your spiritual outlook to a Dungeons and Dragons classification (“lawful good, chaotic evil”) or your personal temperament to that of a Hogwarts house, ever channeled your sense of cosmic purpose into social justice activism, ever tried to “bio-hack” yourself or used a meditation app like Headspace, you’ve participated in some of these trends…
Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World. Tara Isabella Burton
Burton describes the new kinds of cults that have emerged in the modern world, particularly in the U.S. She describes the phenomenon of “remixed religions.” Before internet forums existed, an individual was handed down a traditional set of beliefs that they would then pass on to their children, and if they chose not to, they would lead secular lives, often isolated. Seldom would they find like-minded people.
In the internet age, the picture looks quite different. Burton takes us back to 2001.
After 9/11, Jerry Falwell, the provocateur of the religious right, blamed the attacks on “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians” and the liberals who tried to “secularize America.” Sam Harris, the atheist intellectual, predicted 5 years later (in an interview with Wired magazine) that the America he lived in was a secular nation, as opposed to America decades or centuries ago. The Four Horsemen of the New Atheist movement, which includes Harris Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennet lauded the modern rise of secularism. In other words, both sides were in agreement. Compared to the America that existed half a century ago, or 300 years ago, modern America had become a secular nation. Some saw it as a sign of Armageddon, others saw is as a triumph of science and reason.
The Rise of the Nones
But what do the numbers say? Is America really more secular? Burton presents the numbers. In 2007, 15 percent of Americans called themselves religiously unaffiliated (not part of any traditional organized religion). By 2012, the number went up to 20 percent (and to 30 percent for adults under 30). Now, those numbers are even higher. Around 25 percent of Americans say they have no religion, and when looking at millennials (those born after 1990) – those numbers reach almost 40 percent.
The religious Nones, are they are known, are the biggest religious demographic in America, and the fastest growing one. As a group, they outnumber white evangelicals (who only make up 15 percent of the population). At first, one gets the impression that Falwell and Harris were both right, America had truly become a secular nation.
But Burton looks a little closer. While more Americans say they don’t belong to an organized religion, that doesn’t mean they aren’t spiritual, or even that they don’t believe in a Judeo-Christian God. Only around 7 percent of Americans identify as “atheist” or “agnostic.” Most say they’re “nothing in particular.” 72 percent of Nones they believe in either the God of the Bible or something else.
According to a 2018 Pew Research Center study, 55 percent of the religiously unaffiliated believe in a higher power or spiritual force distinct from that described in the Judeo-Christian Bible. Furthermore, an additional 17 percent of the unaffiliated said that they believed precisely in the God of the Abrahamic Bible. Forty-six percent of those Nones talk to God, or this higher power, regularly, and 13 percent say that God talks back. Forty-eight percent of them think that a higher power has protected them throughout life. Forty-one percent say that it has rewarded them. Twenty-eight percent say it has punished them. Forty percent experience a sense of “spiritual peace and well-being” at least once a week—a percentage that actually increased by five points between 2007 and 2014. Forty-seven percent believe in the presence of “spiritual energy” in physical objects. Forty percent believe in psychics. Thirty-eight percent in reincarnation. Thirty-two percent in astrology. And 62 percent, it turns out, in at least one of those four.
Strange Rites, Tara Isabella Burton
This article is a stub. The rest of it can be found in my book, The Dichotomy of the Self.