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We live in an uncanny nihilistic age.
As science and rationality became increasingly powerful in the 19th
century, the legitimacy of an external god as a source of answers or
truth was no longer tenable. The industrial revolution as a method
of thinking presented the initial societal shift in ideology away from
faith in favor of total functionality and pragmatism. This was followed
in the late 20th century with the computer age and then the information
age, wherein machines programmed to follow logical methodologies became
both the tools for uncovering answers and the definitive reference for
truths. In the span of less than 200 years, belief in an invisible God
who answered prayers had declined considerably as the visible results of
pragmatism and function slowly gained converts through its method of
tangible demonstration. But with this loss of faith in God also came
a loss of faith in general.
It should then be no surprise that the typical person today really
believes in nothing at all. An honest
observation of how they behave makes it difficult to take them seriously
if they assert they have any aspirations. Despite the great potential many
people possess, you will see them repeatedly wasting their time, acting
against their best interests, compromising and demonstrating disbelief in
possibilities, choosing ready-made answers, taking short-cuts that always
backfire in the long run, acting out of habit rather than free will, and
behaving predictably as if they were little more than simple machines
programmed to follow instructions. They might claim to have dreams they
are pursuing, but those are likely to be externalized, subject to the
desires and expectations of others, rather than something that is part
of a coherent identity and thought process.
The reasons for the lack of faith can be traced to the mode of
production in society. The triumph of pragmatism means that the human
accepts a reduction to function and the implied duty of serving that
function. Because post-industrial society is organized around economic
function, the individual is connected to nothing and exists only to
serve a role in the machine's operation. Psychologically, the lack of
connection means that one has no foundation to believe in anything,
and instead learns to accept function and subservience as a method of
dealing with society. As a result of believing in nothing, the person
will be endlessly confused by anything difficult in life because they
have established no basis for understanding or accepting the world
around them, i.e. they have effectively cut themselves off from life by
living a machine existence. In fitting with the pragmatic model, they
have forsaken their spirit so they can act as machine, and so they must
also accept the consequences.
This loss of faith today haunts even Judeo-Christianity. For many people
Judeo-Christianity has become merely aesthetic garb, a cover of "goodness"
that parents strive to hang over a child with their introduction of religion
to an impressionable mind that believes anything it is told. As the child
grows into an adult, they alter and reinterpret the religion they were
handed to fit their own desires while retaining little more than the
socially acceptable title of Judeo-Christian to show others their piety -
as well as to justify to themselves everything they do, whether good, bad,
or confused.
When difficult situations confront them, they can blow off the possibility
of a comprehensible understanding by telling themselves that God works in
mysterious ways and that whatever happens is God's will, thus suggesting
determinism and a lack of free will while evading any need for the
individual to make sense of the world around them or take responsibility
for their direction and personal growth.
The societal values of pragmatism continually erode the once firm
foundation of Judeo-Christian values, robbing them of a solid anchor.
While pre-marital sex, drinking alcohol, drug use, and other behaviors
were considered "bad" by Judeo-Christians a generation or two ago,
they are now justified within certain limits, or even undertaken consciously
with the justification that all sins will be forgiven one later.
It seems that the Judeo-Christian God has become so good and understanding
that he allows even thoughtless and habitual indulgence in an age where
so few people still believe in the possibility of uncovering meaning and
living with purpose.
Life offers us far more than what results from adherence to blind dogma
or economic function. There is much that exists, even outside of societal
structure, which is of value and remains worthy of faith, allowing one
to have a perspective for belief in life and consequently a view from
which they can make sense of it.
May you stand firm against the tides of nihilism, dogma, and servitude with
faith enough to seek out what could be. Our dreams can be made real and
the rewards for creating a meaningful life are endless.
-Jesus
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