Our need for religion hasn’t gone anywhere

Idol worship is more common than ever. Today, we only have to wake up and look at our phones to see the modern gods telling us how to live.

Living in a highly consumerist society can leave people feeling empty and unfulfilled. Even more so having access to material comforts, conveniences, and digital stimuli 24/7.

When we as humans have secured all our survival and food needs, we tend to look for something greater than a pure humdrum existence. We want to be excited. We want to find a sense of purpose and meaning in life.

Today we are flooded with self-help books and good old spirituality has made a dashing return to our tech-ridden lives. Is this just propelled by tech or was it meant to be as soon as we renounced our religious beliefs and traditional values?

The popularity of yoga, spiritual healing, entertainment, coaches, and self-help books can very well be a direct response to the aimlessness that you feel when everything is taken care of for you but you are given no bigger context or goal as to why you exist. You aren’t a robot after all.

We are geared towards listening to the norm

Celebrities and public figures aren’t something new. In ancient times, there were various individuals and groups that could be considered equivalent to modern-day celebrities.

In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, priests and priestesses held significant power and influence over the people. They were often seen as middle managers who worked between the gods and the people. Their religious teachings and practices formed the cultural norms.

We also had rulers and monarchs. kings, queens, and emperors dictated how the people should live. These figures often had divine or semi-divine status.

To listen to someone wiser than you is a basic human trait. Today we are listening to content creators, politicians, and journalists. But historically, we used to give a lot of weight to what well-educated intellectuals had to say. In some ancient societies, intellectuals such as philosophers, poets, and scholars were highly respected and celebrated. Their ideas and writings helped to shape the culture and beliefs of their time.

Modern-day equivalents

In place of the former religion that once ruled western societies, we now have public figures in the media owned by companies who form our view of the world and decide on what is right and wrong, moral and immoral.

We might not think we need religion anymore, but the concept of religion is an inherent need in our DNA. So when we remove the element of the religion that used to "teach" the people, it is replaced by things like:

• Celebrities

• Politicans

• Ads from companies

• Organized media (funded by politicians and corporations)

The politician who stands in a press conference lecturing people about personal health like in the case of COVID-19 (religious commandments) or scaring them that the world is about to end (apocalyptism) These are very clear examples of something that religion used to do to keep people in check and in accordance with their will.

Then we have overnight celebrities on social media that influence millions of young minds. Let’s just say that the influencers, and sometimes the childrens, message is not always necessarily one of good virtue or well-thought-out life advice.

Of course, famous people and entertainers can sometimes have a positive message, as can some politicians. But to have your voice heard in the modern landscape of digital chaos, you often need to resort to simplified messaging and clickbait. So the ones who have something good to say easily get lost in the mix.

Personal cults on Social

We have technology that makes worship between non-leaders possible. It is common to find personal cults on social media. This technology makes the messaging go unprecedentably fast, so the truth of one day can be challenged the next. The multifaceted nature of the internet allows for multiple truths, as opposed to the way we are used to living, which is having some tribal leaders or religious influence that promote a steady and well-thought-out message to make us behave and live in accordance with virtues.

This is today not as clear, and when we have some parts of a religion, like the idol worship, but the morals and cohesiveness that come with a solid body of work, that is a religion that has lasted over hundreds of years (it changes gradually, of course).

A religion based on nature

The idea of recycling, pollution, and ecological living has emerged lately. Again, these ideas are not something new. We have had great civilizations that are built upon the idea of living in harmony with their surroundings and going no further than nature to spark their imagination and idol worship.

For example, the sun was seen as an object of worship with the ancient Egyptians. They had a religion that incorporated many natural elements, including the sun.

The ancient Greeks also incorporated natural elements into their mythology. Gods and goddesses were associated with the natural world, like Apollo, the god of the sun, and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. The Greeks also had a strong connection to the sea, which played an important role in their economy and culture.

The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that went strong for about 3500 years. They had a complex religion that incorporated many elements of nature, including the sun, moon, and stars. Their rituals and traditions were focused on agriculture and fertility, much like the ancient Celts. And the Inca And so on.

Can we really have environmentally friendly lives with the current "gods"?

It’s pretty clear to all now that the way the world operates is not friendly to our environment, and in effect, not to us either. Corporations, celebrities, and politicians do not address our need for life guidance, nor do they really encourage people daily to lead a lifestyle of non-consumerism and ecological ways.

And facts are now pointing towards a decline in mental health and fertility in many parts of the world.

A new nature-oriented religion that arises organically from the grass roots could be an important component in creating a more environmentally sustainable society.

A new, more organized religion could help in the long run to promote a greater appreciation for the natural world and encourage people to live in harmony with the environment. These self-help books and spiritual leaders that pop up in social media may be the beginnings of such a movement or religion that we also need for mental health as well as solving environmental problems.