Benjamin Cain
Mar 25, 2023

--

I agree that secular humanists face a meaning crisis, as John Vervaeke calls it, and I've criticized secular societies a lot. Still, I think you're oversimplifying the situation. Modern secularism didn't arise from nowhere, but from the discrediting of organized religion in Europe. The problem, then, is that as hollow as consumerism, liberalism, and Chinese pragmatic materialism may be, theistic religion rings more hollow these days because science showed us what the universe really is, and scientific explanations are godless. Moreover, science proves itself with mighty feats of technological application. There's no comparable proof of religious creeds. At best, religions make us feel better, but so would a comforting, socially sanctioned lie. So the conflict is between religious faith and modern knowledge, and the winner in that conflict isn't so clear.

--

--

Benjamin Cain
Benjamin Cain

Written by Benjamin Cain

Ph.D. in philosophy / Knowledge condemns. Art redeems. / https://benjamincain.substack.com / https://ko-fi.com/benjamincain / benjamincain8@gmailDOTcom

Responses (1)