The Illusion of a Pagan West
The West is shifting from Christianity to neo-paganism, retaining Christian-derived values like human rights. This indicates a redefinition of spirituality rather than an abandonment of it.
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the modern era, the reality is that many who identify as pagans still operate within a framework heavily influenced by Christian values. The article discusses the cultural shift in the West, suggesting that as Christianity recedes, a form of neo-paganism is emerging, characterized by a focus on the immanent and the material world. This shift is seen as a rejection of the Christian heritage that shaped Western civilization. The author argues that while there is a growing fascination with pagan symbols and practices, many of the values espoused by modern pagans—such as human rights and ecological awareness—are rooted in Christian thought. The piece concludes that despite the apparent rise of paganism, the underlying religious impulse remains, indicating that society is not abandoning spirituality but rather redefining it in a contemporary context.
- The West is experiencing a cultural shift away from Christianity towards neo-paganism.
- Modern paganism often retains values derived from Christianity, such as human rights and ecological sensitivity.
- The article suggests that the spiritual void left by Christianity is being filled by new forms of belief and practice.
- Despite the rise of pagan symbols, many who identify as pagans still engage in a religious discourse influenced by Christian values.
- The author posits that society is not abandoning spirituality but is instead redefining it in a modern context.
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5 commentsI would say there is a mistreatment and reductionistic mischaracterization of the current age as a “void”. Further, the choice of paganism (belief) and the “void” is a false dichotomy. Post-structuralism partially developed as a response to the “void”.
I don’t think you can faithfully engage with post-structural ideas and simply write it off as nonsense—they seem to answer a lot of the questions in the article.
Particularly the part where the author suggests atheists form a sort of pseudo-religion. I think post-structuralism deals with how to operate when left only with belief and narrative (i.e. only the pseudo-pagan performance). The conclusions in the article seem very similar to post-structural first principles/common strands of thinking.
Of course, you could write off those post-structural ideas as non-sense because it attempts to make sense of nothing (literally, the “void”). Sort of a garbage in garbage out scenario.
I could probably write a whole essay in response, so to cut it short I just said “post-structural ideas”, which, in fairness, is broad, generally a very loaded term, and in need of some more elaboration.
If we look at history though, it doesn't seem likely that they did. A minority of people were like that and those around them went along with it so that they could get on with life. In terms of the article, people already lived in "the void".
Nowadays, for whatever reason (of which we could probably speculate many causes and paths to where we are now), those with religious fevour have lost power in the West, even if they hold high office. So the majority now does not need to profess a particular faith. If we get something wrong, instead of being punished, we just shrug and say whatever.
I think there's modern examples that test this idea. In Afghanistan, under US occupation, the majority was not feverenty Islamic. They just got on with things. When the US withdrew, that religious minority took over and now we see what has happened.
As though these elements were not somehow intrinsic to pretty much every human civilization...
The empire never ended.
-- Horselover FatRelated
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