Secularism is the direct consequence of this new autonomy of civil society, for entire areas of social life are, henceforth, conceivable independendy of one another. The need to satisfy metaphysical yearnings is left to individual conscience, and religion loses its status as a force of formal constraint. Contrary to a widespread Eurocentric preconception, however, secularism is not peculiar to Christian society, which demanded its liberation from the heavy yoke of the church. Nor is it the result of the conflict between the "national" state and a church with a universal vocation. For during the Reformation, the church is in fact "national" in its various forms--Anglican, Lutheran, and so forth. Nevertheless, the new fusion of church and state does not produce a new theocracy, but rather, one might say, a religious secularism. Secularism, even though the reactionary ecclesiastical forces fought it, did not root out belief. It even, perhaps, reinforced it in the long run, by freeing it of its formalist and mythological straightjackets. Christians of our time, whether or not they are intellectuals, have no problem accepting that humankind descended from apes and not from Adam and Eve.
Samir Amin, Eurocentrism, The Decline of Metaphysics and the Reinterpretation of Religion.
That's the thing, by religion losing it's place as the arbitrator of certain social norms and by being able to believe in modern Christianity while not having to accept nonsense beliefs (like the world being created in 7 days and being 6000 years old, denying the existence of evolution, extreme homophobia and sexism, being able to wear a "satanic" outfit without being excommunicated from Christianity like Musk did here) belief in religion, paticularly this new kind of Christianity can actually be reinforced.
The quote even checks out in my personal experience. I'm a closeted bisexual, and the church being homophobic and forcing that belief on us was a big reason I left the church and became an atheist as a teenager. The other big part was the denial of science. I couldn't accept that nonsense from them. However, I am meeting LGBT people a few years younger than me who are religious and still go to church, as it's a more accepting environment for them at the particular churches they attend. Thinking back, if I had gone to a more accepting church as a child, a church that accepted the scientific reality of evolution, the big bang, etc and was accepting of LGBT people, would I be an atheist today? Honestly, probably not, I probably would've stayed a Christian.
Going to drop another Samir Amin quote about that phrase in particular.
Nevertheless, another reading can be made of Marx. The often cited phrase--"religion is the opium of the people"--is truncated. What follows this remark lets it be understood that human beings need opium, because they are metaphysical animals who cannot avoid asking themselves questions about the meaning of life. They give what answers they can, either adopting those offered by religion or inventing new ones, or else they avoid worrying about them.
In any case, religions are part of the picture of reality and even constitute an important dimension of it. It is, therefore, important to analyze their social function, and in our modern world their articulation with what currendy constitutes modernity: capitalism, democracy, and secularism.
Techbros and bazinga defeatists are firmly in the "inventing new ones" category. Even in your example, they are acting as if the new technology is some all powerful, inevitable, unstoppable force from above so they may as well worship it cheer on this technological progress. They have essentially in a way, reinvented the concept of God.
I lost count of how many people I've met that saw "progress" as some Civ game style bar that only crawled upward toward specific goal milestones.
As much as I love the series, Civilization has done irreparable harm to the public's understanding of history and how technology develops. People seriously think you can just invent saddles for horseback riding even if you're in a place without horses. G*mers are going to need serious re-education after the revolution.
The series is still stuck in the '90s. Belief in the End of History, Great Man, and so on. The least they could do is look into more systemic analysis and archeological discoveries involving our prehistoric ancestors.
Ahh the idealistic idea that change/adjustment/progress is both inevitable and always positive. You're going to hate me for this, but Samir Amin had something to say about that too.
The fact that these adjustments can be positive or negative argues in favor of an interpretation of historical materialism based on the concept of "under-determination." I mean by this that each of the various levels of reality (economic, political, ideological) contains its own internal logic, and because of this the complementary nature of their evolution, which is necessary to ensure the overall coherence of a system, does not define in advance a given direction for a particular evolution.
and even a brief but fierce moment where dar le VR/AR was the revolutionary hotness.
The fact that we've gone through multiple phases of this in the last decade is extraordinary. First it was Oculus, then Google cardboard/daydream, then Oculus gain, then the Meta quest headsets, and finally Apple vision pro. Everytime it comes up, people are sure that this time VR will go mainstream! Maybe it's time to accept that as social creatures, humans do not want to live with a headset strapped to their face 24/7. Hell, even when we had to cover our faces for a good cause and public benefit, like masking for a pandemic, people invented the most juvenile of excuses to not wear a mask.
I struggle some with this because when I was young, I was taught to weave together every aspect of who I was with the church, then essentially told every part that was me was evil and rotten while every part that was the church was perfect and unassailable. Trying to separate myself from the church or faith often felt like (and often added up to) suicide. So I've mever really been able to fully separate for those reasons, then add in a psychotic disorder with frequent religious delusions and I'm a mess. I believe in Jesus, but I try to keep away from the science denial and queer-phobia. (personally am trans, but that was a long and painful process of discovery) I also try to let other people believe what they believe. If faith is an opium to me, then I am direly addicted to it with no way out I can see. But I'm trying to still be a good human while believing in a faith that all too often oppresses and suppresses other folks, identities, faiths, and cultures.
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That's the thing, by religion losing it's place as the arbitrator of certain social norms and by being able to believe in modern Christianity while not having to accept nonsense beliefs (like the world being created in 7 days and being 6000 years old, denying the existence of evolution, extreme homophobia and sexism, being able to wear a "satanic" outfit without being excommunicated from Christianity like Musk did here) belief in religion, paticularly this new kind of Christianity can actually be reinforced.
The quote even checks out in my personal experience. I'm a closeted bisexual, and the church being homophobic and forcing that belief on us was a big reason I left the church and became an atheist as a teenager. The other big part was the denial of science. I couldn't accept that nonsense from them. However, I am meeting LGBT people a few years younger than me who are religious and still go to church, as it's a more accepting environment for them at the particular churches they attend. Thinking back, if I had gone to a more accepting church as a child, a church that accepted the scientific reality of evolution, the big bang, etc and was accepting of LGBT people, would I be an atheist today? Honestly, probably not, I probably would've stayed a Christian.
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Going to drop another Samir Amin quote about that phrase in particular.
Techbros and bazinga defeatists are firmly in the "inventing new ones" category. Even in your example, they are acting as if the new technology is some all powerful, inevitable, unstoppable force
from aboveso they may as wellworship itcheer on this technological progress. They have essentially in a way, reinvented the concept of God.deleted by creator
As much as I love the series, Civilization has done irreparable harm to the public's understanding of history and how technology develops. People seriously think you can just invent saddles for horseback riding even if you're in a place without horses. G*mers are going to need serious re-education after the revolution.
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The series is still stuck in the '90s. Belief in the End of History, Great Man, and so on. The least they could do is look into more systemic analysis and archeological discoveries involving our prehistoric ancestors.
Ahh the idealistic idea that change/adjustment/progress is both inevitable and always positive. You're going to hate me for this, but Samir Amin had something to say about that too.
deleted by creator
The fact that we've gone through multiple phases of this in the last decade is extraordinary. First it was Oculus, then Google cardboard/daydream, then Oculus gain, then the Meta quest headsets, and finally Apple vision pro. Everytime it comes up, people are sure that this time VR will go mainstream! Maybe it's time to accept that as social creatures, humans do not want to live with a headset strapped to their face 24/7. Hell, even when we had to cover our faces for a good cause and public benefit, like masking for a pandemic, people invented the most juvenile of excuses to not wear a mask.
Under late-stage capitalism, we have so many opium options available now, both literal and metaphorical.
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CW suicidal thoughts, kind of a long rant
I struggle some with this because when I was young, I was taught to weave together every aspect of who I was with the church, then essentially told every part that was me was evil and rotten while every part that was the church was perfect and unassailable. Trying to separate myself from the church or faith often felt like (and often added up to) suicide. So I've mever really been able to fully separate for those reasons, then add in a psychotic disorder with frequent religious delusions and I'm a mess. I believe in Jesus, but I try to keep away from the science denial and queer-phobia. (personally am trans, but that was a long and painful process of discovery) I also try to let other people believe what they believe. If faith is an opium to me, then I am direly addicted to it with no way out I can see. But I'm trying to still be a good human while believing in a faith that all too often oppresses and suppresses other folks, identities, faiths, and cultures.