Lost Religion
I met an entrepreneur today who effectively wants to build a secular religion, drawing together commonalities across existing religions to develop a broad moral framework for a good life, on which most people could agree.
Itβs a massive endeavour, and probably necessitates some form of Messiah complex in the entrepreneur himself.
But the trends are most certainly in his favour. Organised religion has seen a structural decline over the last 50 years through a combination of scientific discovery, globalisation, liberal attitudes and the growth of other pillars of society and culture.
The gap left, though, is troubling for some. Recent data showed an uptick in Christianity amongst 18-24s, part buoyed by charismatic preachers taking to TikTok to despatch their sermons, and part boosted by a growing epidemic of loneliness.
I like the idea that there is some common root framework that sits agnostically over all religions and can guide us towards a better individual and collective life. Iβm skeptical, though, of the right of a private organisation to articulate and preserve it.
The idea that someone, somewhere, is profiting from the salvation of our souls is one of the turn-offs of religion in its original form. Iβm looking forward to watching this attempt play out, though.