You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Religion’ category.
When they are not running the show versus when they are running the show. Funny how that works.
As the scent of glühwein and roasted almonds fills the air at Germany’s beloved Christmas markets this season, an unmistakable pall hangs over the festivities. These centuries-old traditions, rooted in Christian Advent celebrations, are now fortified like fortresses with concrete barriers, armed guards, and soaring security costs—reminders of repeated vehicle-ramming attacks that have claimed dozens of lives.
The most infamous remain the 2016 Berlin market assault by an Islamist terrorist that killed 13, but heightened fears persist amid ongoing threats and the lingering trauma from last year’s deadly incident in Magdeburg. Soaring expenses have forced some smaller towns to cancel their markets altogether, dimming the lights of joy in communities that once gathered freely to honor the birth of Christ. The root of this destabilization lies in unchecked mass immigration, particularly from Muslim-majority countries, which has overwhelmed Germany’s capacity for meaningful integration. Successive waves of newcomers arrive without sufficient pauses for assimilation into German values—secularism, equality, and cultural traditions like these public Christmas celebrations. Many cling to ideologies incompatible with Western society, importing a violent strain of Islam that views such displays as infidel provocations worthy of attack. Without downtime to learn the language, respect women’s rights, or embrace religious tolerance, parallel societies form where radicalism festers, turning public spaces into potential battlegrounds and eroding the social cohesion that once made Germany a beacon of peaceful multiculturalism.
This is the tragic fruit of a violent Islamic religion allowed to take root unchecked: a society forced to barricade its most cherished holidays or cancel them outright. As concrete bollards replace open-hearted welcome, we see the slow surrender of European Christian heritage to fear. Yet in this season of hope, let us remember the true message of Christmas—light piercing darkness. Germany must reclaim control of its borders and demand integration, or risk losing its soul entirely. Merry Christmas, indeed, but one increasingly celebrated behind walls.
*exhales slowly*… Riiiiiiiiight
The question of whether humans possess a “God-shaped hole”—a psychological and social void left by receding religious belief—touches on history, philosophy, and culture. While the topic intersects many debates, this essay focuses on how humans seek meaning, moral structure, and community, and how secular ideologies might fill the space once occupied by traditional faith.
I approach this as a cultural observer, exploring patterns rather than advocating for religious belief. The focus is empirical and interpretive: understanding how belief and moral reasoning manifest in secular societies. Mischaracterizing these dynamics risks polarizing discourse, while careful analysis may illuminate ways societies can channel human propensities constructively.
This discussion operates primarily at the conceptual level—how belief as a cognitive default shapes moral intuitions—and the psychological and cultural outcomes of this tendency, such as meaning-making, accountability, and social cohesion. Institutional or economic factors provide context but are not the central focus.
Critics may argue that humans thrive without religious scaffolding, pointing to highly secular societies with social cohesion or noting that substitutes for belief—wellness culture, fandoms, civic engagement—arise naturally rather than as direct replacements. These perspectives are valid, and the essay explores whether patterns of moral and social organization persist conceptually even as traditional faith declines.
Peter Boghossian’s Substitution Hypothesis frames belief as a cognitive default: “Belief is the default state of the human brain, and when traditional religions decline or fade in a society, other ideologies, dogmas, or delusions inevitably emerge to fill the psychological and social void” (Boghossian, 2025). Secular frameworks can replicate some religious functions: providing moral absolutes, avenues for reflection, and structures for community. Contemporary movements emphasizing systemic justice, identity, and social responsibility may fulfill these functions, echoing familiar moral architectures in secular form.
Evidence for this is nuanced. Western concepts of human dignity, long influenced by religious thought, survive in secular human rights and social equity frameworks (Siedentop, 2014). Cultural self-critique—whether through activism, accountability, or public discourse—reflects enduring moral structures (Holland, 2019). Surveys indicate declining religious affiliation alongside rising ideologies emphasizing collective responsibility (Pew Research, 2021; Gallup, 2021). Counter-evidence reminds us that many social movements were religiously inspired, and that some highly secular societies maintain cohesion without adopting comparable secular “faiths.” Correlation does not prove causation, yet patterns of moral and social organization are notable.
The Substitution Hypothesis offers a lens for exploration: humans may retain a conceptual and emotional predisposition toward belief and moral structure. Whether or not a literal “God-shaped hole” exists, secular societies appear to develop functional substitutes for faith, consciously or unconsciously. Recognizing these patterns invites reflection: can societies deliberately cultivate moral and cultural frameworks that fulfill human needs without resorting to dogmatism or ideological rigidity? The answer may guide the design of resilient and ethically coherent communities in the modern secular era.
References
- Boghossian, P. (2025). Abandoning God: The Rise of Secular Orthodoxy and Cultural Decay. Substack. https://boghossian.substack.com/p/abandoning-god-the-rise-of-secular
- Gallup. (2021). Religious affiliation in the United States. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/religion.aspx
- Pew Research Center. (2021). Religious Landscape Study. https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/
- Siedentop, L. (2014). Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism. Harvard University Press.
- Holland, T. (2019). Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. Basic Books.
Glossary
- God-shaped hole: A metaphor for an innate human longing for meaning, morality, and community.
- Substitution Hypothesis: The idea that secular ideologies can fill gaps left by declining religious belief, providing moral and social structures.
- Conceptual level: Pertaining to ideas, moral frameworks, and cognitive structures rather than institutions or economics.
- Pluralism: Coexistence of multiple belief systems, ideologies, or social practices in a society.
I am an atheist. I do not believe in God, miracles, or an afterlife. Yet I am convinced that without Christianity, the West as we know it would be in deep trouble. This is not a plea for conversion; it is a historical and institutional argument about causation, moral capital, and societal resilience. Christianity supplied the ethical vocabulary, the metaphysical glue, and the organizational scaffolding that transformed a patchwork of tribes into a civilization capable of self-correction and sustained progress. Remove it, and the structure does not stand neutral—it tends toward fragmentation and moral erosion.
Conceding the Objections
The historical record contains horrors: the Inquisition, the Crusades, witch-burnings, and biblical endorsements of slavery and stoning. The Spanish Inquisition executed 3,000–5,000 people over three and a half centuries (Henry Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition, 1997). The Crusades may have claimed 1–3 million lives across two centuries (Thomas Madden, The New Concise History of the Crusades, 2005). Leviticus prescribes death for adultery and homosexuality. These human costs cannot be denied.
Yet scale and context matter. The secular French Reign of Terror executed over 16,000 in a single year (1793–94). Twentieth-century atheist regimes accounted for roughly 100 million deaths in six decades (The Black Book of Communism, 1997). The same biblical canon that justified cruelty also contained the seeds of reform. Jesus’ “let him without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7) and Paul’s “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6) inspired Christian abolitionists to resist literalist cruelty. Christianity, unlike pagan or purely rational codes, possesses an internal dialectic capable of moral self-correction.
The Pre-Christian Baseline
The world Christianity inherited was ethically limited. Rome was an administrative marvel but morally parochial: one in four newborns was exposed on hillsides (W. V. Harris, 1982), gladiatorial combat entertained hundreds of thousands, and slavery was normalized by Aristotle and unchallenged by Cicero. Pagan philanthropy existed—evergetism—but it was episodic, tied to civic prestige, not universal duty.
Christianity introduced a transformative idea: every human being, slave or emperor, bore the image of God (imago Dei). Gregory of Nyssa condemned slavery as theft from the Creator in 379 CE. Constantine’s successors banned infanticide by 361 CE (Codex Theodosianus 3.3.1). These were not Enlightenment innovations; they were theological imperatives that eventually rewrote law and custom.
Institutions That Outlived Their Creed
The West’s institutional DNA is stamped with Christian influence:
- Literacy and knowledge: Monastic scriptoria preserved Virgil alongside the Vulgate. Cathedral schools evolved into Bologna (1088) and Paris (1150)—the first universities, chartered to pursue truth as a reflection of divine order.
- Care systems: Basil of Caesarea built the basilias in the fourth century, a network of hospitals, orphanages, and poor relief. No pre-Christian society systematized charity on this scale.
- Rule of law: The Decalogue’s absolute prohibitions and the Sermon on the Mount’s inward ethic created trust horizons essential for complex societies. English common law, the Magna Carta (1215), and the U.S. Declaration’s “endowed by their Creator” trace their lineage to Christian natural-law theory.
Secular analogues arrived centuries later and proved fragile without transcendent accountability. The Soviet Union inherited Orthodox hospitals but could not sustain them after purging “idealism.”
The Borrowing Fallacy
Many modern atheists condemn Leviticus yet insist on universal dignity. That norm is not self-evident; it is a Christian export. Nietzsche saw this clearly: the “death of God” would undo slave morality and return society to master morality (Genealogy of Morals, 1887). When we demand compassion from power, we are smuggling Christian principles into a secular argument. Strip away the premise, and human relations default to “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must” (Thucydides).
Contemporary Evidence
Secularization correlates with institutional and social atrophy. Europe’s fertility rate hovers at 1.5, and marriage and volunteerism track church attendance downward. The World Values Survey shows that religious societies retain higher interpersonal trust. The West exports human rights grounded in Christian-derived universality; competitors offer efficiency without reciprocity.
Some argue secular humanism could replace Christianity. Yet historical experience shows moral innovation without transcendent accountability is fragile: Enlightenment ethics, while intellectually powerful, required centuries of reinforcement from religiously-informed social norms to take root widely.
A Charitable Conclusion
Christians must acknowledge their tradition’s abuses alongside its capacity for self-correction. Atheists should recognize that our moral vocabulary—equality, compassion, rights—was not discovered by reason alone but forged in a crucible we no longer actively tend. The West lives off borrowed moral capital. When the account empties, we will not revert to a benign pagan golden age; we will confront efficient barbarism dressed in bureaucratic language.
Christianity is not true, in my view. But it was necessary. And it may still be.
References
- Harris, W. V. (1982). Ancient Literacy. Harvard University Press.
- Kamen, Henry. (1997). The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision. Yale University Press.
- Madden, Thomas F. (2005). The New Concise History of the Crusades. Rowman & Littlefield.
- Popper, Karl. (1972). The Open Society and Its Enemies. Princeton University Press.
- The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression (1997). Stéphane Courtois et al. Harvard University Press.
- Nietzsche, Friedrich. (1887). On the Genealogy of Morals.
- Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Trans. Rex Warner. Penguin Classics, 1972.
- Codex Theodosianus. (438 CE). Codex of the Theodosian Code, Book 3, Title 3, Law 1.
- World Values Survey. (2017). “Wave 7 (2017–2020) Survey Data.” Retrieved from https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…