As the world heads towards a ‘post-religious’ life, many struggle to find meaning: Wash Post columnist
Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid entertained the concept of what society might look like if traditional structures are replaced by an individual-focused outlook.
His opinion piece published Tuesday speculated about the makeup of such a society and how the world has changed as a byproduct of becoming more secular. It was titled, "The dilemmas of living in a post-religious world."
The column also highlighted that a society focusing on the individual's "freedom to choose" can also choose to return to the traditions that have been largely ignored with time.
"We are trapped. If spiritual or religious traditions have largely disappeared from our lives, we can work consciously and deliberately to reintroduce them or strengthen the ones that we have held on to," he wrote near the end of his piece.
"I hope to do some of this in 2024. Constraints can be liberating. But no matter what we choose, we make a choice. This is a weight but also a blessing. Because in the end, the choice is ours alone."
It's no secret – Americans are becoming less religious across the board, with the youngest seemingly moving further away than their older counterparts.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a Gallup poll indicated faith in God reached its lowest level ever, and those age 18-29 saw the biggest decline.
A more recent The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll revealed that approximately 30% of Americans identify as non-religious, with 43% of those aged 18-29 identifying with no religion.
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Perhaps it speaks to what Hamid, who reflected on his Muslim upbringing in his article, noted about "personal autonomy and experience" eclipsing tradition, posing a challenge to return to the way things were before.
"I have often felt a certain tension between the comfort of religious rules and ritual and the excitement and wide-openness that come with the removal of constraint. I got older," he wrote. "The more I learned, the more I knew. And the more I knew, the more I had doubts about what I had known before."
But the allure of this choice has drawbacks and can even be daunting, he warned.
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"As the hold of religion weakens, it becomes harder to understand whether our choices have been the ‘right’ ones. Our standards and judgments no longer refer to traditions; they become self-referential," he argued.
"This sense of endless choice injects into our lives an undercurrent of nearly perpetual panic, of never knowing whether we’re living as we should. Yet we become so used to our freedom to choose that we insist on retaining it regardless of the consequences."
Those who identify as more religious appear to be happier and more secure in several key areas of life, according to a Pew Research Center report from 2019, which found that those affiliated with religion were more likely to consider themselves "very happy" in most countries included.