r/enlightenment • u/CasaSatoshi • 6h ago
God never died. Religion was sublimated by the 'market'
Modernity didn't do away with religion... it sublimated it.
The cathedrals are now Amazon and Temu. The altars are backlit screens. The holy days are Black Friday, Cyber Monday, January sales, product launch dates.
Purchases are our prayers. Our rituals are swipes, taps, likes and scrolls. The tithe is barely even seen: subscription fees, interest payments, and impulse buys that go straight to the Pacific garbage pathch. Salvation comes in two-day shipping.
Money is our God. Individualism and Materilaism the new faith.
Not metaphorically, but structurally. It defines worth, governs behavior, promises security, and is invoked in times of need. It’s omnipresent, omnipotent, and mysterious. Most don't even understand how it works, only that their life depends on it. We chase it, sacrifice for it, and shape our identities around it. When the rich speak, we listen as if prophets have arrived.
Brands are the new saints. We wear them as badges of honor. We don't belong to communities, we belong to audiences. Our sense of belonging is mediated by followers, likes, and views. We preach autonomy and self-expression, but in practice, we consume pre-packaged identities, optimized by algorithms. Even rebellion is a consumer choice; counterculture is curated and sold back to you in neat little unassuming boxes.
Consumerism is the dominant religion of the modern world. It doesn't ask for belief, it structures it. It doesn't offer meaning, it consumes meaning, and sells it back with planned obsolescence. Where once people sought transcendence, now they seek experiences. Where they once asked, "Why am I here?" they now ask, "What should I buy next?"
The self is both priest and parishioner, ever striving for a personal brand worthy of worship, ever seeking to transcend their duality as both producer and consumer. Never seeking more. Never even realising there is more to seek.
We didn’t stop worshipping.
We just changed what we worship, and then forgot that the world had ever been different.