Contrary to the widespread belief in a rational and atheistic modern world, it is argued that Western technical society has not witnessed the disappearance of religion, but rather its metamorphosis and transfer to new objects of worship. The decline of Christendom did not result in a spiritual vacuum but opened the space for the emergence of new and powerful secular religions—notably politics, technique, and consumerism—which now possess modern man in an even more totalitarian way, precisely because they are not recognized as such.
⛪️Deconstructing the Myth of Secularization
The starting point for understanding the modern condition is to correct a monumental diagnostic error. The thesis of "secularization," popularized by contemporary theologians and sociologists, is based on a flawed premise: that the decline of Christianity is equivalent to the decline of religion in general. This hasty generalization confuses the end of a specific historical formation, Christendom, with the end of the human religious need (Ellul, 1978).
Today's society is not irreligious; it is post-Christian. This means that although it has abandoned the structures and self-evidences of Christendom, it remains profoundly marked by its heritage, manifesting traumas, hopes, and spiritual needs in a secularized form. Man has not become "adult" and rational, but has simply found new gods to fill the void left by the old one.
🧭The Displacement of the Sacred
The sacred, understood as the sphere of the untouchable, the absolute, and that which gives order to the world, has not been eliminated; it has been displaced. Whereas in traditional societies the sacred manifested in Nature, in modern society it has been transferred to man's new existential environment: the technical and social milieu.
Two main axes are identified around which the new sacred is organized, each with a pole of "order" and another of "transgression":
The Technique-Sex Axis: Technique represents the sacred of order, efficiency, and power. It is untouchable and revered. In contrast, Sex, in its modern exaltation, functions as the sacred of transgression, the Dionysian force that promises liberation from the technical order.
The State-Nation/Revolution Axis: The State-Nation consolidates itself as the other great sacred of order, demanding absolute devotion and sacrifice. Revolution emerges as its counterpart, the sacred of transgression, the chaotic festival that seeks to break this established order (Ellul, 1978).
📜The Rise of New Myths
This new sacred is sustained by a set of modern myths that function as a "global driving image," an irrational and powerful representation that explains reality and mobilizes action. The fundamental myths of our era are:
History: Elevated from a mere narrative to a force with its own meaning, the ultimate judge of good and evil.
Science: Seen not as a method, but as the source of absolute truth, salvation, and unlimited power.
From these, secondary myths or "image-beliefs" are derived, permeating the collective imagination, such as Progress, Youth, Happiness (material), and the class struggle (Ellul, 1978).
🏛️The Manifestations of Secular Religions
The new sacreds and myths are organized into concrete religions, with rituals, dogmas, and communities of the faithful. These manifest in two main forms.
The first are the more diffuse and spontaneous expressions: the proliferation of astrology and esotericism, the hippie culture as a search for spiritual community, the use of drugs as a mystical experience, the exaltation of violence as a purifying act, and, above all, consumerism as a frantic cult, with advertising serving as its liturgy.
The second, and most structured, is the Political Religion. Regimes such as Nazism, Stalinism, and Maoism are not mere ideologies but complete secular religions, replicating point by point the structure of a traditional religion: the deified leader (God), the party (clergy), the foundational texts (Holy Scriptures), the theory (dogma), the heroes (saints), and the mass rallies (worship) (Ellul, 1978). This political religiosity, far from being an outdated phenomenon, extends today to the entire political sphere, transforming it into the realm of the absolute and of blind faith.
🔑Conclusion
Modern man is not a free, rational, and "adult" being who has overcome religion. On the contrary, he is profoundly possessed by new religious forces that he himself has created to make his existence bearable in a technical, atrocious, and seemingly meaningless world. These new religions are all the more alienating because, by presenting themselves under the mask of rationality (Science), objectivity (History), or pragmatism (Politics), they prevent man from recognizing his own enslavement. The most urgent task is not to adapt faith to a world falsely diagnosed as secular, but rather to unmask and combat these new idols that demand the total sacrifice of man (Ellul, 1978).
📚References
Ellul, Jacques. Los nuevos poseídos. Caracas: Monte Avila Editores, 1978.
👤About the author
Jacques Ellul was a Reformed Protestant deeply rooted in the French Calvinist tradition, but always in a critical position towards ecclesiastical institutions, both Protestant and Catholic. His faith was characterized by a radical Christianity, centered on the absolute primacy of grace and the freedom of the believer before the world, which led him to reject any form of institutionalized Christianity or religious power. Instead of advocating for a restoration of traditional forms, Ellul adopted a stance that many have called “Christian anarchism,” highlighting the tension between the Gospel and human structures, and insisting that the Church is only faithful when it remains free from the temptation to identify with political, cultural, or technical power.