Is Work The New Religion?

Here’s what we know: Increasingly, people in the United States do not identify as religious. According to the Pew Research Center, the number of Americans who identify as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular” increased by 9% in the decade between 2009 and 2019 for a total of 26% of the adult population, while Christian religions are decreasing their share and non-Christian religions have seen small growth. This shift is even more stark when examined generationally: 25% of Gen X claims no religious affiliation, compared to 40% of Millenials. While over 65% of Americans still name Christianity as their belief system, the shifting social mores have left a void in how and by whom a meaningful life is defined.

Because of this decline, there’s been an increase in discussions about what the “New Religion” is. Here’s a very good, if long, article that essentially argues for “Productivity As The New Religion,” which I’ve heard dozens of times and makes sense. Millions of people live beholden to a to-do list; it’s one of the driving forces of modern society.

Here are some of the other things that have been deemed “The New Religion:”

• Social Media
• Being busy
• Identity
• Polarization
• Political Affiliation
• Vices
• Netflix (ha!)

All of these have merit, and they all paint a picture of a society (mostly American) in decline. I’m not a big fan of right-wing nutjobs, but this Matt Walsh episode from a while back about America having a “God-sized hole” at the center has some merit:

Of these potential “New Religion” takes, my winner would be identity. I think people are so focused on identity, and belonging to some sort of tribe, that they’ll literally sacrifice their life for it, as we’ve seen repeatedly with COVID. It’s more important to be on the Trump/Tucker side of the coin and think Fauci is a Nazi bastard than literally still being alive. That’s nuts to think about, but it’s also completely logical. We evolved in tribes, and over the years we’ve traded purpose for convenience. And while convenience is great — who doesn’t want boxes on their porch in the interest of a guy building a penis rocket? — the downshift of purpose has been hard for people, and they’re scrambling to find a replacement for it. For a few generations, it seemed to be work (men) and childcare (women). But then we got into messy issues of women being smarter and more capable professionally than men, the need for two incomes, declining fertility rates, ridiculous cost of living, also ridiculous child care costs, and we started to live these kinda plodding, despairing lives saved by streaming services. Not true for all, but for many.

That downshift in purpose needed to be filled, and I think most filled it with identity and structuring their lives around “who they belong to,” be that politically or (ironically perhaps) a church or a neighborhood or a sports team or their specific family. Identity became the new religion. I don’t think it’s social media; millions of people still barely use social media, and more and more will exit in coming years, especially as Facebook increasingly becomes old and boring. Politics is a good and logical replacement for religion — they both have cult-like leaders and misquote basic texts on the regular — but look at turnout rates in America and other parts of the world. A lot of people don’t vote, and don’t seem to care. So I wouldn’t elevate that.

Productivity? Yea, maybe. The essay I linked above does a good job with it, including this:

But even more than capital itself, it’s the “getting things done” (apologies to David Allen) that has superseded religion as the primary creator of meaning in our lives. With the exception of prosperity gospel churches and certain famous life coaches, it’s still gauche to admit to wanting to make money — even if that is the socially ingrained metric of meaning for many of us. Instead, we transmute the tangible reward of money into the ethereal reward of work, reverse-engineering our labor to no longer be about monetary compensation but instead to reflect a cultivated love of action. How many boxes have we checked? Words written? Instagram followers gained? Cold leads called? We are doing things in order to make meaning, but somehow there is never enough done, and an ever-increasing demand for ways to do even more.

The thing is, though, there are a lot of unemployed people, generally lazy bums, and do-nothings even in the hallways of supposedly innovative, productive companies. Productivity matters to a select few; it’s typically the same people for whom work is the essence of fun. It’s not a big enough sliver to be called “a religion,” IMHO. I think maybe the best part of COVID work-wise is that it taught people that work is a means to an end and nothing more; if a company needs to furlough you or lay you off to make an imaginary number that some suit in Manhattan set, they will. Oh and PS, if the goal of productivity is money (it is to many), how do we reconcile the fact that money doesn’t mean anything anymore?

All-in, then, I’d vote identity. This is how people organize their lives; it’s the central tenet, whether it’s your Instagram ethos or your political alignment or your HOA speeches. Identity is the new religion. What say you?