The Godless Generation & The Rise in "A Life With No Purpose"

Have You Prayed To Yourself Today?

In an age where it’s preferable to identify as “spiritual” rather than “religious” to avoid the social stigmas associated with religions that tend to deplore and disesteem modern living, it seems our reclamation of self has come at a greater price than expected.

A quick scroll across social feeds reveals a trend of not only depression and anxiety amongst those struggling to exist under economic pressures but also a trend of apathy… of a haunting listlessness that The Barbie Movie (2023) echoed accurately, we all seem to want to know “What Was I Made For?”

Margot Robbie as Barbie in Warner Brother Studio’s 2023 film “Barbie”

But it’s possible that this sense of purposelessness is due in part to a loss in mythology and centralized belief systems. It may also be due to an idea lost in translation years ago when the separation of the idea of God and self occurred. Both ancient Sanskrit and Indo-European words that later evolved into English terms for “God” once held meanings regarding the self. Prayer to God and prayer to self were one in a literal sense. Additionally, the same psychology that supports the benefits of mantras, affirmations, or positive speech in general nods toward a somewhat practical explanation for “miraculous prayer”. But we’ll expound on all of that later in this article…

The Void Left By Spiritual Liberation

Anthems like Beyonce’s “Church Girl” hone in on the younger generation’s desire to exist outside of the critical and at times damning community of the church. But with the removal of a system or code for living or an idea that acts as a sense of hope and comfort in times of uncertainty the absence of religion in mainstream culture has left a void. If one is not following a religious doctrine and making life choices based on their “mission from God” then how will they best make life decisions in a world where you can be and do anything?

It could be spectacled that this in part has driven the popularity of esoteric practices such as Human Design and Astrology. Though it should be noted that the latter is not a system of living or belief system, it’s a language system that creates shorthand for historically observed patterns. But you’d never know that from the adoption of Zodiac Signs as nouns in pop culture.

It’s like everyone’s looking for a new god. Or at least a new god concept. When the masses collected had their consciousness liberated from the oppression of standardized Christian living and the original American dream (getting a job + a spouse = success, happiness, & fulfillment) it left them - us -with a void that may be worse than the rejection felt in religious systems.

Here’s why…

Human Beings Need a “God” concept