Western Culture & The Death of God
The German philosopher Nietzsche was famous for invoking the aphorism “God is dead” sometime in the 19th century and forevermore, those of us living in the present have been vaguely haunted by this ominous phrase. Never mind the context that Nietzsche wrote it in, the manner in which this phrase is worrisomely turned over and over by many today shows how hazily unsettled we are by it, and what very well may be the piercing truth nestled within these three short words.
It’s quite difficult to definitively posit whether a culture is “in decline” (particularly if you live in it) and thus, I don’t enjoy appearing to make that assumption. Owing to our puritan origins, Americans have long been anxiously preoccupied with the prospect of cultural decline. However, it’s hard not to bear witness to the secularist malaise afflicting our culture today and lazily drifting across society.
There has been a bit of a collapse of tradition and a decay in the strength of communities. In addition, the durability of the American family has arguably been crumbling and divorce rates haven’t shown any signs of minimizing in the near future. Rates of mental illness climb each day. These instances and many others can all be seen as potential symptoms of a broader philosophical attitude currently underpinning our culture that is lacking in God, as unsatisfactorily diffuse as that…
