Religion is making a comeback in politics, culture, and philosophy – that is the defining feature of our time. Apocalyptic visions of salvation can be found just as much on the American right and among tech libertarians as on the postcolonial left and in its fascination with the death cults of political Islam. They can be found in Russian fantasies of a vast empire, but also where people strive for liberation from authoritarian constraints – as a longing for salvation from a world that can no longer conceive of community except in terms of social networks.
In his new essay, Jens Balzer shows how authoritarian thinking and religion become intertwined, but at the same time asks whether motives such as humility, grace, and ultimately salvation can show us a way out of the authoritarian constraints of the present. Can religious thought foster forms of community that counteract the false communalization of people, their isolation, and alienation in a world governed by digital technology? Can genuine religious thought be defended against the abuse of religion? And don’t we actually need this religious thought in order to be truly redeemed?
Essay
Jens Balzer, born in 1969, lives in Berlin and is a feature writer for DIE ZEIT. His previously by Matthes & Seitz Berlin published essays Ethics of Appropriation (2022) and After Woke (2023) have been translated into Spanish, the first one also into Italian.
