We live in interesting times, despite being culturally and politically divided. However, for a short time, the need to enact lockdowns or mandates seemed so urgent that it appeared that the Woke elites would be able to ride the crisis to end civilization.
This is why I was asked to write a chapter on religion for the book Against the Great Reset. Eighteen Theses against The New World Order. It is easy to assume only clergymen, atheists and theologians can discuss this topic. It has become evident that secular religions, sometimes of the apocalyptic variety have dominated Western discourse over 400 years. Michael Shellenberger pointed out that:
Environmentalism is today’s dominant secular religion in many countries. This language uses science-based language to make this distinction.
It is hard to ignore the Great Reset’s secular religiosity. The Great Reset attempted to change the world in a complicated way. However, the more uncertainty and risk it created, it was harder to understand.
As I was writing my chapter, it became clear that complex systems like the biosphere, climate, and human society were not predictable over time. It was a mistake to believe that there was.
Information is often seen as a surprise. This poses a problem to millenarian movements. This means that God, or, if reality is your preference, God, can always throw a curveball. The interactive universe makes it more difficult for the Great Reetters to reveal new information and make changes to the Five Year Plan. The interactive universe makes it more difficult for them to bear disgruntled people and to respond in unexpected ways.
Let’s declare a Pandemic amnesty. We didn’t know. Through a class on COVID that I teach at Brown University, I have been reflecting on this ignorance.
