"In today's atomized digital world, is there a way for a community of faith to grow, not simply as individuals who identify as part of a religious group but truly as a community? Take, for example, a pastor who goes on TikTok and Instagram to build a following. You could argue that this is good for their church because they're getting out the good word and meeting young people where they live, so to speak."
"When I began this series of columns about religion and politics, I did not set out to proselytize on behalf of a specific set of beliefs, especially not ones of any spiritual variety. But I did hope to get at why we, as Americans, seem to have such a hard time these days coming to a moral consensus. I have found myself circling one question:"
Mindfulness once emphasized interbeing and a collective social dimension, but that social aspect has largely faded. Digital atomization and social-media sermonizing risk producing individualized belief rather than genuine communal faith. Pastoral outreach via platforms like TikTok and Instagram can increase visibility without building the mutual ties that sustain communities. Progressive movements historically relied on congregational networks for organizing and social services; faith organizations continue humanitarian work, often quietly. Widespread loneliness and constant phone use prioritize personal optimization and commodified self-care, encouraging critics to describe contemporary mindfulness as a capitalistized spirituality.
Read at The New Yorker
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]