Politics, parenting, and other secular things we put our faith in
We’re religious about lots of things, says David Zahl. Just not God.
In Review
Seculosity
How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do about It
Last Halloween I lit some logs in the fire pit, put a chair in the driveway, and passed out candy to the many versions of Elsa, BB-8, and Captain America who crept up my sidewalk. We’d just moved to the neighborhood. Sometime after dusk gave way to dark, a neighbor ambled up to the fire. We’d exchanged pleasantries a few times before. Noticing the bumper stickers on our cars, we’d congratulated each other on both graduating from the University of Virginia. Otherwise, we’d remained strangers.
He offered me a postcard announcing a Dessert with Democrats gathering. “We’d love to have you there,” he said, and asked about placing some campaign signs in my “ideally positioned” front yard. When I demurred on using the parsonage lawn for political advertising, he spoke of the stakes come November.
“Thanks, really,” I tried, “I’m just not . . . I’m . . . independent.”
