05/31/2025
Question time!
Today’s topic: What is left in our world/society that is still sacred?
Okay, so, I know that this is going to be entirely subjective and still I'm curious.
Looking out into the world, it feels to me like there isn't anything left in the western world that is still sacred. To be clear, we should define the word sacred. According to the Collin's dictionary sacred is defined as "devoted or dedicated to a deity or to some religious purpose; consecrated".
While I could agree with this definition, it feels to me to too dogmatic and loaded by using the the word religious, whether that’s the appropriate term or not. For me, sacred is something that you hold veneration for, near and dear to your soul. It does not instill a feeling of pride or boastfulness, as the only relationship to it that matters is a deeply personal one. Something worthy of protection. Put another way, the highest good, or something to strive for internally.
It is not something to be marketed or sold. But in today's world it seems everything has been commodified and has become transactional, whether that monetarily or socially.
Which leads me to ask the question...
What if anything left in our world/society is still sacred today?
I’m deeply curious what you all think..
I’d have to say the things that are sacred to me are love, respect, vulnerability, forgiveness, patience, presence, connection, intimacy, kindness, community, passion, exploration and all the other things I express my gratitude for daily.
But with the advent of social media we’ve somehow found a way to turn all of these abstractions and constructs into leverage for marketing. One example being the videos of “kind strangers” giving those in need large sums of money only to turn around and monetize said video. Or dating apps selling people the promise of connection and intimacy. All things that we could experience for ourselves and free of charge.
It just feels to me like every aspect of human experience has been synthesized into a cheap and unfulfilling knock off of the real thing. Not strong enough to be satiating, but just strong enough to keep people coming back to pay again… intentionally addictive and ultimately self destructive, it just feels evil.
It should be said, I understand money is a necessary function in large scale societies and still I don’t think that is the only possible path. I also don’t think things at large scale are inherently good either. Personally, efficiency should never be valued more than humanity
