The War On Faith: How an overemphasis on rationalism has led the world into an existential crisis

The West is losing its spiritual grounding in pursuit of reason alone

In the modern West, rationalism reigns supreme. From scientific method to secular policymaking, our societies are grounded in logic, empirical data, and materialist thought. Faith and religion, once foundational to civilization, are often seen today as antiquated relics, if not outright threats to progress. While rational inquiry has undoubtedly brought incredible advancements, there is growing unease that something essential has been lost in the process. Have we, in discarding the transcendent, created a spiritual vacuum? In this essay I will explore how Western civilization’s overcorrection against religious dogma has fostered a kind of cultural myopia—an inability to grapple with deeper questions of meaning, purpose, and morality. By retracing the historical arc from the Enlightenment to the modern era, we uncover the irony that in our zeal to free ourselves from perceived superstitions, we may have opened the door to even darker forms of ideological extremism and existential despair.

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‘The Enlightenment’ and the slow rise of reason

The Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries marked a profound shift in Western thinking. Fueled by breakthroughs in science, philosophy, and political theory, thinkers such as John Locke, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau championed reason, liberty, and human progress. The empirical method became the new standard for understanding reality, emphasizing observation and experimentation over tradition and revelation.

There were valid reasons for the era's critique of religion. Institutional faith had often been complicit in censorship, persecution, and conflict. The Spanish Inquisition and the Thirty Years' War were stark reminders of how religious absolutism could turn deadly. Calls for freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state were regarded as reasonable and necessary.

However, it is crucial to recognize that Enlightenment thinkers were not militant atheists. Most were deists or theists who believed in a divine creator, even if they rejected certain ecclesiastical authorities. The core Enlightenment goal was not to destroy faith but to emancipate human reason. Nevertheless, as societies began to prize empirical truth above all else, a slow but steady slide toward materialism took root. Spiritual questions became secondary, and religion was increasingly seen as something to be tolerated rather than cherished.

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‘The French Revolution’: Liberating the mind but losing the soul

The French Revolution (1789) is often hailed as a milestone in human liberation, where monarchy and church authority were overthrown in the name of liberty, equality, and fraternity. But alongside its democratic ideals, the revolution devolved into chaos, bloodshed, and tyranny. The Reign of Terror, mass executions, and purges revealed a troubling paradox: in trying to free humanity from oppression, the revolutionaries unleashed a different kind of dogma.

At the height of revolutionary fervor, churches were desecrated, religious symbols destroyed, and the "Cult of Reason" was introduced to replace Christianity. It was as though reason itself had become a new religion—one just as intolerant as the one it aimed to replace. This period demonstrated a recurring pattern in modern history. When traditional belief systems are rapidly dismantled, they are often replaced not by enlightened neutrality, but by more extreme and sometimes brutal ideologies.

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Karl Marx and the materialist turn

Enter Karl Marx. In the 19th century, Marx built slightly upon Enlightenment ideals but took them to a radical conclusion. For Marx, material conditions—not spiritual beliefs—were the engine of history. Religion, in his famous words, was "the opiate of the masses," a tool used by elites to pacify the working class. He dismissed faith not merely as mistaken, but as actively harmful.

This radical materialism reduced human beings to economic units, stripped of spiritual depth or transcendental longing. Morality was redefined as class struggle, and truth became a tool of power rather than an absolute. Though Marx believed he was offering liberation, what he often provided was a bleak, mechanical view of humanity. One that left little room for dignity, grace, or a higher purpose.

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Communism's dark legacy

The 20th century bore grim witness to what happens when Marx's materialist philosophy is implemented on a grand scale. Communist regimes in the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, and elsewhere promised utopias but delivered dystopias. Mass executions, forced labor camps, engineered famines, and brutal censorship became defining features.

In many cases, religious institutions were among the first targets. Buddhist temples were smashed, Christian priests were executed or imprisoned, and any form of spiritual practice was declared counter-revolutionary. In their place arose new gods: Lenin, Mao, Stalin. These cults of personality were not mere political tools but filled the void left by the absence of religious belief. Statues, sacred texts, and even rituals surrounded these leaders, unintenionally mirroring the religions they had just destroyed.

Ironically, the attempt to eliminate religion merely created new forms of worship. The ideology itself became sacred, unquestionable, and absolute—the very qualities once condemned in traditional faiths. These tragedies show that human beings are not purely rational creatures. We yearn for meaning, connection, and transcendence. When denied healthy outlets for this yearning, we invent instead some dangerous substitutes.

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The rationalist crusade: Dawkins and the ‘New Atheists’

In the early 21st century, a new wave of secularism emerged, led by figures such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. Branded as the "New Atheists," they argued vociferously against religion, blaming it for war, intolerance, and ignorance. Dawkins, in particular, framed belief in God as a "delusion" and promoted a worldview grounded solely in evolutionary biology and empirical science.

Though thankfully non-violent compared to their ideological predecessors, these thinkers often exhibited a similar dogmatic certainty. Rationality was treated as not just a tool, but a creed. Faith, by contrast, was seen as inherently dangerous, an enemy of progress. What this movement failed to grasp, however, was the profound emotional, psychological, and moral sustenance that religion provides to millions.

By reducing religious belief to mere superstition, New Atheism alienated many who sought to balance reason with meaning. Moreover, it offered no compelling moral framework to replace what it aimed to dismantle. For all its scientific rigor, this worldview struggled to address the deeper human questions. Why are we here? What is a good life? How should we treat one another?

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Wokeism: The new dogma without reason or faith

If the New Atheists erred by exalting reason above all else, the rise of "Wokeism" represents a troubling shift in the opposite direction. Rooted in a neo-Marxist worldview, Woke ideology divides society into oppressors and oppressed, viewing history, literature, and culture through a rigid, binary lens. It demands ideological conformity, shuns dissent, and often disregards empirical evidence when it conflicts with its narratives.

Unlike Dawkins, who at least operated within the bounds of rational debate, Wokeism seems to reject both reason and faith. Its morality is fluid, based on feelings and identity rather than universal truths. Its rituals include public apologies, cancellations, and social ostracism. Like other dogmas before it, it offers a sense of belonging and moral superiority—but without the humility, transcendence, or forgiveness found in traditional religion.

The result is a culture adrift. Young people, raised in a world that mocks religion and champions personal truth over shared values, often struggle with depression, anxiety, and a lack of purpose. Woke ideology, far from filling the spiritual void, may be deepening it by replacing meaningful faith with shallow activism and (foul) moral absolutism.

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Some cautious optimism

History offers us a sobering lesson. Societies that reject faith entirely often replace it with something worse. The Enlightenment rightly challenged religious abuses, but in discarding the transcendent altogether, we have wandered into a moral and existential wilderness. The disasters of the French Revolution and communist regimes show what happens when ideology becomes a substitute for faith. The New Atheists, while intellectually rigorous, failed to nourish the human spirit. And the Woke movement, lacking both reason and reverence, has unleashed a new form of chaos.

This is not a call to return to theocracy or blind dogma. Rationality is indispensable. It is the engine behind scientific progress and technological innovation. But it must be held in tension with something deeper—a sense of the sacred, a recognition of mystery, a moral compass rooted in shared truths.

In recent years, there are signs of a quiet reawakening. More people are exploring spiritual practices, ancient philosophies, and the wisdom traditions that once guided humanity. They are realizing that a life built solely on logic and consumption is not enough. In rediscovering faith as a lens for meaning and connection to a higher purpose we may begin to heal the fractures in our culture.

The war on faith need not continue. Reason and religion are not enemies. They are, at their best, allies in the human quest for truth. If we are to build a future worth living in, we must learn once again to honor both.