Has the world become boring?

Has the world gone crazy? I don't know. We see news everywhere about all kinds of deviants, monsters, charlatans, obsessives, increasingly bizarre cases, we already have political movements that lament the seals of the Apocalypse… Is the world worse, more immoral, more debauched, more greedy? I have serious doubts in this regard. The fact that today there is more talk and transparency about all kinds of deviance should not tell us that the end of the world is coming. It should tell us that for centuries these issues have been hidden, often under the guise of being shameful. With slaves, serfs, weekly wars, all kinds of abuses, absolutely disgusting tortures, and extremely bizarre ideas about justice, the Middle Ages was only formally, ritually, and ideologically a Christian era. What was happening there had nothing to do with goodness or Christian virtues. One could say that, fundamentally, as long as it does not reject religion, the modern world, centered on human rights and more attentive to the sufferings of those around (as much as it is), would be more valuable in Christian terms than the dark ages in which religiosity was culturally and institutionally omnipresent, but the results left much to be desired..

After all, Christian values require you to live in accordance with them, not to proclaim yourself a believer and conservative without any real impact on private life. This is also the drama of ultra-conservative political positions in European politics. Everyone knows how others should be, no one applies the advice to their own life. No one is moral, everyone is a moralizer. It is time for the common man to revolt and to call the bluff, as Americans say. You come on a Christian platform in front of the electorate? Do what it says there, in the book. Morality should not be an excuse for the lack of other relevant narratives.

In the more recent or more distant past, there were no fewer sins than today. Many things were more socially invisible. A famous manual of family sociology, very influential in Romania in the 90s, lamented the increased number of divorces immediately after 1990. Let's understand each other. The fact that before 1990 the state discouraged divorces did not mean that partners got along well. They were just, somehow, captives. After 1990, with the “liberalization” of divorces, it became clear how things actually stood. No, the world did not fall apart immediately after the Revolution. It was broken before. Just that it was not talked about…

So I prefer behavioral religiosity to political and declarative one. Of course, religiosity is a complicated behavior. Coincidentally, I have studied it sociologically and I have quite serious data on this topic.

But, beyond this, an excerpt from a very recent INSCOP survey shows us that three quarters of Romanians say they will go to the Resurrection service this year. Sure, you might say that they will only stay until the Light is given. That they will go to the club or who knows where after that, that they don’t speak nicely, etc. Even so… Unlike many West European societies, here, people, including the young, participate. This is a fact. For the presence of religion in social space, it is important.

The ritual perpetuates the phenomenon, especially since it is assumed individually, there is no greater formal social pressure. And if the three quarters who declare this do not go to the service, the simple fact that they consider this option the desirable response tells us something. Especially since today, as I said, there is no longer any real or institutional social pressure in the direction of appearing at church and there is no Inquisition following those who show disinterest, nor even the "village gossip".