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My thoughts on 2023
The new religion of our age
Another year gone by. Sadly we witnessed ongoing conflict in Ukraine and new fighting between Israel and Hamas, with few signs of cessation in either region. Despite the cost of living crises across Western countries and inflation still putting pressure on millions of households, we find money to fund wars far away. Whatever political stance one takes, it seems tragic that we cannot agree to have peace, given the problems we already face.
The UK crowned its monarch in a ceremony filled with strange tradition and ritual. It differed from the coronation in 1953 to represent multiple faiths, cultures and communities across, but kept Handel’s Zadok the Priest, first played for George II’s crowning in 1727. This balance of old and new mirrors society’s transition to the modern age, with a fading understanding of where we came from.
Faith and religiosity seem more than ever to be dwindling embers at the fringes of our minds. Once a core part of identity, belief has been pushed away, whether it be from the inspiration for our art, the principles taught in our schools, or the conversations at the dinner table. Concepts such as worship, prayer, atonement and redemption have become foreign and make us awkward.
But of course such practices and rituals still exist. The question is, what do we…
