Over the weekend someone recommended this lengthy essay about mental illness in general and delusional behavior in particular. It is a long, repetitive read, and the summary version is that an increasing number of people seem unable to deal with reality and resort to creating delusions as a way of avoiding reality.
I think there are two reasons why this kind of behavior is even possible.
The first, and probably the easiest to fix, is that we live in a secular society driven by materialism. As the pandemic lockdown showed, most of our elites regard religion as a secondary thing rather than a first thing. Religion to them is a form of self-help, fine so long as it doesn't challenge the secular materialist worldview.
This is why the UK feels it appropriate to ban prayers near abortion mills. Prayer is not a human right, it's a thing you are permitted to do only if no one else objects (unless you are Muslim, of course).
Restoring religion - and in particular, Christianity - to its rightful place at the center of Western civilization has seemed like an insurmountable challenge, but we are now seeing a wide-ranging revival, in part because Christians have ceased trying to be "nice" and are returning to moral language and moral condemnation.
Surging Bible sales are another indicator that people feel the "faith of things" has failed.
To bow before God is to be humble and remain grounded. Christianity teaches a rational and ordered worldview, and also that good people can - through no fault of their own - experience bad things. The key is to understand why, to learn from them, and continue in the faith. I will say that I am having the worst Lent of my life. Between sickness, a painful medical procedure with lengthy recovery, and the normal fasting, I'm not having a good time.
On the other hand, I'm having a great time, because this is some serious Lenten suffering. What a blessing to offer up all this misery to God! I have taken so much for granted and as I heal, I rejoice in so many small things.
This leads us to the larger problem, which is that society is increasingly alienated from actual work, and our connection with the natural world has been severed. The woman in the essay is a programmer, which means her labor has no direct connection to her pay. She pushes buttons and gets (digital) money in return.
This is a far cry from tilling a garden and watching it crow, or raising livestock. All of her relationships are built around an artificial Californian society that was built in a couple of generations without any roots or continuity. It is no accident that Hollywood dwells so much on suburban alienation. Few, if any, have the sense of rootedness one finds in middle America.
As the lockdowns slowly lifted, I went to northern Michigan and sat on the beach at Rogers City, watching waves come crashing into the shore via a strong north wind. I sat there for about an hour, watching the sun set over a vast sky and darkening horizon. The enormity of it all exposed how futile it is think that we are worth of CIA surveillance or trans-national hit teams. In the greater scheme, we are as insignificant as one of the rocks on the shore, and as fleeting as a frothing wave.
When you are in the world, interacting with it, you become aware of how many other stories are taking place around you. The prayer intentions at Mass sketch out other hardships, deaths and illnesses. The baptismal announcements and weddings also point to new things emerging, seemingly spontaneously. You didn't will them, had nothing to do with them, yet there they are.
For a time, people are able to function in the abstract, God-free environment, usually because they are preoccupied with building up their wealth and status. They are worshipping the god of the two-car garage, and it can be quite fulfilling at first.
But after a while, the pursuit of things and status rings hollow and is no longer fulfilling. Without any spiritual formation or connection to tangible things, the mind will start roving, seeking meaning in any way it can.
The author stresses that people can't be forced out of a delusion, but there are two answers to this. The first is that one can't replace something with nothing - you cannot take away one vision without another to replace it.
In addition, modern American society has uniquely evolved to cater to these people through cheap transportation, easy movement, and our boundless affluence. Whether one mooches off of wealthy relatives or exploits public assistance, it's remarkably easy to start over, and repeat the cycle without learning anything, and the essay shows this quite clearly.
The American obsession with individualism - even when it is deeply harmful - buttresses this. We used to lock people up for their own good, but that became viewed as totalitarian. It is now seen as better to tolerate sidewalk encampments than put people in supervised living where they do various chores to renew their understanding how work is connected to fulfilment, and labor can have a tangible, immediate result.
Society itself now labors under several delusions regarding fantastic Russian conspiracies, hidden Nazi cells, and the notion than men can actually become women. These beliefs substitute for actual faith, and lead to still further fantastic notions that allowing one's lawn to grow wild in May will please Gaia or something.
And yes, there is a spiritual aspect to this as well, because demons love souls in torment. The wrath and energy that comes with these delusions helps sustain them. It is like a drug, and a great many people are addicted to it.
The upshot is that these people don't have a single thing go wrong, and many of them have multiple factors that drive them into insanity and keep them there. Reason is useless, and in many cases I think an exorcist is more effective than a therapist.