Unveiling the Religion of the “Irreligious”
A Review of Tara Isabella Burton’s Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World
Make no mistake. I would disagree with Tara Burton on quite a number of issues. Especially as someone who was a former staff writer on religion for Vox. There are a lot of perspectives she has that I take issue with in her book. Yet, despite all the caveats that I would give, this book was both insightful and very well written. In fact, this book stands out as one of the most interesting and useful books I have read in quite a while. Ms. Burton is unquestionably a talented and knowledgeable writer. Readers can gain much from Strange Rites, and this book, unlike others I considered merely useful, proved to be an outright enjoyable read.
The book lays out an extremely important thesis. One that Christians would do well to understand. Specifically, Ms. Burton describes just how religious the “non-religious” really are. Throughout the book, she astutely points out the religious beliefs of the so-called “religious nones” (those who claim to have no religion on surveys) and the “spiritual but not religious.” This is extremely important to understand because it highlights the falseness of the “non-believer” and “non-religious” designations (see the problem with “non-believers” here). Tangentially, the book also showcases the very serious issues that arise with religious self-identification (these issues are covered more here).
Now, the overarching explanation that Ms. Burton provides in her book is that we are seeing a resurgence of what she describes as “intuitional religions” that emphasize emotion and feelings over institutions and creeds (p. 33). More specifically, she covers what she describes as the “Remixed.” These religiously remixed comprise three major categories: the “spiritual but not religious”, the “faithful nones” (those who claim no religious affiliation but believe in religious principles), and the “religious hybrids” (pp. 18-24). The religious hybrids are syncretists, those who claim religious affiliation but who reject core beliefs of their claimed religious affiliation and who subscribe to religious beliefs contrary to the religion they claim. An example given is that of someone who claims to be a Christian and also claims to believe in reincarnation.
Importantly, if you take these categories together, all the Remixed, you find they make up around 50% of the population. Though it’s most likely more than that. Especially since Ms. Burton was pulling data from Pew Research and PRRI surveys prior to 2020. If you examine the more recent data, there has been an upward trend of people who would fall into the Remixed category (as she defines it). Thankfully, the author takes an approach here that does not simply rely on self-identification (a serious problem). Instead; she dives much deeper into the nature of their belief systems. She perceptively infers the inconsistent nature of these self-designations throughout the book. Which is partly where she came up with the category of Remixed.
Another interesting insight here has to do with the three significant religions she covers that fit within the Remixed. The first is the religion of social justice, which the author clearly describes as a religion: “Social justice is a religion, and — as with any other religion — its potency as a source of meaning and its potential for zealotry are naturally correlated” (p. 177). The second is the religion of Transhumanism, or what she often calls techno-utopianism. Techno-utopians are described as “gleefully libertarian, comfortably capitalist, and deeply antiauthoritarian” (p. 189) who can be found to be “basically worship[ing] human potential and its technological manifestations, including artificial intelligence” (p. 191). Chapter 8, “Two Doctrines for a Godless World”, covers both of these religions. The third religion is something she calls “atavism” and covers in chapter 9, “Twilight of the Chads.” For all intents and purposes, atavism is a religion in which she lumps the non-Christian “alt-right,” the red-pill movement, MGTOW (men going their own way), Jordan Peterson followers, and other identitarian conservative movements together as a traditionalist, darwinian, and reactionary Neo-conservative Remixed religion.
Ms. Burton’s descriptions of the social justice religion are particularly fascinating. Though I would actually describe it as the religion of Distrephism since the “social justice” label is just not an accurate designation (see here for an explanation of this term). She spends most of the book describing it, just using different labels and a different frame of understanding. Ms. Burton covers several extremely important aspects of Distrephism that are key to comprehending it. One is the self-deification and hedonism inherent in it. Distrephists, drawing heavily from New Thought and the concept of “manifestation,” believe their thoughts and beliefs can change the world in a mystical way. Their beliefs possess a neo-pagan quality, elevating the self to a divine status. Making the “authentic self” the sovereign that determines right and wrong. Distrephists (whom she often just calls Remixed) “see the self as an autonomous being, the self’s desires as fundamentally good, and societal and sexual repression as not just undesirable but actively evil” (p. 57). She also explains that Distrephists believe “we have to listen to ourselves, to behave authentically, in tune with what our intuition dictates” (p. 94). The text provides many examples, especially in chapters 5, “Wellness Culture and the Rebirth of New Thought” and 7, “The New Perfectionism: Our Sexual Utopias”, demonstrating how the Remixed overall, and Distrephists in particular, elevate the self to deity status.
Another important aspect of Distrephism is its connection to the occult. In chapter 6, appropriately titled “The Magic Resistance”, Ms. Burton covers just how closely linked belief in magic or other neo-pagan “energies” and “powers” are with the religion of Distrephism. The neo-pagan nature of Distrephism, alongside its identity as a religion of antithesis, is highlighted. This is what I describe as antithetical revisionism (see the article linked above on Distrephism). Distrephism has a “contemporary occultism” that offers “a powerful spiritual counterpoint to organized religion, one that’s not merely orthogonal to traditional Christianity but actively opposed to it” (pp. 116-117). In fact, her book begins by talking about a neo-pagan theater event, Sleep No More (by British theater company Punchdrunk) that captures the essence of modern Distrephism: “Whether you were a superfan or just a Halloween reveler, these parties were, like the religious festivals they mimicked, rituals: ways of marking the passing of time through a carnival atmosphere of transcendence. They were invitations, not just to enter this world of witchcraft and magic that one British theater company had, via Shakespeare, created, but also to celebrate a very particular, if informally codified, worldview. A worldview that celebrated not evil, exactly, but subversion. A wholesale f*** you to repression, to patriarchy, to rules, to order, to the petty offices of men” (p. 7).
Strange Rites gives an excellent overview of Distrephism with the caveat that Ms. Burton’s interpretation of this religion is not something I always agree with. I frame it differently and categorize it more formally. That said, Tara Burton’s book here was an essential source for my research. I was able to extract quite a bit of useful information from her insights into this religion and the others within the Remixed. She does a fantastic job of exposing the religious beliefs and attitudes of those who often claim to be “irreligious.” She covers the difficulty in defining religion (p. 19) and shortly explains some of the better definitions of what a religion is (pp. 26-29). Specifically, Peter Berger’s definition: “Berger characterizes religion as the way in which humans internalize an orderly picture of the world and how we should act within it” (p. 28). This definition is actually very close to mine, though much less fleshed out (see how I define religion here). It helps us understand the nonsensical nature of the claim to be “non-religious” by many people in our society. People who actually adhere to one of the three major religions under the Remixed category. Just in ignorance of their own religious behavior. The Remixed is a category that is probably best understood as one consisting of different types of Humanism and/or Neo-paganism.
The weakest part of the book is going to be Ms. Burton’s chapter (chapter 9) on what she repeatedly calls “atavism.” This is because she paints a picture with overly broad strokes and falls into the trap that many people do when describing the so-called “far-right.” For example, she draws far too many connections between Jordan Peterson’s work and other ethno-nationalist identitarians. She hangs her understanding of issues on the false left/right dichotomy and therefore groups “far” or “alt” right groups merely because they can be labeled “right-wing” in some fashion. Giving the false impression that they are more ideologically aligned than they really are. Especially when she directly links fascism with atavism overall.
Without a doubt, she is pointing to a very serious problem within Christ-less conservative movements like MGTOW or the red-pill movement. Such as their Darwinian, nihilistic, and reactionary approach to modern social issues. She accurately points out that the broader pattern is a hostile overreaction to Distrephism. In particular, the problems brought about by feminism and the rejection of biological reality derived from blank slate views of human nature. Hence the emphasis on ethnic nationalism, strength, hierarchy, and Darwinian processes. However, this general trend is not as coherent as she thinks, and the attempt to link it to Jordan Peterson is weak, along with the attempt to link it to the broader “right” overall. This is a typical tactic that results from holding to the false left/right spectrum view of politics. Those who are unified by a common enemy, in this case “social justice”/Distrephism, are only related in so far as they have a common enemy. Not because they are necessarily aligned ideologically or actually work together. This atavism is far more fractured and divergent than the other two religions she describes.
What is useful about her description of atavism and of Transhumanism is the fact that it reinforces the thesis that the supposed irreligious are in fact very religious after all. Godless forms of conservatism aren’t non-religious; they just have a Remixed religion. Nor are the “left” or “progressives” irreligious either. The idea that our society has become less religious over time is outright false. What has happened instead is a shift in the majority religion. Christianity has declined, through complete apostasy or syncretism, and is being replaced by neo-pagan and humanist religions of various types. Strange Rites calls them Remixed, and though I would classify things differently, it is an accurate depiction.
Overall, Ms. Burton’s book is something I would actually consider to be essential reading for Christians. It requires some critical evaluation and an understanding of where the author is coming from first, though. She describes herself as a Christian in her other writings, but I personally doubt the validity of this self-identification. Her views do not seem to reflect orthodox Christianity. They echo “progressive” viewpoints instead. I would consider her a syncretist, mixing Distrephism and pseudo-Christianity at best.
Regardless of this, she is a very talented and engaging writer. She is much fairer in her treatment than many would otherwise be. Her book shows good sourcing, and she avoids exaggerated claims and unwarranted hyperbole. Even when it is obvious where she stands on an issue. Which means a lot of what she says is extremely useful when taken in context. Strange Rites is one of the best books one can read to shed light on the modern religious makeup of our society. It cuts through the nonsense of “irreligion” and reveals the highly religious nature of the “unbelievers” in our midst. If you want to understand the rise of Neo-paganism and Humanism in America, then you need to read Tara Burton’s Strange Rites.
- Victoria Gratiae -
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