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Comment by zeroCalories | Hacker News Reader

I'm a late melinial, and anecdotally I've noticed that a few atheist friends have become religious. They generally have unfortunate live, and it obviously seems like a way to cope. When not religion, some of them embrace extreme politics. If life is getting harder and society more psychopathic, it makes sense to me that religion is making a comeback. Doubt it will get to levels we had before, but it makes me wonder if political Islam is a glimpse into the future instead of the past.

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Yep. Most of my friends' lives are hell. Psychological issues and no money for therapy is the recurring theme. Few turned to religion but some to extreme politics. They're definitely the two most potent opiates (besides drugs, which they also embrace). :c

>if political Islam is a glimpse into the future instead of the past

Haha. Handmaid's Tale, burka edition.

I'm betting that remains in the real of redpiller fantasy.

Religion and extreme politics seem to go hand-in-hand.

Anti-religion and extreme politics also seem to go hand-in-hand, fwiw. Might be worth looking at both topics within the limits of the extremities.

"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart" - Psalm 34:18 KJV

Seeking God is not a coping mechanism. Terrible things in our lives simply open up our hearts to God's word, and help us recognize our sin nature and seek God. Then when you realize it's as simple as believing in Jesus Christ's substitutionary death, and you can defeat death and sin as well, then of course it would seem like a no brainer, because it is! It's the greatest news ever, that we can be reconciled to God and have a direct relationship with the creator of everything.

Sounds like coping to me.

Actually it might be, but we shouldn't give it the negative connotation "coping mechanism". That suggests that there's no inner change and that it's just a coat of paint in someone's life. God helps us cope because His promises are tangible, true, and good. It's a lot deeper than a "mechanism", it's a change of heart.

> If life is getting harder and society more psychopathic...

Society is getting more psychopathic. I like that way of putting it. It succinctly expresses something that I think many of us observe, but struggle to put into words.

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