In 5-10 years we will see a major swing towards religiosity from a lot of people who seem like unlikely candidates now. I'm basing this off a marked increase in left-leaning individuals who are coping with the realities of the times by becoming obsessed with their own personal virtue, even if maintaining it requires inaction and withdrawal from the world at large. To them, it seems better than becoming a bad person by working with imperfect people and pursuing imperfect solutions; it's not ok to compromise yourself, even if you think it might be better for the community in the short or long term.
If you become convinced the world is too polluted, too compromised, too evil to be negotiated with, it's only natural that you will eventually be drawn in by the promise of spiritual realms or states where none of that matters anymore. It's tempting to submit to the narrative of a perfect savior who is coming to fix it all at once. It's not inherently bad to be religious, but if you're letting it fill a space in your brain where your own judgment should be, it's very dangerous.
We need to watch out for those close to us who are falling into this spiral and becoming vulnerable to predatory organizations and individuals. It's better to have both feet on the ground with the rest of humanity, even if it means you must get your hands dirty sometimes. Do not get bullied into self-monitoring so rigorously that you're afraid to act, or interact, or speak, or read, or have fun. Stop giving a shit about whether you're perceived as ideologically pristine yourself and focus on the well-being of your community and other people, whether on a small scale or a large one. It's the only thing that actually matters in the end.
I recently encountered an absolute banger of a Chinese proverb perfect for this scenario, the general sense of which is "clear water has few fish, a picky person has few friends".
