NPR has become a moderately rewarding addition to my audio life in the past few years. I used to loathe talk radio, but I have genuinely come to appreciate the calmative voices of NPR. So naturally, on my drive home from working out today, I flipped it on for a little “cerebral treat”.
I was informed that China is quietly going through a faith boom in addition to its remarkable economic boom. Approximately 1 in 3 Chinese people describe themselves as religious. I was shocked; I have always known China as the closely monitored, officially atheist country that it is. NPR suggests that evolving ideologies are to blame: “The collapse of the communist ideology created a void that has left many Chinese staring into a spiritual vacuum, looking for a value system to counterbalance the rampant materialism that seems to govern life in China.”
There seems to me to be an explicit parallel between an increase in wealth and a longing for the divine. We accumulate to define our sense of purpose or selfhood, leaving us with a handful of makeshift objects to cling to. Wouldn’t anyone hope to find their life’s meaning in something a bit more sacred?
