What happens when a civilization removes God—but keeps searching for meaning?

S2 EP. 026

In this episode of Decoded, Elisabeth McKay explores one of the most important cultural questions of our time:

Who killed God?

This is not a conversation about religion versus atheism. It’s an examination of how modern society gradually replaced transcendence with human-centered systems—and what happened as a result.

From the Enlightenment and the French Revolution to Darwin, Freud, Marx, modern psychology, consumer culture, and the rise of self-worship, Elisabeth traces the historical and psychological shifts that transformed how we understand morality, suffering, purpose, identity, and death.

In this episode:

• The Enlightenment and the rise of secularism
• Why Nietzsche warned that “God is dead”
• The Prosperity Paradox and modern hedonism
• How comfort replaced dependence on transcendence
• Why identity became the new religion
• The psychological consequences of moral relativism
• The sexual revolution and the commodification of the self
• Why modern mental health feels incomplete
• Death, meaning, and the loss of spiritual frameworks
• What happens when suffering no longer has purpose

This isn’t an argument for blind religion.

It’s an invitation to ask deeper questions about meaning, morality, suffering, purpose, and the spiritual foundations that shape human life.

Because the question may not be who killed God.

The question may be what dies in a civilization when God becomes unnecessary.

SHOW NOTES

00:00 – Who Killed God?
01:24 – The Original Purpose of Secularism
02:55 – The Enlightenment and Human Reason
03:41 – The French Revolution Changes Everything
05:06 – Science, Government, and Modern Authority
06:31 – Why Science Cannot Explain Purpose
07:38 – Darwin, Freud, Marx, and Materialism
09:18 – Awareness Alone Doesn’t Change Behavior
10:47 – Nietzsche’s Warning: God Is Dead
11:34 – The Prosperity Paradox
13:07 – Comfort Creates False Sovereignty
14:07 – How Pleasure Replaced Purpose
15:16 – The Rise of Self-Worship
16:22 – Why the Self Makes a Terrible God
17:28 – Anxiety, Identity, and Modern Mental Health
18:12 – The Sexual Revolution and Sacred Order
19:15 – Modern Culture Is Starving for Meaning
20:04 – Removing Spirituality From Public Life
20:58 – What Happens When Suffering Has No Meaning
22:02 – Why Modern Mental Health Feels Incomplete
23:22 – Biohacking, Death, and Fear
25:02 – Death, Meaning, and Transcendence
26:35 – Religion, Corruption, and Spiritual Truth
27:32 – What Dies When God Becomes Unnecessary?
28:07 – Finding Your Way Back

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