Cultism As A Natural Response
Questioning our choices in a world with no alternative
Post-apocalyptic settings is a grimdark world. Modern lifestyle and every societal structure are erased or at least need to be rebuild from the ground up by the survivors. These survivors are being left to fend for themselves, vying for scarce basic resources and reluctantly opting for territory wars with other survivors. Humanity and trust that spurred from modernity and progress were forgotten as this setting explores morally grey conundrums that question what humans had transformed into and the changes of our moral standards. The pursuit of happiness, love, careers, and religion becomes an afterthought in this setting too — people cannot prioritize it as when they do, they’re dead.
While The Last of Us Part II is still bombarded with internet-loathing, this game also had created saturated defensive argument on behalf of its name and psycho-analysis about the characters and its themes. I like to contribute to the discussion, not about the aforementioned analysis rather talking about the rarely absent presence of religion and cults in the post-apocalyptic world.
In part two of the series, Seattle was adorned with hanged corpses, shrines of a prophetical figure, and ominous whistling heard in the vacant atmosphere of the dead city. These were the doings of the religious cult namely The Seraphites. Acting as another example; The Fallout series presents The Church of the Children of Atom, a cult that worships nuclear radiation (rather than a technological failure) as a philosophical and biological necessity of life and its continuation.
In the modern settings, or our status quo, humans had fulfilled its basic necessities, in the developed countries at least. Water is accessible and free, food is easily bought through supermarkets, information is easily accessed through an internet connection in a small coffee shop, housing can be bought or rented, movies are easily accessed through streaming services, love is commercialized in applications, and so on.
Modernity looked like the bliss of conveniences that rose more modern problems to solve like economic equilibrium, avoiding war, capitalism, consumerism, and international trade disputes. Life is very comfortable to a point religion was secondary, causing a questioning of God and leaving religion altogether as we are too modern to be controlled by very spiritualistic, abstract, and ancient teachings of things we cannot see or too absurd to conceptualize an omnipotence being.
When the pandemic hits–– where people turned into fungus-corrupted zombies–– this bliss of modernism also disappeared. People started to lose loved ones, lost their houses, money and currency changed into trading. And some question the meaning behind the world-ending pandemic. Was it a natural acqurance, men-created accident or Godly intent?
To add more, human also lost their structured religions. In modernity, it’s justifiable for us to accept God even if we cannot see Him. We accepted that God maybe cannot be seen but we stay faithful with our own various individualistic and spiritual reasonings. In the past––avoiding the conversation whether or not religion was man-made instead of God-made–– religion was made under the urgency of morality and purpose of life, to show humans that the existence of something greater than them and the possibility to be better. In all of it’s variety, religion employs characteristics of morality, humanity, and again, purpose. People who are religious supported to the concept and interwoven their life with the teachings of God.
Religion was also a mark of salvation to its times. As a moment of enlighten to human beings in hopes to create a better world and used it’s religious text, such as the Al-Quran, as a check and balance system while also the rigurious true test of faith while in the mortal realm.
Going back into the world teemed with zombies and scarcity, it made sense how depressing their life is. Vitality, as a contrast to depression, was also a scarce commodity. People started to rethink their purpose of life as individually those reason to live was taken away when the world changed forever.
Opting-in to religious cult made sense in the current situation. Other than purpose, they also provide a safe haven to live peacefully such as the unironically named ‘Haven’ in The Last of Us Part II. This safe haven are equipped with wooden housing, societal order, and agrarian-sourced food which all is needed and close to reassemble the old world while leaving modernity all together.
The purpose are as if not only being restored or at least altered. They could continue or rebuilt their way of life to start a family, they could make a career as part of the cult’s organized structure and all together serve a better purpose in a purposeless world. Meaning; more choices.
The idea religious cult also have activities and tenets that created a sense of order in a anarchal environment. Like any other religion, these activities stemmed from total devotion but also provides the added benefit of make use of our time with purpose also inturn gave more purpose to its people.
One instance of critics towards our modern religion, The Prophet of Seraphite died and eventually Her teachings and members of said religious group was distorted by Her successors. Constant violence and conflict against the Washington Liberation Front and other parties are being conducted as a relegious necessities. Nowdays, when a religion is old and after the death of a proxy of God, the member are left with misinterpretation of religious scriptures that created decision that might diverge from its original intent. This is shown how Lev and Yara in the story shown great indifference towards the development of their original faith.
Their stories reminded my self on The Prophet Muhammad’s demise, recollecting his future absence as well as for the future of Muslim in their adversities of moderinity. This truly made a great sorrow, I reflect on my own current faith while empathizing on how it feels to have that responsibility and thinking about how hard is it to maintain faith in a ever-developing and ever-changing future.
I think there is also a much needed conversation on modern cultism. Understanding how lack of meaning are not exclusive in the post-apocalypitc world as nowadays cults exists and people still opting into them under the same guise of searching meaning. The harms of cultism is ever-present, such as cult leaders hypnotizing its member for sex and money.
Factually, I would argue cultism isn’t currently that powerful, as their market of members are for the people who are emotionally and economically vulnerable. They act as a much needed respite, slowly giving them love, validation, and purpose. The thing is, the access of love, validation, and purpose are easier now.
Love easily searched, validation came from loved ones or psychological treatment, and purpose can be given from existing religion and or be searched into numerous ways of other chances like being a local volunteer and working towards a career goal. Socio-economic disparity, although still a major problems in some areas, government and local communities are major contribution in their alleviation and removal.
Unlike the modern cult agenda, in the Last Of Us Part II, they’re more susceptible towards this methodology because, again, peoples’ choices are rendered into nothing and hopelessness is omnipotent.
In summation, God and religious teachings is seen as a philosophy or for some, just a solution. Without any alternative in the post-apocalypitc world, we were shunned at the sheer number of alternatives and choices and the ability of people to rebuilt and trust existing religion is rendered to nothing.
This might aswell ponder the philosophical and sociological question within ourselves when living in a society with the urgency of survivability and the lack of choices to live our lives and should opting into cultism, and all its manifestation as a justifiable act of utilitarian needs to survive or should we just die as more deontological response.
