“The invisible religion of work”

Good newsletter here from Stowe Boyd, with some good sections throughout. As regards my title to this post, I wouldn’t necessarily call it the fact that work is religion “invisible” — it’s quite visible, to me and people smarter than me — but it’s still something that bears more discussion.

Let me give you a few solid pull quotes from this:

What these conversations don’t take into account is the invisible religion of work that’s become an unassailable part of our culture. At a time when religious-affiliation rates are at the lowest they’ve been in the past 73 years, we worship work — meaning we sacrifice for and surrender to it — because it gives us identity, belonging, and meaning, not to mention that it puts food on our tables. If the American theocracy of work is to be dismantled, it won’t happen by just changing jobs or attitudes. It will require a fundamental transformation in the social system that dictates which institutions we derive fulfillment from.