Kerby Anderson

Ben Shapiro believes there is “a growing sense of frustration coursing through American politics, and it is no longer confined to one party or ideology.” It began with the frustration over the pandemic, politics, and fears about artificial intelligence. But, he argues, it has mutated into something darker: nihilism.

This form of nihilism, he explains, is built on an enormous lie. “It tells people that America’s problems are unsolvable, that their personal struggles are not the result of bad decisions, bad luck or even fixable structural flaws but of an all-encompassing evil system.”

If you accept that view of the world, it can be debilitating. It short circuits thought and discourages effort. Why try to make your life better if the system is rigged against you? If you believe the system is rigged, then you need to tear it down. This nihilism is likely the source of today’s radicalization.

One Washington Post reporter noticed that if you read the manifestos of many killers, you see they have a contempt for humanity. They didn’t act out because they were liberal or conservative, antifa or white supremacist.

In the 19^th century, Fyodor Dostoyevsky captured this phenomenon. He described “the human impulse to reject reason, order and even self-interest simply to assert independence. Strip people of the belief that they have meaningful choices, and they will lash out — not despite the destruction that follows but because of it.”

We shouldn’t be surprised that this worldview is prevalent in a society that rejects biblical morality and believes we are merely the product of blind forces that brought our species into being. The obvious antidote is a biblical worldview and the power of the gospel.