Humans derive meaning from narrative perceptions of their lives, a vital mechanism to address existential anxiety. As a species, we pursue not merely survival but significance.

We are naturally inclined to encapsulate core truths, finding meaning and identity through stories. The human person, a storytelling, metaphor-loving, symbol-making being, relies on myth (core narratives) to convey profound existential meaning. Thus, we connect psychologically and spiritually with narratives, icons, and parables.

Myth provides a culture with its central framework for meaning and purpose. This framework establishes wisdom—a collective sense of purpose, place, identity, and shared values. Hence, collective and personal meaning are conveyed in narrative, metaphor, and symbol.

Another word for enduring narratives is myth. In this context, myth does not imply falsehood or fairytale, but rather indicates a narrative of value and meaning.

Philosopher Loyal Rue coined the term "amythia" to describe the loss of a shared cultural narrative that offers meaning and orientation. Rue contends that Western culture faces a crisis of amythia, marked by profound disorientation and meaninglessness due to the erosion of unifying narratives and worldviews.

The absence of a unifying worldview also fosters social fragmentation, polarization, and conflict. Without a shared understanding, individuals retreat into echo chambers, entrenching their beliefs and hindering meaningful dialogue.

Shattering shared mythic narratives and symbols leaves a fragmented society, where survival and personal agendas dominate.

Communication across divergent subcultures becomes nearly impossible without common meanings. As central myths erode, the West grapples with an anarchy of meaning and value, veering toward nihilism.

Unifying cultural narratives are, at their core, inherently religious. The term “religious” here does not refer merely to doctrine or ceremony, but to any system of stories and practices that gather individuals into a single, meaningful whole.

Such narratives do three essential things: they give a shared sense of meaning and purpose, they reinforce themselves through communal rituals and practices, and they provide a body of wisdom and values—a metaethic—that guides both individual and collective life.

First, these narratives generate a sense of meaning and purpose. When people are bound together by a common story—one that answers fundamental questions of origin, destiny, and value—they become part of something greater than themselves. The narrative sets a direction for life, defining what counts as worthy, good, and true. It offers a reason for suffering, a vision for striving, and an explanation for mysterious or arbitrary events. In this way, the religious narrative does more than teach facts; it reveals significance and offers a context within which every life can find a place.

Second, unifying narratives are enacted and maintained through practices and rituals. These rituals need not be solely religious in the formal sense; they may include national holidays, festivals, shared meals, or public commemorations. Regular participation in these acts binds people together and strengthens the sense of belonging. Rituals transform abstract beliefs into lived experience. By guiding how communities gather, mark time, celebrate victories, mourn losses, and recall defining moments, rituals embed the narrative into the rhythms of daily life. In every society that wishes to endure, some form of ritual is necessary to renew and sustain the communal story.

Third, a unifying narrative always comes with a metaethic: a set of shared wisdom and values. The narrative itself justifies and reinforces certain ways of thinking and acting, offering models for imitation and boundaries for conduct. Through stories of heroes, sages, and saints—or legends of tragedy and folly—the culture instructs its members on what to value and how to live. These ethical lessons may address honesty, hospitality, courage, compassion, and justice; the narrative gives these values authority and coherence, connecting them to the larger meaning of existence.

The religious character of cultural narrative is inherent not simply because it invokes gods, spirits, or sacred doctrines, but because it creates a sense of the ultimate. It anchors individuals in a reality that transcends day-to-day experience, allowing them to see their lives as part of an unfolding drama both particular and universal. Where such narratives are strong, societies flourish in stability and confidence. Where such stories fade, meaning and cohesion become fragile, leaving individuals uncertain and disoriented. In every age, humanity relies on these religious narratives—stories that reveal, celebrate, and uphold the deepest truths of human community.

For centuries, Christianity provided much of Western culture’s sense of overarching meaning and purpose.

The Christian narrative ordered life around a transcendent story, centering the individual’s worth, offering moral guidance, and anchoring communities through a shared vision of reality. This narrative shaped law, art, education, and the rhythms of daily experience.

Christianity explained the origin and destiny of each person, affirmed the dignity of all individuals, and taught the pursuit of virtues such as compassion, justice, and forgiveness.

But today, Christianity’s influence as the core unifying story has sharply declined. As participation in church and acquaintance with Christian teachings have waned, Western societies have lost the sense of collective direction and shared identity once provided by faith. The symbols and rituals that once marked sacred time—from holidays to rites of passage—carry less weight, often reduced to customs without their original significance.

This collapse of a common narrative has left a cultural vacuum. What once organized daily life and gave meaning to suffering, achievement, and hope has become increasingly private, subjective, and fragmented.

Pluralism, the coexistence of many worldviews, has magnified this effect. Instead of a central story that brings people together, individuals are left to create meaning from a diversity of ideologies, philosophies, and experiences that rarely cohere into a lasting unity.

Where Christianity’s narrative once supplied comfort, ethical foundation, and communal identity, Western culture now finds itself adrift.

The loss of a binding cultural ethos means the absence of a widely accepted frame for value and purpose, leaving many feeling rootless, anxious, and uncertain about the future. In this landscape, the challenge is not simply the absence of faith, but the disappearance of a unitive story—the story that once made Western community possible.

In conjunction with Christianity’s decline is the profound influence of postmodernism, a philosophical movement that has led many in contemporary culture to believe that shared, unifying narratives are no longer possible.

Postmodernism challenges the notion of grand, overarching narratives that explain our place in the world. It emphasizes fragmentation, skepticism, and the relativity of truth, suggesting that all narratives are partial, context-bound, and ultimately untenable as universal claims.

This worldview erodes the foundation on which Western culture once rested. Christianity provided a coherent, comprehensive narrative that unified communities by offering shared beliefs, values, and purposes. Postmodernism’s rise has shattered confidence in these large-scale stories, fostering pluralism and relativism in their place.

While this has opened space for diverse voices and perspectives, it has also weakened the cultural cohesion once supplied by a shared narrative. And no, postmodernism isn’t a substitute narrative; it’s an anti-narrative.

Consequently, the decline of Christianity alongside postmodern skepticism has left Western culture without a dominant, unifying story that can provide a shared sense of identity or direction.

This cultural condition fuels uncertainty and disorientation, as individuals navigate a landscape where meaning is dispersed, contested, and fragmented. The interplay between Christianity’s waning influence and postmodern doubt presents a fundamental challenge to constructing collective narratives that can sustain community and guide purpose in the modern world.

Culture, like nature, abhors a vacuum.

In the absence of a unifying cultural narrative grounded in religion or shared meaning, people have gravitated toward newer narratives—none of which provide true cohesion or depth.

To overcome the current crisis of meaning, many recognize the need for a new unifying cultural narrative. But the question remains: is such a narrative possible in today’s fragmented world?

For a cultural narrative to unite a broad audience, it must establish common touchpoints—accessible themes, shared values, and practices—that resonate widely across diverse communities. Moreover, it must be relevant, speaking directly to the conditions, hopes, and challenges of contemporary life.

Importantly, any new overarching narrative must align with scientific knowledge and the cumulative wisdom of human understanding. It cannot disregard empirical truths or the advances of reason without losing credibility among those who cherish rational inquiry and evidence-based understanding. This requirement narrows the field considerably.

Currently, two serious contenders emerge. One is a revisioned Christianity—a version of the ancient wisdom that reinterprets its teachings in ways consistent with scientific discoveries and pluralistic values, reforming itself to address modern sensibilities while retaining its grounding in shared meaning, moral vision, and community.

The other contender is a narrative rooted in emergentism, evolution, and the natural world. This story draws from the unfolding complexity and interconnectedness revealed by modern science. It conceives of humanity as part of an evolving natural order, where meaning arises from participation in the ongoing emergence of life and consciousness. This narrative aims to offer ethical guidance and a communal purpose rooted in ecological awareness and a reverence for life’s interconnected web.

Both possibilities face significant challenges. Yet, either could restore a sense of belonging and purpose absent in contemporary culture.

The narratives aren’t mutually exclusive and could overlap and meld.

A cogent future may depend on whether one or both of these narratives can weave together common meaning, shared wisdom, and a sense of purpose broad enough to unite rather than divide.