{"id":148162,"date":"2026-10-20T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T16:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=148162"},"modified":"2026-10-20T17:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T21:42:49","slug":"wng-the-nebuchadnezzar-contagion-americas-existential-crisis-of-meaning-is-similar-to-the-babylonian-kings-crisis-and-the-solution-is-the-same-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=148162","title":{"rendered":"(WNG) The Nebuchadnezzar contagion–America\u2019s \u201cexistential crisis of meaning\u201d is similar to the Babylonian king\u2019s crisis, and the solution is the same, too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A recent survey<\/a> found that one in every three Americans describe themselves as being in an existential crisis of meaning. The percentage jumps to over half of Gen Z. That means if you meet two people between the ages of 14 and 29, then one of them likely has a deep sense of lostness regarding his or her place in the cosmos. Those bleak facts can be taken either as a reason to shrug our shoulders as a pessimistic sign of the times or as a golden opportunity for those of us to know the One who bestows enduring existential significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same study found that a sizable 37 percent of Americans said \u201ctheir entire lives feel out of their control,\u201d with 52 percent of Gen Z expressing that same panicked sense of powerlessness. As a theologian, I read such numbers as what we may call \u201cthe Nebuchadnezzar contagion.\u201d Two-and-a-half millennia ago, prior to what we may describe as a steep decline in his mental health, the ancient Babylonian king strolled his palace roof, surveyed the landscape, and declared, \u201cIs not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?\u201d (Daniel 4:30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such pretended self-sovereignty is rampant in our age in which the cult of self-worship<\/a> manifests in the belief of 84\u202fpercent<\/a> of Americans that \u201cenjoying yourself is the highest goal of life,\u201d 86 percent believing that you must \u201cpursue the things you desire most,\u201d and 91 percent affirming the statement: \u201cTo find yourself, look within yourself.\u201d In a sense, we\u2019re all Nubuchadnezzars now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet we end up as what David Foster Wallace called<\/a> \u201clords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation.\u201d It turns out that living like the Babylonian king \u201cfor the glory of my majesty,\u201d has terrible outcomes today just as it did in the ancient near east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

The Neo-Babylonian Empire, led by King Nebuchadnezzar II, conquered Jerusalem in two major stages due to rebellions by the Kingdom of Judah. [1, 2] https:\/\/t.co\/QxGtq2Ah0u<\/p>— Julie Parker (@JulieParker144) October 19, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>\n