David Zahl Books
David Zahl is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries and editor-in-chief of the Mockingbird website. He writes and speaks widely on the intersection of faith and culture, and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Known for: Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
Books by David Zahl
Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
In Seculosity, David Zahl argues that modern people have not outgrown religion so much as relocated it. Even in a secular age, we still crave meaning, identity, innocence, belonging, and a sense that our lives are justified. The difference is that we now seek those things through ordinary arenas like work, parenting, fitness, diet, romance, technology, and politics. These pursuits become “seculosities,” functional religions that promise salvation through performance, self-optimization, and public approval. Zahl’s central insight is both unsettling and liberating: the more we expect these areas to prove our worth, the more anxious, judgmental, and exhausted we become. What makes the book compelling is its combination of cultural criticism, pastoral sensitivity, and sharp humor. Zahl does not merely diagnose social trends from a distance. As founder of Mockingbird Ministries and a writer deeply engaged with the relationship between faith and culture, he understands how guilt, striving, and self-justification operate in everyday life. Seculosity matters because it names a pressure many people feel but struggle to describe: the burden of having to be enough. By exposing that burden, Zahl opens the door to a different way of living, one grounded not in endless proving but in grace.
Read SummaryKey Insights from David Zahl
Seculosity Names Our Hidden Religions
The most powerful religions today often do not look religious at all. That is David Zahl’s starting point. He uses the word “seculosity” to describe the way secular activities take on the emotional and moral role once associated with religion. A seculosity tells us what counts as righteousness, what...
From Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
Work Becomes a Quest for Worth
When a culture loses a shared religious framework, it often transfers spiritual expectations onto achievement. Zahl argues that work has become one of the clearest examples. Professional success is no longer just about earning a living or contributing to society. It becomes proof of value. Productiv...
From Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
Parenting Turns Love into Performance
Few modern roles carry as much pressure as parenting, and Zahl argues that this is because parenting has become moral theater. Children are increasingly treated not only as loved individuals but as reflections of parental competence, ethics, and emotional intelligence. If a child eats the right food...
From Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
Technology Promises Connection, Then Drains Us
Technology often presents itself as a tool of freedom, but Zahl shows how easily it becomes a system of judgment and craving. Devices promise efficiency, access, community, and self-expression. Yet they also create an environment of constant measurement. Likes, replies, views, streaks, and notificat...
From Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
Food and Wellness Become Moral Purity
Modern wellness culture often speaks the language of health, but underneath it can carry the structure of purity. Zahl observes that food, fitness, and bodily discipline have become moralized in powerful ways. People no longer just eat, exercise, or manage stress; they signal identity and virtue thr...
From Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
Romance Carries Impossible Expectations
Love has always mattered, but Zahl argues that modern culture has overloaded romance with redemptive hopes. Many people now expect intimate relationships to provide identity, emotional healing, status, adventure, sexual fulfillment, and lifelong self-discovery all at once. A partner is not simply lo...
From Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It
About David Zahl
David Zahl is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries and editor-in-chief of the Mockingbird website. He writes and speaks widely on the intersection of faith and culture, and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Frequently Asked Questions
David Zahl is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries and editor-in-chief of the Mockingbird website. He writes and speaks widely on the intersection of faith and culture, and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Read David Zahl's books in 15 minutes
Get AI-powered summaries with key insights from 1 book by David Zahl.