Jens Balzer's Essay "Erlösung" Examines Apocalyptic Fantasies of Authoritarian Thinkers

In his essay "Erlösung," Jens Balzer examines apocalyptic fantasies of authoritarian thinkers including Peter Thiel and Alexander Dugin, arguing that religious motifs shape contemporary political discourse in the United States and Russia. Balzer's text opens with the Irish band U2, whose early-1980s hit Sunday Bloody Sunday served as an echo of a nearly resolved religious conflict, even as the sectarian struggle over Northern Ireland continued for several more years and hopes for secularization remained high on the island. That trajectory changed on September 11, 2001, when the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York ended expectations of global trade producing only winners. The essay, published by the German weekly Der Freitag, traces how concepts such as Islamism, antisemitism, and anti-Muslim racism have since shaped public debate. Balzer's argument positions the apocalyptic imagination as a right-wing possession, linking religious redemption narratives to authoritarian politics. The piece is presented as an essay by Jens Balzer, with the source text credited to Harry Nutt on the Freitag website.