Observe, for instance, the fact that quite a few intellectually advanced individuals employ mysticism to satisfy their religious needs. This has been noticed since around the turn of the century. On the whole it can be assumed that these people were socialized into the ideologies of one or another of the existing churches. A double motivation for their mysticism is unmistakable. First of all, the forms which objectify and direct religious feeling are felt to be inadequate for contemporary life. On the other hand, these mystical tendencies suggest that life's longing may be frustrated by objective forms in themselves, that the religious impulse must search for different goals and ways.

XREF: Connects to broader debates about secularization, the religious impulse in modernity, and critiques of institutional churches from thinkers like Weber and Durkheim.

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 863