In Gnostic America: A Reading of Contemporary American Culture and Religion according to Christianity's Oldest Heresy (2014), a Lutheran pastor, Peter Burfeind, sounds the alarm. The American culture has fallen under the influence of a resurgent, modern Gnosticism.
How could an ancient heresy re-appear and achieve dominance in the modern world?
Burfeind presents an excellent account, but he cannot detail the logic inherent in the Gnostic mindset. He does not have the semiotic tools to do so.
These comments provide a definition of the word "Gnosticism" based on the categories of Charles S. Peirce. They follow the ground-breaking work, How to Define the Word "Religion".
The relational structure of the Gnostic origin myth is revealed and applied to Burfeind's arguments. The result complements Burfeind's text. Open these books to see: The current disaster is a re-enactment of the Gnostic myth in contemporary Western society.