Hollywood producer Chuck Lorre, known for creating hit television shows including The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Young Sheldon, warned that societies that abandon God risk replacing religious belief with authoritarian political ideologies.

Lorre made the remarks during Tuesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, arguing that when civilizations remove God from their cultural foundations, people may turn toward political movements that demand loyalty and obedience.

“When civilizations or cultures took God out of the picture, they replaced it with a Communist party, with a fascist dictator,” Lorre told Rogan. “It’s the same idea: ‘Organize around me. It doesn’t matter if I’m right or not, organize around me.’ And people will,” he continued. “And if you take that away from them, they get angry.”

Lorre compared faith to a tent pole holding up an entire structure, arguing that challenging a person’s foundational beliefs can destabilize the rest of their worldview. “It freaks them out,” he said. “Because it’s like the tent pole. That tent pole moves, the tent comes down.” He added that when people are told that something they regard as truth is false, they may begin questioning everything else they believe.

The conversation also turned to fame, wealth and the search for meaning. Lorre acknowledged the appeal of celebrity, luxury cars and public adulation but argued that material success cannot provide lasting fulfillment. “The real solution is a spiritual solution. You have to find something beyond this world,” he said, adding that he might regret making the statement because he did not want to be associated with what he called “new age bullshit.”

Lorre nevertheless maintained that the pursuit of spiritual meaning had value in his own life, even without arriving at definitive answers. “Seeking a spiritual illusion, not finding it, but the act of seeking it, there’s some salvation in that,” he said.

Rogan agreed that spirituality should not be dismissed as foolish, arguing that the term has acquired a negative reputation because of its association with people he considers unreliable or “flaky.” Lorre agreed that others had given spirituality a bad name.

The exchange offered an unusual public discussion of religious faith and spiritual purpose from Lorre, a prominent figure in Hollywood television, with both men exploring whether meaning beyond material success can provide a more enduring foundation for life.