Why is the shirk (associating partners with Allah) of the people of this age more severe than the shirk of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner asks: Is it correct for some to say that the shirk of the people of shirk in our time is more severe than the shirk of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance?

Answer:
Yes, this was said by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, and he provided evidence for this by stating that the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance associated partners with Allah in times of ease, but were sincere in times of hardship, so they are sincere in times of hardship because they know that none can save from hardships except Allah (Mighty and Majestic), so they are sincere in hardship and associate partners with Allah in ease. As for the people of this age, when their affairs become difficult, their shirk increases; they do not call upon Allah or seek aid from Allah in hardship, but rather they call upon al-Badawi, 'Abd al-Qadir, so-and-so, and so-and-so, shouting their names: "Save us, save us." This is a reality and is known about them.
When they fall into hardship, they say "O 'Ali, O Husayn, O so-and-so, O so-and-so," and they never say "O Allah." This is something observed; what the Shaykh said was not from his own opinion, but he transmitted it from something observed and real. Yes.