Friedrich Nietzsche

-Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life's nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in "another" or "better" life.

-After Buddha was dead, his shadow was still shown for centuries in a cave - a tremendous, gruesome shadow. God is dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. -And we- we still have to vanquish his shadow, too.

 

Man is something that must be covercome.

 

Not too long ago, I went to a lecture given by a Stanford philosophy professor. The topic was Nietzsche's hypothesis of redemption, with special emphasis on how his posit contrasts to that of Christian doctrine. It was interesting. I feel confident I could've smoked this prof in a structured debate, but that's not to say he spoke well for Nietzsche.

 

After actually reading Nietzsche's work - as opposed to just admiring/supporting his outlook based on his reputation - I'm convinced that most people, even some of his apologists, kind of missed the point of what he was trying to get at. Even the "rebel" kids who quote "God is dead" on their MySpace pages probably don't realize that that snippet in itself is somewhat taken out of context. The commonly accepted image of Nietzsche as a "nihilist atheist" doesn't really tell the whole story. His works, often written in passionate sessions of euphoric inspiration, were his method of actally overcoming the nihilism in which he began his writing career. I think his message is not that of atheism, but of going beyond atheism and the inevitable nihilism that goes with it.

One notices Nietzsche limits his attacks on Christianity to how they actually manifest in practice, or at least to how they manifested in the world around him. He doesn't bother with the Scriptures - or the Diety - so much as the "Afterworldsmen" and the "Last Man," whose character traits Nietzsche saw as poisonous flaws. His approach reveals where the contra-Judeo-Christian mindset differs from that of most mainstream religious doctrine; he might have easily agreed with me that: "We do not strive against principalities and powers, but against flesh and blood."

I think Nietzsche's sympathizers, myself included, share his profound dissatisfaction with the current state of our species. The dominance of monotheistic religion is only a symptom, not the problem itself. By instinct Nietzsche rejected the widespread acceptance of mediocrity, and was driven to call for something better... for Man to "live dangerously" and strive for excellence through "self-overcoming."

I feel bad for the guy. He's gotten such a bad rap. I think he was on to something.

 

I definitely got that impression. From what I heard, he obviously had a serious beef with the church. I wonder, though, how he would've reacted to a simpler, more pure exposition and illustration of Biblical Christian doctrine, without all the ulterior motives, politics, and hypocrisy.

 

I wonder on how we all would react under that kind of exposition. I'm sure there would be a lot less misunderstandings and judging attitudes towards each other.

 

EXCELLENT post, EC! You really made me think--& made me want to look up Neitzsche again

Amen to that!