Nut House Ripe
The writings of Nietzsche are resisted by many, aware of his assertion of “the death of God” in his parable of the madman. Nietzsche has a reputation for raging against the church, a sworn enemy of priestcraft, opposing veneration for those believing themselves as adepts of divine wisdom, spokespersons for/of life after life…
To benefit, to feel the mind-shift from a POV of diminishing resources, life, a game of “survivor”, zero-sum philosophy, wherein you expect to ultimately lose, a desperate scrum in the face of impossible odds, — to Nietzsche’s POV which suggests life is expansive, each obstacle an opportunity for becoming more, learning and living synonymous — one has to understand god-talk, god-thought is a formidable illusion at root of my personal, and our collective existential ill health.
If you desire to live your life, you must discover what life means for you, without illusion of supernatural safety net, after-life “insurance” offered by a church, proposed by a smooth-talking television pitchman waving a leather bound Bible,…
The fight against the
church is certainly among other things…
the fight of the more common, merrier,
more familiar, ingenuous. and superficial type
against
dominion of the graver, deeper. more meditative,
that is more evil and suspicious human beings
who brood with an enduring suspicion
about the value of existence and also about their own value…
Protestantism already is a people’s rebellion,
for the benefit of the
ingenuous, guileless, and superficial…
But it was only the French Revolution
that actually and solemnly placed
the scepter in the hands of “the good human being”
(the sheep, the ass, the goose,
and all who are incurably shallow squallers,
ripe for the nut house
of “modern ideas”)
–excerpt The Gay Science, Book 5, Section 350 by Friedrich Nietzsche
2 thoughts on “Nut House Ripe”
Atheists in Foxholes
Based on your post I found myself remembering the old saying: There are no atheists in foxholes. This phrase is intended to reference people who are facing their mortality as embracing some form of religious doctrine, just in case. Currently I find myself in a foxhole of sorts with cancer cells whizzing overhead as I wait to discover my fate, yet I no more embrace magical thinking than I did last month, last year, or at any time in my life. My remote ancestors were curious about their environment and so developed explanations that made sense to them. “Facts” manifested themselves from dreams to help explain the natural phenomena that we now have science to help us understand. That billions of our fellow humans continue to embrace voodoo belief systems is indeed insanity on a massive scale. I don’t need to go any further than this human propensity to believe in magic to explain why we are most likely headed towards extinction. And so it is evident that we are all in this foxhole together and we can choose to continue this nonsense of belief in deities or face reality and do something of worth with what time we have remaining. Or not!
I am an atheist in a foxhole and this will not change regardless of prognosis.
A capacious foxhole indeed, with enough room for beliefs which portend doom of not just ourselves, but of every species. Facts are deemed reliable beliefs because they describe “reality” in ways that are productive to our need to care for one another, and to take care of the earth. Do we not need beliefs of a religious quality that are inclusive, that are grounded upon the widest possible human experience?
Absolutely nothing ought to stampede anyone to accede to patient nonsense, to subscribe to any of the discredited gods…
Granted when one already holds such a subscription, change is most difficult, and takes time.