At the heart of Nietzsche’s critique of Christian morality, lies his belief that it was developed from the base motivation of what he called ressentiment. He shows how this bias developed in the context of ancient priestly nations, such as the Jewish nation, and characterises it as one side of a polarisation between a ‘slave’ morality and a ‘master’ morality. (1989: 26, 27) He imagined the beginning of civilisation in a fictional setting where the early humans, or proto-humans, were seen as having a “semi-animal” consciousness (Magnus & Higgins, 1996: 105), acting only out of their basic impulses and internal drives. Over time there evolved two groups, or social strata: the master race, who were smaller numerically but held the power, and the slave race, who were by far the larger group, but were successfully subdued by the master race. The slaves underwent an extensive reshaping of their minds during this time, due to the redirection of the natural instincts and drives that had been suppressed by the master race. Out of this transformation evolved ‘conscience’, mainly in the form of a bad conscience. The ‘bad-ness’ of their conscience found its genesis in the deep hatred and ressentiment the slaves held for the master race. Out of a need to appease this bad-conscience and lay blame for it, evolved, as a mere social-construction, the identification of a demon. Out of the fear of the demon, evolved the need for the identification of one that could protect against it, namely, God. In such a way, Nietzsche argues that the divine being, specifically the Judeo-Christian God, is not only in reality a social construct and therefore not real, but the poisonous fruit of ressentiment, which he saw as essentially ‘hostile to human life’. (Magnus & Higgins, 1996: 105) In the following quote, we really get a sense for Nietzsche’s distaste for Christianity, and for how pervasive, in his opinion, its influence has been: ‘I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great innermost corruption, the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means is poisonous, stealthy, subterranean, small enough - I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind.’ (Magnus & Higgins, 1996: 56) Not only does Nietzsche deem the seedbed of ressentiment within Christianity to be toxic to human well being, but he is incensed with how, in its all-pervasiveness within the Occident, it has discriminated against all that is strong, powerful, prideful and heroic. As a consequence to the basic emotion of ressentiment, come lust for power and revenge which, ostensibly, the slave race executed successfully upon the master race by means of the revaluation of values. In The Genealogy of Morals he describes how the Jewish race ‘reject[ed] the aristocratic value equation (good = noble = powerful = beautiful = happy = blessed)’, and motivated by hatred for the master race and a deep desire to overthrow them, ‘ventured, with awe-inspiring consistency, to bring about a reversal’ [of values]. ‘Only those who suffer are good, only the poor, the powerless, the lowly are good; the suffering, the deprived, the sick, the ugly, are the only pious people, the only ones saved, salvation is for them alone, whereas you rich, the noble and powerful, you are eternally wicked, cruel, lustful, insatiate, godless, you will also be eternally wretched, cursed and damned.’ (1989: 34) In this long and drawn-out way and with great patience and determination, priestly nations such as the Jewish nation, were able to dethrone the masters of the world, to take revenge upon them and, ultimately, gain power for themselves. Nietzsche saw Jesus Christ, not as a critique of love and forgiveness against such values of ressentiment, but as the climax and full realisation of them. (1989: 35) In contrast, he characterised the ‘noble mode of valuation’ as ‘act[ing] and grow[ing] spontaneously’; as ‘affirming itself gratefully and triumphantly’; as having a ‘positive basic concept’ in which the individual themselves were the arbiters of goodness: “ we noble ones, we good, beautiful, happy ones.” (1989: 37) Nietzsche looks with disgust upon the Christian values of humility and self-abasement, citing their genesis in the ‘ascetic ideal’. This, he says, is the favoured ‘instrument of power’ for those who ‘see themselves as “too good” for this world…’ (1989: 97)
4 comments:
Wow, how fascinating. Talk about a subversive orthodoxy!
What exactly is it you are studying?
theology and sociology. that paper was for an ethics module. i have to say, it leaves me in bits studying this stuff. i wonder whether a personal faith in christ will still be possible, at some stage in the future.
On the walk to work this morning I listened to the second of the Brian McLaren Bleeding Purple podcasts and I was moved by the anecdote about the famous preacher who said something like: ‘Every other Monday morning I wake up and wonder if I believe a word of what I preached the day before.’
Sometimes we do have to depend on other people’s faith when our own seems to have run dry. The dark night of the soul is real and anyone who truly wants Jesus - rather than just watch him from a distance - has to go through this.
It’s a dreadful and long winter, and when it ends it isn’t because of any intellectual epiphany. I remember looking to apologetics to salve the sting of doubt. But thinking about summer doesn’t making the wind any less harsh.
If our brainwaves, chemicals and circumstances - and perhaps even the will of God - are working for us to have a testing and refining time, then we need to lean on the faith of others, and embrace their confidence as our own. It’s like siphoning petrol from a friend’s car to be able to get home.
Reading a lot recently of Nietzsche's stuff, I identified with his view of himself as a permanent observer. Its not a role I have always, or ever before filled, but I do more so now, and I have a sense that it is a very natural pose for me. I wonder, is this my destiny? In your words, is this 'dark night' ever going to end? I can't see a way back to the idealistic faith of my youth, but perhaps there is an, as yet unknown, way forward. I just can't see it or imagine it. It is only the friends around me who make me think it may be possible. The other thing is, that I am increasingly comfortable with my unbelief. That's not to say that I am boring old sceptic who can't rejoice in and enjoy life. I really don't think that's the case. Nor do I feel that the road I am on leads inevitably to atheism. Perhaps it will end in ambivalence. Is that the worst fate of all?
I started reading about Jurgen Moltmann's theology of the suffering GOd to day, for my next assignment. Its interesting stuff, and I'll probably blog on it soon. The journey of llife continues...
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