The Antichrist Analysis Essay
Nietzsche sets out to denounce and illegitimize not only Christianity itself as a belief and a practice, but also the ethical-moral value system which modern western civilization has inherited from it in the Antichrist. One of the most important of these ideas is that Christianity has made people nihilistic and weak by regarding pity and related sentiments as the highest virtues. Nietzsche traces the origin of these values to the ancient Jews who lived under Roman occupation, but here he puts them in terms of a reversal of their conception of God.I agree with some of the ideas Nietzsche offers in regards to Christianity and other ideas related to Buddhism. Nietzsche starts by criticizing Christianity for denouncing and regarding as evil those basic instincts of human beings which are self- preservation and survival skills. Instead, Christianity maintains and advocates values which Nietzsche sees as self-destructing or nihilistic, of which the most important is pity.
“Christianity is called the religion of pity….. it is a depressant (3). I have been around and associated with Christianity many years of my life and have never heard of such a thing as a religion of pity.
I assume, this term is related to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, if my assumption is correct, I believe Nietzsche misunderstood the message that was being conveyed. Pity is not the emotion that was intended, freedom was the intended emotion. Jesus refused to be changed by force and was crucified for that reason.
His intent was to lead by example, to be proud of who you are and be proud of what you represent.Nietzsche goes on the state “pity thwarts the whole law of evolution, which is the law of natural selection (3). ” Natural selection, in lamest terms is survival of the fittest, and not physically fit, but fit enough to reproduce fertile offspring, to survive just long enough to have those offspring, and at times not live a day longer than the birth of those offspring. With that being said, Christianity and natural selection do not co-inside with one another, making Nietzsche’s statement a false accusation. “The Christian concept of God …. s one of the most corrupt conceptions of the divine ever obtained on earth.
” This is simply Nietzsche ranting and raving out of anger against Christianity.There is nothing to back this argument up through-out the entire article, only his personal opinions. It is this moment that I start to understand his preference for Buddhism. “I allude to Buddhism (9). ” And then he contradicts himself, while he condemns Christianity and alludes Buddhism, “both are to be reckoned among the nihilistic religions- they are both decadence religions. He then goes on the compare and contrast the two, with Buddhism always one step ahead of Christianity. “Buddhism is the only genuinely positive religion to be encountered in the history. ” Buddhism is a great religion, and has a lot of positive attributes, Christianity, at times can seem dark and terrifying, however religion, is something of choice.
Neither Nietzsche nor any other has the right to bash one religion for the simple fact of uplifting another out of pure preference.This article did not change my views of Christianity or Buddhism; it allowed a brief moment of insight inside the mind of a man with hatred toward one religion and a bit of admiration for another. This article did change my thoughts on Nietzsche, and brings a greater understanding of the ridicule and torment that Christians had to endure for believing in the God that was chosen at that day in age. There were no facts attached to any of the assumptions listed in the article, only hatred and angst.
