Movement 103
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Friedrich Nietzsche<br />
Friedilch who?<br />
Friedrich NieEsche, pronounced Neet-chur. He lived<br />
from 1844-1900 and cultivated a large moustache<br />
and challenging ideas.<br />
What did he say?<br />
Nietzsche said that in Western civilisation we have<br />
been doingwithout God and building belief systems<br />
which increasingly leave God on the margins, make<br />
him inelevant, or are 'positively negative'towards<br />
religious belief.<br />
Ho hum. So whats new?<br />
Remember, this was the 19th century. Darwin's<br />
origin of Species took the biological rug out from<br />
under religion's feet; Marx's challenged the social<br />
basis and justice of Christianity. Both caused<br />
uproar - and now Nietsche not only thought this<br />
was a good thing, he said people did not realise<br />
that they themselves had killed God - or the social<br />
construct of God (for this is all God ever was).<br />
The churches, NieEsche saw, were trying to revise<br />
Christianity in the light of emerging science, but this<br />
revisionism was splitting the churches and was<br />
doomed to failure, for the revisionist Christians<br />
were in the act of wiping Christianity out.<br />
Hey! Hang on there! Ghristianig has always revised<br />
itself to suit the times,<br />
Yes, but the problem Nietsche saw was more<br />
fundamental. According to Fred, we have always<br />
based our beliefs on metaphysics - a beliefthat<br />
there is Something Out There that is Really True.<br />
Nietsche said that metaphysics is always based on<br />
God - it is Real andTrue because God said so.<br />
God/the gods have been the arbiter of all truth,<br />
morality, reality. Except, of course, there never really<br />
was, objectively, any God or gods.<br />
So is anything ReallYTrue?<br />
We cannot possibly have access to any reality<br />
except those we invent for ourselves. And so priests<br />
try t0 trick everyone else into believing their reality.<br />
Nietrsche didn't like priests much, then?<br />
That's an understatement. He said that they<br />
preached a "slave morality": adherents should<br />
follow Someone Else's (God's, the priests') rules -<br />
be a moral slave - rather than making up their own<br />
morality, which is now the task of all after the death<br />
ofGod. As he wrote in Daybreak, "There are no<br />
facts, only interpretations." Therefore we should<br />
become strong individuals and fashion the world<br />
and our moralig as we see fit.<br />
lsn't that a tad selfish?<br />
NieEsche proclaimed what he called "ideal selfishness".<br />
He admired the ancient Greek leaders who<br />
knew they needed to bring about suffering in order<br />
to bring about the good. lhat's the nature of things.<br />
It needs the exercise of power to get things done.<br />
He hated Christian leaders who disempowered<br />
themselves and their followers by pronouncing<br />
weakness as good, converting inoffensiveness and<br />
cowardliness to "patience", subjugation by those<br />
one hates to "obedience", and converting present<br />
misery into a post-mortem hope for happiness. He<br />
recognised that life is messy and painful (as his<br />
own was - he was often in great physical pain due<br />
to a barrage of illnesses). We must grab life with<br />
both hands and not be afraid of it or of our own<br />
power. We must create our own versions of life - the<br />
"transvaluation of all values".<br />
Gotcha! Nietzsche is contradicting himself. He says<br />
we must create our own realities, but surely he<br />
wants us to agree with his?<br />
Not so. He said that one cannot expect the chicken<br />
to have the same morality as the fox. They have<br />
different interests. With the end of absolute truth,<br />
we have the dispersal of moralities.<br />
But would that work? Lots of individuals out to<br />
have their own way?<br />
A good question. There is scope in Nietsche's<br />
alternative t0 Christian morality for great abuse, as<br />
his own sister saw - and used to her advantage.<br />
Elisabeth Nietsche looked after Friedrich in his<br />
final years after he went mad. During that time she<br />
published his remaining works, but revised to her<br />
own proto-fascist ends. lt is because of her that<br />
Hitler and the Nazis used NieEsche's writing to<br />
promote themselves philosophica lly.<br />
0h dear. What would Fred have said?<br />
We do know that. He hated racists and fascism, and<br />
often spoke out against the rising tide of German<br />
anti-Semitism. ln fact, his last known writing, a note<br />
to a friend, expressed a wish to have all anti-<br />
Semites shot!<br />
What is his lasting legacy?<br />
It is because of Nietsche that "death of God"<br />
theology arose in the 1960s, with a surge of books<br />
to argue its case. His work on philology (the science<br />
of language) paved the way for Ludwig Wittgenstein,<br />
and the works of Don Cupitt would be empty<br />
without hi.. Nowadays we take it almost for granted<br />
that social relationships are based on power. lt was<br />
our Fred who brought this realisation to the fore.<br />
He wasn't much of a laugh, was he?<br />
Nope. He was as serious-minded as they come. Yet<br />
he did gr0w that moustache. But his writings are an<br />
incredible read. He has a writing style like no other<br />
and his ideas are involved and complex, so this<br />
short article can't do him justice. Read him . . . or<br />
send me an e-mail and l'll send you a much bigger<br />
summary.<br />
IAN HARVEY-PITTAWAY (ian.hp@cwcom.net)<br />
Stephen Matthews<br />
is off to South<br />
Africa. Here he<br />
shares his thoughts<br />
before he leaves.<br />
PEOPLE HAVE been quick to warn me that<br />
in South Africa the crime rate is high and<br />
violence is commonplace. You can step off<br />
the plane in Johannesburg, and suddenly<br />
your bags are taken from you; or you can<br />
step off the coach and be surrounded by a<br />
gang of about a dozen knife-wielding guys<br />
and no one will lift a finger to help you. I<br />
have heard many other similar stories but I<br />
am more concerned about the violence that<br />
is hidden behind the clamour concerning<br />
self-preservation. Even five years after the<br />
end of apartheid, reports are coming<br />
through of racially motivated killings.<br />
I want to find outjust what has<br />
happened in the last five years and what<br />
the future holds for South Africa. Before I<br />
leave I will spend some time trying to<br />
discover what questions SCMers in Britain,<br />
would like to ask of people in South Africa;<br />
and I will be asking you what you think of<br />
traditional images of charity work. We,<br />
especially as Christians, are often asked to<br />
donate to the poor. How do we consider'the<br />
starvlng black babies' in Africa and do we<br />
care? SCM was involved in campaigning<br />
against racism in South Africa during the<br />
apartheid years - has any thing really<br />
changed since then?<br />
I will fly Into Johannesburg early on the<br />
16th of October and will stay in South Africa<br />
for three weeks. During my stay I will be<br />
introduced to those running various<br />
different projects, their supporters and<br />
most importantly I will see the people who<br />
use the projects. During my time in<br />
Johannesburg I will visit a township and the<br />
surrounding areas and look at issues of<br />
housing and how best to use the land. I<br />
have been invited to a weekend conference<br />
run by an ecumenical youth programme:<br />
there I'll meet some of the most<br />
disadvantaged young people: those outside<br />
the school system, the unemployed, people<br />
involved in criminal activities, young women<br />
affected by sexual violence.<br />
I remember watching Nelson Mandela<br />
when he was released from prison on Robin<br />
lsland and I then saw him on his birthday in<br />
Wembley Stadium. I hope to catch a<br />
glimpse of people's understanding and<br />
willingness to work things out together that<br />
wlll leave me inspired. lt will give me<br />
something to bring home.<br />
A few days later I will back in Britain at<br />
the Annual SCM Conference and l'll have<br />
the chance to share my experiences. See<br />
you there.<br />
movement 13
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