There is a reason why Christianity is not as popular as it was 500 years ago. During the last 200 years there has been an industrial and spiritual revolution all around the World. And one of the most important philosophers and writers during that period is Friedrich Nietzsche. Friedrich Nietzsche is a key philosopher in understanding the World zeitgeist and how the value system of the masses has change.
Below is a very good 12 minute video introduction into the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. It's not the Friedrich Nietzsche was actually an atheist per se but he certainly provides an intellectual context for being an atheist.
The video gets what being an atheist means a little off. Being an atheist simply means not having a belief in God. Being an atheist does not mean denying the existence of God although practically every theists who cares about what atheists think would claim. For most atheists, what it means to be an atheist, is simply not having a belief in God because there is no easily agreeable evidence supporting such a belief.
The video however does a really good job giving you insight into Friedrich Nietzsche brilliant criticism of the way the human mind works and the importance of programming our subjective experiences based on our moral values:
Friedrich Nietzsche had some acute criticisms of Christianity. He said Christianity was born in response to Roman oppression. It took hold in the minds of timid slaves who did not have the courage or strength to take what they really wanted. The slaves could not admit to their own failings. So they clung to a philosophy that made virtue of cowardice. Everything the Christians wanted and wished they had in their lives for fulfillment was considered to be a sin. A position in the world, prestige, good sex, intellectual mastery, personal wealth were too difficult or beyond their reach. The Christian slaves created a hypocritical creed denouncing what they really wanted but were incapable of achieving while praising what they did not want was being virtuous. So in the Christian value system sexlessness turned into 'purity', weakness became "goodness," submission to authority became "obedience," and in Nietzsche's words, "not-being-able-take-revenge" turned into "forgiveness." A Christian slave was too weak to have any personal voice and was only capable of bending a knee to whoever was in authority.
This idea that being a submissive slave to authority is somehow sacred is hard for me to accept. I just can't help be think this whole way of being is somehow a way to manipulate the masses in accepting rule by monarchy which is in many ways against their own selfish self-interests.
Nietzsche pointed out God is dead because compared to previous cultures, God is not the central part of modern life. I don't think Nietzsche was altogether anti-God but more interesting is the problems people where having with Christianity and the idea of God.
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