"Among the things that have occasioned so much confusion in modern philosophizing is that the philosophers make so many brief statements about infinite tasks and mutually respect this paper money, although it almost never occurs to anyone, existing, to want to try his hand at fulfilling the task's requirement." (Soren Kierkegaard, "Concluding Postscripts")
If Kierkegaard had the luxury of looking forward 150 years he would see that nothing has changed whatsoever. Kierkegaard was, at the time, railing against the ridiculous notion of doubting everything made popular by Rene Descarte. Kierk said, "The presupposition, for example, of doubting everything would take a whole lifetime; now, however, it is done as swiftly as it is said." The point is: people rarely enact what they claim to believe.
Let me pick on atheists for a moment and then I will swiftly move and attack myself and my own branch - Christians. The majority of atheists I meet, especially on blogs, are straight up frauds. If Nietzsche said "There has ever only been one Christian, he died on a cross and the rest are hypocrites," then I declare there has ever only been one atheist, he died in an insane asylum (Nietzsche) and the rest are hypocrites.
Nietzsche was unique among atheists in that he actually took to task the work of appropriating the logical ends of an atheistic ideology. He sought to go 'Beyond Good and Evil,' for the simple fact that if no God exists and we, humans, are the result of millions of years of biological evolution then we cannot speak of 'good' and 'evil' as if they carry any merit in actuality. Good and evil are as foreign to nature as 'natural' and 'supernatural'; these two terms (good and evil) live not only exclusively in the minds of humans, but live there as phantoms - imaginations thrusted upon us by bio-chemistry.
Most atheists today will give 'good' and 'evil' some play in their philosophy because they realize the dead-end they are in for if they completely deny these two terms real validity. They will give "paper money" explanations of how evolution granted us our ideas of good and evil without any need of an eternal standard given by a Standard Maker. But even if one is to allow these explanations to take root in their logic, can they live it? Can they live as if good and evil are simply a matter of non-rational/material evolution with no eternal foundation? Rather than answer the question with more abstract reasoning (which is incapable of causing one to act) try answering it in your everyday life. Every time a situation comes along that tests your moral code (whatever code you've adopted) tell yourself: "millions of years of bio-chemical evolution has made my mind believe that this is wrong therefore I will not do it" and see how that works. Will you not immediately laugh at such a standard and go right on doing what you wanted to do because... you don't really believe bio-evolution can give you a morality of 'good' and 'evil' with any seriousness? Before you call my bluff, try it.
Nietzsche had it right: to go beyond belief in God is to go beyond good and evil. If one has not gone beyond good and evil, then one has not gone beyond belief in God. As Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D. puts it, "Nietzsche was a savage enemy of all lukewarmness, all halfway housebuilding, whether done in the name of religion or irreligion." Atheists often live as if there is a God, and the religious, often, as if there is not.
Now on to those Nietzsche most lamented - liberal Christians. By liberal I don't mean simply those who deny the virgin birth or who deny Christ's divinity, I mean those who nod their heads in agreement at the preaching of the word and return to their "halfway housebuilding" project of life. I can't speak for others but I can tell you why I am not faithful to appropriate all the words of Christ to my life: I'm scared to death! What if I become the kind of believer Jesus describes, what if I take His every word and live it out? Will I not become a freak, a fugitive in my own home, an outcast in the world, one who the world mocks and religion hunts down and kills? Will I not suffer the most intense trials and hardships one can imagine? YES, but oh the joy! (Oh how I long to welcome the suffering that comes from righteous living!)
Break out from your abstract theological philosophy! Quit pretending to know the Lord who radically changes your life if it has not been changed. Do not deal yourself the 'paper money' of pious talk, but seek the true riches of His kingdom. Let the skeptic doubt and the religious remain blind, but you - come to the Lord! Let Him take hold of your life Christian, not just your agreement. Pray for me, and I for you, that we may come to truly know the Way, the Truth, and the Life - Christ Jesus.
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