Religious Nihilism

Religious Nihilism


“Reality”, as we have expressed her in the arts of religion, has become somewhat of a monstrosity. Painted over nature in words and symbols is the vandalism of a thousand artists, who have all seen fit to draw on her their values and meaning and purposes, twisting her into a poem so that she sounds sweeter in our voice and in our thoughts. These idealists seek to explain her away with gods, other-worlds, souls, after-lives and the like, all enthusiasm and lust for anything but the world the way it is—which is, at least on the surface, enthusiasm and lust for nothing. They intend to brand this hatred “love”.

When I tell a self-proclaimed spiritual man that I no longer require the conceptions of soul, God, after-life, mysticism or New Age spirituality to make life enjoyable, they feel bad for me, as if I was henceforth doomed to walk the earth as a lifeless shadow, a thinking ape, unable to take part in the spoils these mystical forces are sure to bring. Of course, gods and souls and heavens live only in our books and verse (the only places these non-entities can ever be found) but yet there are those who value these words, strangely, more than that which thinks them and speaks them and writes them down.

“What is a man without a soul?” they ask. “What is the world without God?”

Nature answers these questions at all times. “Take a look,” she says every time we open our eyes, “does this answer your question?”

It never does for some reason. These "meaningful" things are not seen when we look. For if some evil were to take away these words and their subsequent ideas, our vandals would become nihilistic, seeing nothing but cold, dumb and lifeless matter in that which they used to imagine harboured souls and gods and consciousnesses. Or so I’ve been told.

What they mean to say is that I am a nihilist, that since I no longer need such ideas, I see no value or meaning in anything. What a strange conclusion. But the truth is, it is not I who is the nihilist here. It is not I who has to invent other things and other worlds to value. It is not I who seeks meaning in nothings, declaring the world cold, dumb and lifeless without them. What religions teaches in an underhanded way is that there is no intrinsic meaning to the fabric of existence—nihilism. All is “suffering”, that we are nothing but sinners, the world hates us, and more, we do not belong here. Matter, physicality, biology, sensuality, instincts, animals—concepts to be shunned, mainly because they are concepts concerned with actual concrete things, “the world”, and what is apparent according to our senses and reason.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you”
(John 15:18).

Love and hate. Imagine a world capable of these all too human traits. Nothing is more wicked than saying that something entirely void of hate and love, hates us to our very core. Of course, in this verse, there is only one hateful being at work here as he slanders that which cannot be bothered to defend itself. John the Nihilist, the beloved disciple, the evangelist author whom, at least according to him, the world so hated, felt the need to disparage the very reality in which he existed, in order that we too may devote ourselves to a father we’ve never met, to devote ourselves to nothing. He or Jesus was having a bad enough day to utter something so unreasonable and dangerous. And then, with all the humour that comes with such hypocrisy, we hear this:

If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]

John 15:24-25

“They hated me without reason.” If only the world could speak, she would murmur these words. What reasons do we have to condemn our bodies, the world and life in general? We call ourselves prisons for souls, that we are something other than what we are, that we don’t belong here, that if there is no supernatural being or substance purposefully dictating the events and happenings of our lives, the world is worthless, joyless, filled with the petty wants, desires, and urges we so often cling to among the cold, dumb and dead matter of the world and reality. Nihilism—life is meaningless. Spitting on that which cradles our existence, spitting on ourselves. Of course the world hates us, we are also of the world, and as such, hate ourselves. But nothing could be so false.

When a nihilist implies that the world and existence is meaningless, he therefor renders his nihilism meaningless, whatever he says, does and creates, meaningless.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 4:4

And there it is—enemy with nothing for friendship with something. A meaningful trade.

One of the most basic rules of life is; everything is, or will be food for something else.

Corpse beetles, parasites and bacteria don't care if you have a soul or not.
Honey Badger don't care.
Neither does the rest of the Universe.

Additionally, everything dies; even solar systems and galaxies, just the same as the very corpse beetles and bacteria that will also die eventually after surviving off the leavings of something else that's died. Do they have souls?
Probably not.

reply to post by AliceBleachWhite

Do they have souls?
Probably not.

At least you're keeping an open mind.

reply to post by Aphorism


Very beautiful articulation. Very powerful opening statements with the perfect picture to accompany the concept of the words. S&F.

Existential materiality and the natural processes of life are beyond glory and splendor. To demonize or cast negativity to such is unwise. We don't need to deny, fight, suppress, or demonize anything. Simply, understanding such traits, qualities, and mechanisms can lead to a balance and liberation/freedom.

Peace.

reply to post by Aphorism

they feel bad for me, as if I was henceforth doomed to walk the earth as a lifeless shadow, a thinking ape, unable to take part in the spoils these mystical forces are sure to bring

The guilt trip. Don't let their ideas swing your pendulum too far the other way, that is their design. The reality is there, just not from the world the Nihilists are also a part of.

we're all just out of phase.

reply to post by Aphorism


Even If God exists, life is meaningless because even if we serve God, god is just an eternal being that just happens to exist. He ultimately has no meaning just an eternal being wandering through time.

In reality, life is just happening.

Love and hate are felt in the moment, but the mind can turn it into an idea to obsess over.

each time something happens (such as feeling an emotion), it is new. Even if the emotion is for nature and you leave the grass and trees and return, it is never the same EXACT experience.

The present moment is always a new experience, when something seems to "repeat" it is just extremely similar.

No meaning (nihilism) but this (experience of reality) is always a new experience arising in the moment.

reply to post by Aphorism


Jean Paul Satre was bright enough to realize that

THE FINITE IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT A CONNECTION TO THE INFINITE.

Individuals and even groups can pretend to hang meaning

. . . on a skyhook
. . . on fog for a foundation
. . . on brazenly transparent fantasies
. . . on silly rationalizations
. . . on poetic but hollow blather
. . . on pretense and assumptions cobbling meaning out of a vacuum
. . . on capitalized "Nature" as God
. . . on the religion of scientism
. . . on philosophical gnats' farts pretending to be erudition and brilliance

day in, day out; year in, year out; decade in, decade out; century in, century out . . .

It doesn't make such real.
It doesn't mean such efforts provide durable solace or meaning.
It doesn't mean such rationalizations are sensible.
It doesn't mean such blather offers any TRUE defense "against the Night."
It doesn't mean such fantasies hold together at the event horizon.

It just means someone has found some clever words to cobble together a new (really old) RELIGIOUS statement that's founded on nothing.

AliceBleachWhite

One of the most basic rules of life is; everything is, or will be food for something else.

Corpse beetles, parasites and bacteria don't care if you have a soul or not.
Honey Badger don't care.
Neither does the rest of the Universe.

Additionally, everything dies; even solar systems and galaxies, just the same as the very corpse beetles and bacteria that will also die eventually after surviving off the leavings of something else that's died. Do they have souls?
Probably not.

It's just as logical that only one soul exists (for purposes of logic) and it
is a self-feeder.

You are so right about life eating life. It's the one thing most people
don't want to think about, and it's one of the most obviously true
facts.

Really, that fact is at the core of what I know to be true in terms
of the bigger picture (from my perspective of course).

KPB

People never served god they just used the idea of a god to make it look as though what they were doing what was the right thing, that believing in this all knowing entity would somehow save them from themselves.
Perhaps trying to change someones mind about religon is so hard because deep down inside without their gods they feel that the entire universe would break down simply because theres no order just random chaos on a daily basis controlling their lives. The majority of the world strive for order because they feel that anarchy or total wilderness is a far terrible fate.

reply to post by AliceBleachWhite

One of the most basic rules of life is; everything is, or will be food for something else.

Corpse beetles, parasites and bacteria don't care if you have a soul or not.
Honey Badger don't care.
Neither does the rest of the Universe.

Additionally, everything dies; even solar systems and galaxies, just the same as the very corpse beetles and bacteria that will also die eventually after surviving off the leavings of something else that's died. Do they have souls?
Probably not.

I would argue that everything is food only when it is being eaten. I am not food at this moment.

A prerequisite of death is life. Very little of this universe is living. Therefore, very little of the universe dies.

reply to post by arpgme

No meaning (nihilism) but this (experience of reality) is always a new experience arising in the moment.

The very fact that we give meaning and significance to our lives proves there is meaning and significance to our lives. Only if one could not create meaning, no value judgements, and no purpose, would there be no meaning, value and purpose.

Aphorism
reply to post by arpgme

 

No meaning (nihilism) but this (experience of reality) is always a new experience arising in the moment.

The very fact that we give meaning and significance to our lives proves there is meaning and significance to our lives. Only if one could not create meaning, no value judgements, and no purpose, would there be no meaning, value and purpose.

The mind gives meaning because it is a measuring device - it compares 'this' with 'that' when reality is only ever really 'this'.

The world is a Rorschach inkblot - it means nothing until thought makes a story out of it. The problem with thought is that it doesn't just see what is - it makes more out of what is appearing, it adds stuffing to fatten it up - it dramatizes - it makes problems to solve - it makes up an adversary to fight with so it can have a battle of good versus evil.
Thought appears to make something out of nothing.
If no thought has been given to something then it does not appear to matter.

Aphorism
These idealists seek to explain her away with gods, other-worlds, souls, after-lives and the like, all enthusiasm and lust for anything but the world the way it is—which is, at least on the surface, enthusiasm and lust for nothing. They intend to brand this hatred “love”.

When there is no desire for anything it is because fullness is known.
The emptiness is filled with what is - enthusiasm moves to awe and wonder.
'What is' is constantly changing all by itself - it is arising unconditionally - nothing is needed.

Needing/wanting more than this, one becomes needy and greedy - grasping and controlling. What would you brand this stance? Is needing it to be better or wanting more love? Do you desire more when gazing into a lovers eyes?

reply to post by Itisnowagain

There is no mind that does these things. Minds don't dramatize, humans do. And since we are a part of what is, doing what humans do is doing "what is" does.

Aphorism
reply to post by Itisnowagain

There is no mind that does these things. Minds don't dramatize, humans do. And since we are a part of what is, doing what humans do is doing "what is" does.

Thought talks in opposites - good and bad, right and wrong - thought holds two ideas.
Thought tells stories about 'them and us' - 'me and you' - language splits the whole into more than one.

Thought labels things and thought opposes the things it has labelled. Yes - it is what happens.