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A.C. Grayling has a lookalike who goes to St. Giles’ Church in Oxford. Either that, or he actually goes to St. Giles’ Church in Oxford. Which would be well weird.
THAT’S EASTER Life to Death from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.
Watch from about 2:00, for a few seconds, then read this:
Christianity needs sickness…making things sick is the real intention behind the church’s whole system of salvation procedures.
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Anti Christ, 51
I see.
“As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles. Whose authority? The Old Testament? The New Testament? The Koran? In practice, people choose the book considered sacred by the community in which they are born, and out of that book they choose the parts they like, ignoring the others. At one time, the most influential text in the Bible was: ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.’ Nowadays, people pass over this text, in silence if possible, if not, with an apology. And so, even when we have a sacred book, we still choose as truth whatever suits our own prejudices. No Catholic, for instance, takes seriously the text which says that a bishop should be the husband of one wife.
Russell, An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish, The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell
Emil Brunner is quoted in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics (I.I) as seeking to ’shatter the axiom of reason.’ But can Brunner answer Russell: is it possible to abandon reason without ending up in the problems that Russell describes? I don’t think it is. But rather, I want to suggest an alternative approach.
Humans are narrative beings. Humans need morals in order to create successful societies. Religion provides a narrative into which people can place the narrative of their own lives. And that narrative contains a moral code. The success of the narrative, and the ability of the moral code to sustain a society determine whether a religion will be successful.
Thus, rather than thinking of religion as true or false, it is sensible to think of religion as successful or unsuccessful. The only problem seems with this view is that it is hard to not view ‘untrue’ yet ’successful’ religion as malevolent, yet this doesn’t have to be. The real test is what the products of religion are. If they are malevolent, then we have right to fear. The current view religious belief, as exemplified by the ‘new atheism’ is a sure path to religions developing severe persecution complexes. And the products of persecution complexes are terrifying.
And so religion must be encouraged and supported to realise that the axiom of reason isn’t going anywhere, but that realisation does not for a minute diminish its functionality & benefit for human society.
I’ve been reading some Nietzsche: he goes from being absurd, through terrifying, to razor sharp. Here’s an example of the first category:
A hearty meal is easier to digest than one that is too small. The first presupposition of a good digestion is that the stomach as a whole becomes active. You need to be aware of the size of your stomach. For the same reasons, I would not recommend those protracted meals I call interrupted sacrificial feasts, those at the table d’hote. – No snacking, no coffee, coffee darkens things. Tea is only good in the morning. Small quantities, but strong; tea is very bad for you and will make you sick all day if it is even a little too weak. Everyone has their own standards here, sometimes between the narrowest and most delicate boundaries. In a very agaçante [provocative] climate you should not start with tea: you should start an hour earlier with a cup of thick, oil-free cocoa. – Sit as little as possible; do not believe any idea that was not concieved while moving around outside, – with your muscles in a celebratory mode as well. All prejudices come from the intestines. -Sitting down – I have said it before is a true sin against the Holy Spirit.
Nietzsche, Ecce Homo Why I am so clever I
