Edion Petriti If morality is then an illusion, why do the great multitude believe it? The same question could be asked of religion, and similar answers could be returned. Divine faith has benefits for both the creators and followers. It is propagated by the priestly caste for their maintenance and power; it is followed by a flock as it offers consolation and seeming explanation of the unknown. This symbiotic relationship is mirrored in normative morality. The secular priests of today, predominantly a bourgeoisie, maintain authority and power by prescribing morals here and there. To prescribe is to judge, to put oneself in a higher position of authority, power. This is why moralisers are often perceived as nettlesome. Even if it seems prima facie that the morals are altruistic, the prescriber puts himself in a position where he can dictate what is to be done and believed. If enough heads agree with the ideology, the prescriber/preacher gains further power, eventually influencing standardised law. In relation, the followers of the creed become followers, as the creed offers them more power, even if it entails joining the group, the secular congregation. If one has a caring, compassionate character, one will be motivated to believe in a creed that objectifies it as true for all—humanism for example. This creed then justifies the character of the follower, and thus his advocation of the creed is in reality an advocation of himself, self-empowerment. Only a minority are able to empower themselves without needing to join a group, an ideology, a ‘false consciousness’, as even Marx’s Engels put it. Thus normative morality is a tool for power. The modus operandi of the minds of the majority is subconscious. Most people are completely unaware of why they believe in the creeds they do, be they religious or secular (in truth, religion and ideology are the same thing: unfounded belief systems). A priest most often actually believes what he preaches. Likewise, subjects think they know ‘right from wrong’, and this morality profoundly influences their actions, but hardly any can substantiate their beliefs. Ask someone why they believe that equality is good, why compassion should be extended to all, why revenge is to be avoided, why humility is a virtue, why happiness should be pursued, why everyone has natural rights—ask them and you will receive either a blank stare or ‘nonsense on stilts’. But just as crusaders and missionaries paid dearly for their conscious beliefs, so today do those who put faith in human rights, animal rights, democracy, freedom, feminism, nationalism, justice, law, environmental ethics, capitalism, socialism, etc. All are, in the final analysis, as groundless as religion—they are in praxis religion—but all part of the human method of power play. The statement ‘God exists’ is as non-provable as the statement ‘equality is good’. Peter Sjöstedt-H – Neo-Nihilism
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 07:43:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015