virus: The Nietszchian Definition of Faith

Joe E. Dees (jdees0@students.uwf.edu)
Fri, 19 Jun 1998 22:04:53 +0000


"Faith", said Nietszche,"is not wanting to know." If only things
were so easy! Freddie would be amazed, I believe, at how far the
flock has outstripped even his somewhat cynical (for their time)
opinion of them. Far from passively "not wanting to know", today's
prayer warriors have transcended into actively wanting not to know,
and even into aggressively demanding that they not be told, all the
while reserving for themselves their own prerogative to tell all and
sundry their own fundamentally shallow, narrow view of the world,
complete with metaphysical threats, fellowshippy cajolings and
briberous inducements to persuade/coerce each and every other person
to accept it or be damned to hell. And what is this hell like? I
maintain that it can be no worse than suffering their proselytous
presence. The only fate worse than hell, imho, would be to -I have
difficulty saying it; it's almost unspeakably vile!-actually BECOME
one of them (shudder!). May heaven forfend, and may any god that
improbably exists save my soul in the unlikely event that I have one
from such a dire and dreadful fate.