How Does Nietzsche's Influence On Religion

For those who have read Nietzsche, it comes as no surprise that he had a great aversion for what religion had to offer people. His disdain for religion is fueled by his belief that the dogmatic proclamations put forth by religious teachings only have served as a means of controlling and inhibiting true human nature. Nietzsche’s perspective on the historical development of religions influence on human morality, forces one to consider the broader dimensions of religious influence on human thought. In this paper I shall be discussing Nietzsche’s reasoning on the reversal of human morality which has been propagated by Christianity. My thesis shall be in defense of the view that Nietzsche’s conception of Christianity and its reversal on morality falls short in fully comprehending the …show more content…
Nietzsche often implements the term “herd animal” into his essay in order to refer to the common and mediocre masses who lack both individual will and the ability to think and question things critically. This term is also used as “herd morality” and refers to the general idea that an individual buys into masses will or ethic in which they are governed by the dogma of authoritative institutions. Nietzsche also makes the distinction at the beginning of his essay regarding the role of religion in both the “pre-modern” period of morality and the “modern” period of morality. Nietzsche states that in both periods of existence humans offered sacrifices for the sake of religion in order to live in accordance with one another. However Christianity took this notion of sacrifice and applied it to God. According to Nietzsche, Christianity’s sacrifice of God ultimately left humanity with nothing but science, and now humanity worships that. The unfolding of sacrifice throughout the ages is troublesome for Nietzsche since it seems to culminate in what he believes is “nihilism”. Nietzsche also references the philosopher as the “free spirit”