The infamous philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously proclaimed, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him,” a statement that would become one of his most memorable quotes.
These words point to the religious decline that existed during Nietzsche’s time but moved ahead more rapidly during the 20th and 21st centuries. Many consider Nietzsche a proponent of this decline, especially considering his views on Christianity, but in reality, he feared the disappearance of religion. Even though he disliked what he called the ‘slave morality’ of Christian folks, he was also concerned that without religion, humanity would fall into a moral and existential vacuum.
He realized that after people had liberated themselves from the hands of the church, they would be devoid of any viable alternative that would grant them the same benefits as religion had done for ages. Nietzsche warned us that humanity (the Western part of it, at least) would not be ready to flourish without God. Nietzsche feared that without Christianity, the Western world would fall prey to nihilism, a destructive force characterized by a lack of meaning.
Western civilization would become a mess, drowning in moral poverty, and its people would have nothing to live for except the short-lived gratification of pleasure. And who knows what humanity would do next? What craziness unfolds from a populace tired of life, wailing in comfort and security without clear direction?
Don’t we see the effects of that as we speak? God is dead, according to Nietzsche. But does humanity have a future without God?
This video explores Nietzsche’s prediction of a nihilist world, if his warning was justified, and the current mess we’re dealing with. When you mention the word ‘religion’ in a mostly secular country such as the Netherlands, you’ll often see faces showing signs of aversion. It’s not unlikely that the Dutch ridicule the religious, referring to them as people who believe in ‘fairy tales’.
After all, isn’t it clear by now that science has debunked many things Christianity once claimed, such as the creation myth, the idea that the Earth is the center of the universe, and the Biblical Flood of Noah? Then, there are the atrocities and scandals by the Church, its misuse of authority, and the oppression of its followers, which alienated many. Especially in the last decades, Westerners overwhelmingly decided to ditch religion altogether.
Particularly in the Netherlands, this decline is characterized by low church retention rates; many people literally ‘unsubscribed’ from the Church. The overall number of Christians in both Europe and the United States is in decline. More and more people describe themselves as without religious affinity.
In Germany, 500 churches have been closed since the start of this millennium. And in many Western countries, we see a trend of re-purposing church buildings; some even became strip clubs and bars. Proud of their liberation from the hands of the Church, the Westerner now embraces a freedom he hasn’t experienced for centuries: one without both obedience and guidance by a supreme power.
The Westerner stands alone now, which grants him the freedom to live in ways he sees fit, in areas of morality, ethics, meaning, and spirituality. But by ditching Christianity, didn’t he throw away the baby with the bathwater? Nietzsche believed that by secularization, the West would fall into an existential vacuum, losing its primary source of morals and values.
Traditional morals and values would become meaningless; how much merit do they have when there’s no divine, overarching authority anymore to back them up? Take, for example, the value of kindness; a Christian who has been living by this value presented by the Word of God would be pretty demotivated after finding out that this very Word has been a human fabrication. And how about other values, such as generosity, humility, love, forgiveness, gratitude, and honesty?
If people would throw such principles into the garbage can, wouldn’t that result in a horrible society governed by nothing but the law of the jungle? And what about meaning and purpose? When the purpose of serving God, living according to His principles (and hopefully acquiring a spot in Heaven) loses its grounds, what’s left to live for?
Where should we direct our lives towards? What overarching meaning is left? Is there anything in the mundane that could replace the House of God: that unquestionable, robust entity that’s always there, where we can always turn to, where we find love, acceptance, and forgiveness, no matter if we’re homeless and in the gutter?
Religion is an extremely powerful force. Having a master’s degree in religious studies, I’m pretty passionate about this, so forgive me. Religion functions as social cement in ways that yet have to be surpassed.
It has the ability to unify people from totally different areas of the world. For example, an Albanian Muslim and a Nigerian Muslim are vastly different in many aspects, such as appearance, language, and culture. But through the vehicle of religion, these two strangers can relate to each other: they both pray to God in a similar fashion, uphold the same religious values, and follow, at its core, the same belief system.
The effectiveness of religion is visible in a country I’ve visited countless times: Indonesia. The six officially recognized religions play a vital role in daily life and form the foundation of people’s moral and ethical framework. It helps people decide what’s good and bad, what things to pursue in life, and what not to.
Things aren’t perfect; there have been some issues with wacko extremists in the past, unfortunately. I don’t say: ‘Be religious’ or ‘Religion is the way,’ or something like that. I just want to point out the positive effects religion has on people there, especially the sense of community, solidarity, and strength to push through difficult times.
Nietzsche recognized the value of religion as a ‘social cement’ and moral compass. Even though he was critical of it, he also feared what would happen if Christianity in the West would fade. Why?
Because, according to him, the West (and the rest of humanity, for that matter) lacks an adequate replacement for religion, something strong and robust enough to fill the moral and existential vacuum that’d emerge from it. And so, awful things could happen in a post-religious world. Now the question is: was Nietzsche’s concern justified?
Nietzsche’s Last Man Again, even though Nietzsche didn’t like Christianity (or any other system that promotes slave morality), he also feared its decline. Religion had such a fundamental role in Western society regarding things like meaning, morality, and social cohesion; what else could happen after its disappearance other than a catastrophe? Without religion, Western society would fall into nihilism, and the so-called ‘Last Man,’ Nietzsche’s nihilistic figurehead, would be prevalent.
The prevalence of the ‘Last Man’ was Nietzsche’s warning to mankind. He believed that when religion fades, and man loses divine meaning in life, a nihilistic shell of a human being would remain. This creature Nietzsche called the ‘Last Man.
’ The Last Man sees no purpose in life other than the pursuit of short-term gratification. His days are just sequences of meaningless pleasures. He drinks his beverage at Starbucks, goes on his holiday by the sea, watches his series, plays his game, drinks his beer, has his bedroom fun, eats his pizza, and pays for all this by working some repetitive, soul-destroying job.
But he doesn’t care. He quite likes his lifestyle; it’s safe and predictable, and the fleeting moments of pleasure are just enough to keep him on the wheel and declare himself “happy. ” In his work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche stated: The earth has then become small, and on it there hops the last man who makes everything small.
His species is ineradicable like that of the ground flea; the last man lives longest. “We have discovered happiness”—say the last men and blink thereby. End quote.
I can’t help but think of the protagonist of Fight Club, referred to as the Narrator, played by Edward Norton in the movie adaptation. His life revolves around completing his wardrobe and giving in to what he calls the Ikea nesting instinct while working an unfulfilling job. The antagonist, Tyler Durden, describes the existence of the Last Man perfectly by saying: “We have no Great War.
No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war; our Great Depression is our lives. ” The Last Man rejects everything that makes a human being great, according to Nietzsche.
He doesn’t pursue greatness, has no strong values, is not ambitious, is almost entirely geared toward comfort, and shies away from any meaningful challenges. So, Nietzsche came up with an antidote: the Übermensch or ‘Overman,’ which would overcome nihilism and recreate itself. I won’t go into the Overman, as I’ve created a separate video that explores this concept (you’ll find a link in the description).
So, with this Last Man at the steering wheel, in what direction will he sail the ship? Will his prevalence be the end of human development? Flash forward to today: what can we say about how the world turned out after a period of significant secularization?
Has the Last Man taken over and pushed humanity into the abyss? When Christianity was still a cornerstone in most people’s lives in the West, everything seemed more orderly and simple. There was one single ultimate meaning, one ultimate authority, one right way of living one’s life.
The church, mostly located in the center of a town and the tallest and most notable building there, was the go-to place for various reasons. If one needed guidance? Go to church.
Marriage? Go to church. Someone died?
Go to church. Were you poor, homeless, and in need? Go to church.
Wanted to chit-chat and gossip? Go to church. This institution had such an important role in people’s lives; life without it was almost unthinkable.
It covered many (if not most) basic human needs, both practical and spiritual. All this came with a catch, though. It required obedience and belief in God, something many people today refuse.
Now, compare this simplicity of the past with today’s situation. If you need guidance, there’s a plethora of options to choose from: there’s a wide range of therapists with numerous different methods. There are books, online forums, and YouTube videos that offer help, and some of these sources are very sketchy.
Some even use ChatGPT as a counselor. Others, instead of going to church on Sunday, put on an episode of the Huberman podcast. For spiritual guidance, there’s so much to choose from that we can’t see the wood for the trees.
Some seek refuge in astrology, others in new age movements or paganism, or embrace exotic religions that entered the scene, such as Islam and Buddhism. Some see fitness as their religion, the gym as their temple, and their workouts as their prayers. I’ve even read about people who visit dance festival after dance festival as some sort of pilgrimage, fulfilling their spiritual needs through that.
I can just imagine their sacramental bread being this little chemical pill that sends them directly into religious ecstasy. The lack of ultimate meaning sends people down some very dark roads, as well. Take a growing group of people on the internet obsessed with looks.
All they talk about are jawlines, eye-face ratios, chin strength, shoulder width, height, etc. For them, bodily features have become the new values. It’s not about how honest you are anymore; it’s about how defined your jawline is.
Being a bad person hasn’t so much to do with things like stealing or lying; you’re a bad person (or ‘subhuman,’ as they put it) if you’re a 5 ft 4 guy with a weak chin. It’s like the lack of ultimate meaning reduced these people to sacralize the most superficial, primordial aspects of being human. I guess it reflects today’s society’s obsession with looks, but that’s a story for another day.
I think it’s safe to say that, when it comes to meaning and purpose, the Western world is a mess. It’s a complete and total chaos. But is it really a bad thing?
How messy is this mess? Have we stopped developing? Are we engaging in lavish pleasures on a scale reminiscent of some Roman Emperors?
Have we turned into this post-modernist, cultural Marxist hellhole in which everything traditional has been eradicated, and morals have been eclipsed? Even though society does show signs of nihilism, and our definitions of meaning and purpose are all over the place, I don’t think religious decline has been that destructive. Not yet, at least.
The West still makes significant progress in various aspects, such as tech, healthcare, innovation, and environmental awareness. Despite people’s struggles with meaning, highly secularized countries such as the Netherlands haven’t collapsed; they actually thrive. Most Dutch haven’t lost their morals and look for meaning in other things.
On the flip side, there are issues as well. People do struggle with meaninglessness and mental health issues. Depression is a serious problem.
Evidence suggests that depression has risen and is significantly rising in the younger generations. So, who knows what’s to come: maybe Nietzsche was right after all, and we’re headed toward a catastrophe beyond our imagination. What do you think?
Will humanity thrive without religion? Or have the end times begun? And how do you find meaning in a post-religious world?
Please let us know in the comment section. Thank you for watching.
