The Religious Disposition

The great hunt

Scholars of the likes of Pascal cannot beat

religion as there is no science to formulate this hunting ground. Nietzsche acknowledges that waiting around for others to help take down religion will take too long, he must do everything himself.

Sacrifice
Christian faith has meant a sacrifice: the sacrifice

of freedom, pride, spiritual self-confidence; it has meant subjugation and self-derision, selfmutilation. Originally the sacrifice was humans, then it became the human nature. Is it only fitting to sacrifice God next? Pascal and other scientists of the time represent this idea. To move past God, intellectual sight and insight are needed. As people learn and start to distance themselves they will see that God and sin are metaphorical toys.

Sainthood
Becoming a saint requires a denial of will and

much more broadly a denial of everything good. Saints ability to go so strongly against human nature begs a question about their motivation, is there something the common man does not know about? Nietzsche then postulates that the common man inquires and reveres the saint in order to understand an unconquered enemy in the world. It was the will to power which brought them to a stop before the saint.

The power of religion

Religion promotes a leisurely life devoid of work ethic.

Prayer is one way religion stops mobility amongst the classes. Those who have power use religion to demonstrate their authority, those who are upwardly mobile see the power of religion and desire it more strongly, while the ordinary are lead by religion to feel content. A religious life is ultimately based out of a fear of truth. The fear of truth then leads to a desire of untruth, making religion self-propogating. Christianity promotes the reversal of values, namely that the poor and desperate are the good. By empowering the weak, religion makes the population stagnant.