The Antichrist by Friederich Nietzsche

In keeping with the spirit of alternating between the practical and the abstract, February's book of the month comes from one of the most complex philosophers ever to come out of the Western tradition:

Friederich Nietzsche.

The Antichrist is, in my estimation, one of the hardest criticisms of Christianity, and also one of the most ignored. It is ignored because the vast majority of Christians are themselves not at the spiritual depth necessary to understand deeper interpretations of their own faith, and so Nietzsche's criticism seems to completely miss the mark. Of course, their own more basic models of Christianity are based on a more sophisticated and complex theology, in the same way that a supply/demand curve is a simplified model of market interactions in a complex economy. This more sophisticated model is subject to Nietzsche's attack. He cannot be so easily ignored.

Nietzsche's thought is the culmination of many books, including Twilight of the Idols, Human, All Too Human, and Genealogy of Morals. In these books, he had put his philological (the study of language; something between linguistics, history, and textual interpretation) skill to work in understanding where morality originates from. His conclusion: that "good" refers to essentially to qualities of the nobility and aristocracy; what is "bad" refers to what is low, what is weak, what is resentful, and what is contrary to life. But there was a reaction to these interpretation of "good" and "bad," which were, in their origins, mere generalized descriptions of what was "high" and "low."

Religion has always existed, for all peoples, and contrary to his reputation, Nietzsche was not an atheist (by his own description, he was a Dionysian). Historically, however, national religions guided people in order to live better lives in the here and now, with metaphorical stories told as models of "higher truths" to guide their adherents lives in this world.

Christianity--unique among other religions--established this "other world" not as a representation of this one, inextricably bound up with it, but as a higher and a superior world. In its elevation of "truth" as a virtue, above other religions, it literalized the world of the spirit, and spiritualized the literal, actual world, declaring it to be a temporary, passing, and unimportant place.

With this metaphysical basis, it channeled the resentment of the low--the "bad"--against the noble and the aristocratic. The origin of "good and evil," rather than "good and bad," was the relabeling of all that was previously good and noble to be "evil," by the standards of the spirit, and all that had been weak and low to be holy and "good."

Nietzsche harbored very little ill-will towards Jesus himself, who he felt to be something of a kindred spirit--a free man, seeking the Kingdom of Heaven here, in the present moment. Nietzsche compares the teachings of Jesus, as he interprets them, to be similar to the Buddhists: ultimately nihilistic, and therefore dangerous, but not without their merits.

It was Saint Paul, he believed, who corrupted the teachings of Christ. Paul, the resentful Jew, channeling against the Romans the resentment of the Jews, whose insidious power of hatred exceeded all other peoples in all of human history.

The Jews were the most interesting people in the world to Nietzsche. Here was a race that had suffered more than any other peoples, and had survived. When asked Hamlet's question, "to be or not to be," the Jews decided their answer was to be, at any price. And what a price they paid! Like any other peoples, suffering and persecution had given them a survival strategy, but in their case, one unlike any other nations. They learned the power of words, how to use them and manipulate them to extraordinary effect. With this power, they were able to survive even the most hostile environments, learning how to pass themselves off as unassuming, as harmless. As "good." The effects of this inversion are not merely psychological and cultural, but physiological, as those of the weaker, lower, more priestly nature were rewarded with offspring. As seen by the natural acceptance of once radical inversions of preference, Nietzsche believed we were beginning to see the tragic, gradual culmination of a physical decline in humanity.

It was this fundamentally Jewish quality that Paul injected into the teachings of Jesus. Through this mystic's life-story, Paul spread the Jewish inversion of values through Christianity--"Judeo-Christian" values. These values formed the foundation for modern social justice, communism, and the corruption of human life through the use of language. Now that Christianity has undermined itself--"God is dead," as Nietzsche said in The Gay Science--it is time to do away with Christian morality, before these Judeo-Christian values undermine, and ultimately destroy, life.

As a Christian (of sorts) myself, I do not believe these arguments to be unanswerable. But they are serious, and require answering. Regardless of which faith you find your home in, if any, The Antichrist plumbs the depths of the nature and purpose of morality more courageously, more insightfully, and more impressively, than nearly any other work, and does so in an amazingly concise span of pages. It is a must-read for anyone courageous enough to explore the heart and brain of their own faith, and willing to try their loyalties by one of the hottest philosophical fires ever to burn.

The Way of Men by Jack Donovan

Over the course of this blog, I will try to lay out concise reviews and recommendations for books that will serve the purpose of the Cascade Legion: namely, to help each other stay strong, to learn, grow, and fight to both manifest and defend our values, including (but not limited to) strength, competence, and a good sense of humor.

The recommendations will vary in genre, length, and style, both to keep things balanced and to keep the books from feeling monotonous. You should be seeing both ancient classics and contemporary edginess in the coming months. The more you read, the more in tune you'll be with the group. And if I'm doing my job, the better, more awesome of a life you'll have.

In that vein, and in light of recent political events, the Cascade Legion book for January is Jack Donovan's The Way of Men.

In this short but powerful work of anthropology and philosophy, Donovan lays out the historical foundation for where masculinity came from, what elements are universal, and why they are still relevant today. His conclusion is that all nations and tribes, throughout history and today, have valued and required four virtues out of men:

1. Strength - Physical strength, and grit, or "gameness"

2. Courage - The psychological fortitude to do unpleasant tasks that may be required of you

3. Mastery - Competence and skill required to perform your job within a group

4. Honor - Caring about what other members of your group think of you, and being answerable to their opinion

These virtues apply to whatever particular job you may have for your group. If you do not have a job within your group, or if you do not have a group at all, then you may understandably feel alone, insecure, unprotected, in our increasingly hostile and divided world. You may feel like a lone mercenary, a gun-for-hire, in an environment increasingly distrustful of those without time-proven loyalties. The four tactical virtues are not merely guides for behavior and habit-development within your job or within your group, but also guides for making yourself an attractive worker and group member in the first place. They are the universal standard by which groups of men judge members and potential members.

But there is a deeper reason which Donovan elucidates, both in The Way of Men and in his shorter essay, "Violence is Golden." That is that every man, whether in reality, or merely in the deep, subconscious minds of the men and women around him, is expected to fight to protect his group, should the need for fighting arise. Strength, Courage, Mastery, and Honor, are all valuable and worthwhile virtues in an employee, but there are many other important virtues, like compassion, timeliness, openness to experience, and curiosity, which can be as useful as the tactical virtues, and in certain situations even more so. But in combat, the need for all those nice, extra qualities goes right out the window. What you need is to be surrounded by people who are strong, who are courageous, who are competent, and trustworthy. When bullets are flying, intelligence, compassion, and moral or religious righteousness are worthless at best, and liabilities at worst.

This is not to say that you should not be intelligent, kind, and well-versed in moral philosophy. As Donovan himself says, "Men of ideas and men of action have much to learn from each other, and the truly great men are men of both action and abstraction." But the point of the book is that being a man of abstraction and of ideas--the kindly, intelligent, and moral man--is not the most important thing. Being a "good man" is important, but not as important as "being good at being a man." The latter is a necessary foundation for identity, for providing value to other people as a man, and for finding genuine happiness in yourself. It is this concrete notion of the substance of masculinity which has been mercilessly attacked in our culture and in our media, simultaneously denied and derided.

The Way of Men can help you see this poisonous message, and by identifying it, learn to ignore it. It can help you pursue your own interests through the tactical virtues that men have always pursued their interests across time, and become not only the sort of person that the Cascade Legion wants you to be, but that you want to be.