"God is dead." People love this quote. Google "God is dead" and you'll see all manner of wallpapers and inspirational images with this beloved Nietzschean declaration. There's something gleeful about it; triumphant. Sometimes you see it in the expanded versions of the quote: "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him." Nietzsche used full stops, but some of these contextomies like the exclamation mark. God is dead!
Looking through the examples on Google images you'll notice that some of the pictures come in the form of a debate with statement and rebuttal: "God is dead - Nietzsche 1883" (on top) and then, "Nietzsche is dead - God, 1900" (on the bottom). Ha-ha. Witty.
I wish I could share in the humor on either side, or the joy or the triumph or whatever, but of course I'm a neurotic and that's not an option for me. I read The Gay Science cover to cover, hoping to understand the druthers of homosexuality, but instead I just found enough to understand the context of this popular and misunderstood quote found in the resplendent banners hanging over every anti-theist circlejerk.
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"
It might be that Robespierre, with his neck quivering under the guillotine, finally asked himself "[Was] not the greatness of this deed too great for us?" But it would have been the wrong time and place for that consideration. Likewise, for the rest of us, when the pride eventually wears off and we realize with the certainty of Robespierre, that we are not ourselves gods, it will be too late and there will be no salvation coming. What good was then His death? And what kind of loss will ours be?
Looking through the examples on Google images you'll notice that some of the pictures come in the form of a debate with statement and rebuttal: "God is dead - Nietzsche 1883" (on top) and then, "Nietzsche is dead - God, 1900" (on the bottom). Ha-ha. Witty.
I wish I could share in the humor on either side, or the joy or the triumph or whatever, but of course I'm a neurotic and that's not an option for me. I read The Gay Science cover to cover, hoping to understand the druthers of homosexuality, but instead I just found enough to understand the context of this popular and misunderstood quote found in the resplendent banners hanging over every anti-theist circlejerk.
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"
It might be that Robespierre, with his neck quivering under the guillotine, finally asked himself "[Was] not the greatness of this deed too great for us?" But it would have been the wrong time and place for that consideration. Likewise, for the rest of us, when the pride eventually wears off and we realize with the certainty of Robespierre, that we are not ourselves gods, it will be too late and there will be no salvation coming. What good was then His death? And what kind of loss will ours be?
I don't believe in the literal
With that said, I find the death of our humanity to be the synonym of the death of god for people.
so that's my way of saying 'god' is alive in my existence.
i'll admit that he was dead for many years of my life around the 18-28 portion of my life
I guess the most straightforward answer is that it's the soul. It's not something we can see, but it's in all of us. It's something that transcends the natural world because it belongs on another plane. We don't understand what that other plane is exactly, but I think we all feel it and know it even without a precise definition, like the fish and water, because the soul strives for it.
Knowing/acknowledging this about every person goes a long way in how we behave towards one another.
Likewise to how i believe we don't actually have control or free will but because we cannot perceive the future and we feel like we have