Nihilism

Note to my core audience: This post is intended for the sprinkling University students who accidentally find this web-site every month. 

"Nihilism" is a philosophy whose name has the same root as the word "Annihilate".

Nihilism claims that "all facts are relative" and it rejects all moral creeds as hopelessly corrupt since they presume to be based on absolute truths. Furthermore, it holds that "values and morals" are fictions and do not exist except as ploys used by powerful people to manipulate others.

Various social commenters point to "Nihilism" for such diverse phenomena as motivating school shooters, the decline in the birth-rate and the increase number of "deaths of despair": Suicide, Drug overdoses and Alcohol related deaths.. 

The total rejection of "old" moral traditions appeals to some young people. So does the contention that every decision and action is "morally equal" since Nihilism claims morality does not exist. It is also a cheap-and-easy way to look sophisticated because nobody is more cynical and decadent than a Nihilist. 

In some circles, embracing nihilist is the cost of being accepted into the tribe.

The costs

Nihilists seem to be very unhappy and unfulfilled. Their motto is "Nothing is real. Nothing matters".

They believe that nobody hears their screams of pain and anger, fatigue and despair. They cannot even hear themselves scream.

They are very, very lonely. 

Opportunity costs

Anybody who chooses Nihilism rejects the Judeo-Christian moral code because the two are mutually exclusive.

Without writing a book, "What are Nihilists walking away from?" 

Psalm 139 (abridged)

Lord, you have tested me and you know me:
you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
You have been with me through my travels and my rest; with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue, Lord, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.
Where can I flee from your spirit?
From your presence, where can I hide?

 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Death, there you are.
If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea,
Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast.
If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light”—
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day.
Darkness and light are but one.

You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
My bones are not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret,
fashioned in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down;f
my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them

<snip>

Test me, God, know my heart; try me, know my thoughts.
See if there is a wicked path in me; lead me along an ancient path.

Psalm 139 is a love-song. It is an eruption of joy that articulates God's real and intimate love for you.

Nihilism says you are nothing. Your birth meant nothing. Your death will mean nothing. Your current existence is less than an already fading pixel in a frame on a screen playing Grand Theft Auto.

Psalm 139 claims that the infinite God personally knitted you, as an individual, together one cell at a time. It claims that He shaped you and your character as you navigated through your life. He is with you in your darkest hours. It says that He cares about even the minutest details of your life.

And since the Judeo-Christian ethos claims that God is infinite, He has enough bandwidth to do that with every human. Every human is "His favorite" because He is not limited by CPU or RAM or Graphics Processing. 

"Empty words! Psalm 139 is nothing more that words" the Nihilist scoffs

So the 28 year-old grad student who was teaching Freshman Humanities used words to sell the wonders of Nihilism and the horrid corruption of all other moral codes (with Christianity being the most stained). Were her words any "better" than the words of Psalm 139? Did they give you comfort?  Were you energized by a sense of purpose or mission? Were you uplifted?

And by what authority did the grad student speak?  Had she ever REALLY studied Christianity from original sources? Most likely she was using her "personal, lived experiences" as her authority. She had looked at the bleak job market for Humanities Ph.D.s and was crab-bucketing you down.

Finally, was she smart enough to realize that "Nihilism" is a self-canceling script? If everything is empty of meaning then words have no meaning. And if words have no meaning, then how is it possible to articulate and communicate the tenants of "Nihilism" ?

A.I. Summary

This posts contends that choosing Nihilism as your life's guiding philosophy will make you profoundly depressed and unhappy.

Conversely, it contends that if you choose to follow the Judeo-Christian ethos that you will feel uplifted and will likely find yourself surrounded by like-minded people.