Nietzsche's Rules Of Religion

According to Nietzsche, the demands which Christianity places upon the individual calls for the renunciation of ones own pride, freedom, and spirit. The renunciation of the “self” and the full devotion to God is best exemplified by the individuals in society who are priests and monks. For Nietzsche the religious orders deny all which is good and pleasurable in life and take up vows of chastity, isolation, and humility. Nietzsche exemplifies this claim of those who enter the religious order by saying “Perhaps these burnt children, the born artists who find their only joy in trying to falsify life’s image, perhaps they even belong to a hierarchy: we could tell the degree to which they are sick of life by how much they wish to see its image adulterated,

Nietzsche states that there are three social classes which adhere to the principles and rules of religion differently. There is the ruling class, which Nietzsche categorizes by saying “For those who are strong and independent, prepared and predestined to command, who embody the intellect and the art of governing race, religion is one further means to overcome obstacles, to learn to rule” . For Nietzsche, the ruling class is at the top of society because they fully employ all of their rational and intellectual capacities and are thus able to see beyond the institutionalized doctrines of the church. Also the noble classes access to economic resources also make them less reliant upon the church because they do not feel a need to look for answers beyond themselves and their own essence. Next Nietzsche states that the rising class is the class which has the potential to move on up into a position of authority but they still are somewhat involved with the church or religion because for them it is necessary to operate in that realm of being in order to move up the rungs of society. Of the rising class he states that: “ Religion also gives guidance and an opportunity to prepare for an eventual authority and command to a portion of the governed, to those slowly rising classes whose successful marriage patterns have ensured that the strong desire of their will is always growing” . Nietzsche then begins to discuss the role and function of religion for that of the poor and weak class. This is the “herd” which Nietzsche is always talking about. This mass of people are adherent to the teachings and doctrines of the church because 1.) they are not intellectually sophisticated enough to critically evaluate and question things for themselves, and 2.) They are desperate for something which