Nietzsche once said, “Gott ist tot” (which german for ‘God is dead’). Obviously, he didn’t mean, as often suggested, that personalization of God at some moment seized from existing. He meant it in a way that well educated and enlightened persons at some point in history progress don’t need to have God anymore, which was a source of success and failings for a long time before.
To be frank, none of us has a philosophy degree. We neither oppose Nietzsche not agree with him. We’d just like to see how to deal with this idea and how it affects us daily.
There are a bunch of approaches how people were (and still are) using God.
From history perspective previously people saw in God some omnipotent powers that can rule them, guide them, feed them, or even kill them. Therefore people meant to pray in order to seek for good disposition of almighty powers.
With that, people also had someone responsible in case something in their lives goes wrong.
But then with industrialization, new art and philosophy schools, rapid scientific progress, religion had stepped aside and some (not everyone, obviously) had decided that God is not really an answer to human’s daily struggles and is not a justice towards those who suffer.
Naturally, communism played its big part in religious deprivation too. There were lessons of atheism in schools, ancient churches were turned into warehouses, monks and priests were repressed.
But where does it leave us today?
We, those who born from 1980 to 2000 were the first generation to be born after major battles and were born into the world with no God at all, or with God that has so little power over daily lives that we cannot see anymore in God someone who guides us or can be one responsible for our failings.
Now, naturally, we are not claiming that there are no religious people left. There are, quite a lot, but even in their minds, God represented differently than before.
It was quite typical for our ancestors to knock three times on the tree.
“Knock-knock-knock”
And spirits and ghosts are pleased with our obedience.
But nowadays you can’t imagine modern top-minds looking for a log in the big penthouse on the top of their skyscrapers.
The present business mind model teaches us to take responsibility for our mistakes and errors.
We are entirely responsible for our failings, they say, but at the same time suggesting to learn from our mistakes and gradually become better.
So, there’s no place for gods, spirits, and shamans in our tent made of concrete and glass and that can feel rather lonesome not to find someone or something to blame on, to share responsibility with, to not be able to say “that’s not fully my fault”.
Should we try to look up and find something to concentrate our bad emotions on it?
Maybe, you can think for a second, it worth looking up to those who preach about the importance of learning on your own mistakes, to look up to those whose smiling faces never leave a magazine cover?
No, not really, we say. Remember that we’re living in a world full of lies and hypocrisy. Photoshopped faces can deepen your unrealistic expectations and hardened a blow of failings only by showing you one side of a coin while hiding the ultimate truth – no one is perfect.
(There’s s so much wrong with been perfectionist that it deserves to have a separate topic in our blog).
But now let’s say the final statement:
Once, in the early morning (when first birds start chirping and first cars don’t get stuck yet in traffic jams) while spilling milk all over your trousers you can say to yourself in soothing voice “that’s quite alright, I’m just a human, I can allow myself to be imperfect, at least from time to time”
Sometimes it can be helpful to look at yourself as at clumsy, awkward child, to look with self-pity and self-understanding.
Throw your judge mantle away. Today there’s no one to blame. The court is empty today