Examining Nietzsche's Influence on Religion in Modern Australia

This essay explores the impact of Friedrich Nietzsche's religious philosophies on the present religious systems in Australia, a liberal nation where freedom of religion is a fundamental right. With over 52% of Australians identifying as Christian, the essay examines how Nietzsche's critiques of institutional religion, particularly his concept of 'God is Dead' and his 'Genealogy of Morals,' have influenced the religious views of the population. The study argues that Nietzsche's ideas have contributed to growing dissatisfaction with traditional religious precepts, leading to increased anxiety and a turn towards alternative spiritualities. The essay also discusses Nietzsche's Eros Theory and his emphasis on the 'will to power,' suggesting that religion can be viewed as a construct used by the weaker sections of society to maintain power. Ultimately, the essay considers how Nietzsche's philosophies challenge the foundations of belief and rites within the Australian religious framework, prompting a reevaluation of orthodox systems.

Running head: RELIGION IN AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY
Religion in Australian Society
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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“Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life's nausea and disgust
with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in "another" or "better"
life.”
The above quoted lines from Friedrich Nietzsche's “The Birth of Tragedy”, p.23
gives an overview of the religious views that the critic held right from the early years of his
career. Nietzsche is often regarded as one of the stern critic of the dogmatic or institutional
forms of religion and more precisely Christianity (Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014).
Religion has formed an important part of the lives of the individuals since the dawn of the
human civilization (Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014). Thus, even in the present times it is
seen that the various people insist on leading their lives as per the diverse precepts of the
religion which they follow (Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento, 2012). However, in the recent
times it is seen that the construct of religion has undergone much change because of the
various studies as well as the research conducted by scholars like Nietzsche, Hume and others
(Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento, 2012). It is seen that the people are often in a dilemma as
regards whether they should follow the precepts of religion in the framework of which they
have been brought up and the things which their religion preaches or they should base their
opinions on the basis of these studies and research (Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento, 2012). This
essay will discuss about the impact of the religious philosophies of Nietzsche on the present
religious systems of the nation of Australia.
The nation of Australia is a liberal one and the people of the nation are free to
practice which ever form of religion they want to practice (Runzo, Martin and Sharma, 2012).
Furthermore, one of the primary Fundamental Rights which the nation provides to the various
citizens of the nation is the “Freedom of Religion” (Australia.Gov.Au, 2018). Thus, it is
seen that various kinds of religion are being practiced in Australia by its citizens. However,
reports show that more than 52.1% of the people of the nation follow the religion of

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Christianity (Australia.Gov.Au, 2018). The major divisions of the religion of Christianity
which the people of the nation commonly follow are “Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church,
Presbyterian and Reformed, Eastern Orthodox, Baptist and Lutheran” (Australia.Gov.Au,
2018). The majority of the population of the nation still follows the traditional precepts of the
religion of Christianity and many experts are of the viewpoint that there is a need for change
within the framework of the religion which is being practiced with in the nation (Solomon
and Higgins, 2012). Furthermore, it is seen that the religious philosophies of Nietzsche,
Hume and others have impacted the religion which is being followed by the citizens of the
nation is a significant manner and it the end result of this particular fact that the opinion of
the people is increasingly changing towards the kind of religion which they have been
following since their birth (Solomon and Higgins, 2012). The cumulative effect of this
particular fact is the growing dissatisfaction as well as the discontent of the people towards
the religion followed by them (Fox and Sandler, 2014). This has resulted in the increased
amount of discontent as well as the anxiety which the people of the nation are facing at the
current and thus the people are increasingly turning towards the various alternative forms of
religion like Spirituality and others (Fox and Sandler, 2014). Furthermore, the rejection of the
traditional concepts as well as the various precepts of religion can also be seen in the
increasing acceptance of the religious philosophies of Nietzsche, Hume and others. This has
resulted in a considerable of change within the framework of the religious system which is
being followed in the nation of Australia currently.
The religious philosophies of Nietzsche had a considerable influence not only on the
framework of religion which was practiced in the 19th century but also in the present times as
well (Runzo, Martin and Sharma, 2012). The major reason for which Nietzsche is known in
the present times is for the articulation of the statement that “God is Dead” (Runzo, Martin

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and Sharma, 2012). It is significant to note that this particular concept appears for the first
time in the work “The Gay Science” where he says that,
“After Buddha was dead, people
showed his shadow for centuries afterwards in a
cave,—an immense frightful shadow. God is dead:
but as the human race is constituted…..
…………………………………………..
still to overcome his shadow!”
Runzo, Martin and Sharma (2012) are of the opinion that this statement of Nietzsche
is often being misinterpreted by the various individuals and it has lead many people to think
that Nietzsche was against God. Thus, it is seen that the various people think that Nietzsche
was trying to say that the God whom people worship is dead and thereby indirectly tried to
declare that the institution of religion to be dead. Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento (2012) are of
the opinion that through the articulation of this particular concept he meant that the
institutional form of religion which the people practiced was redundant and no longer as per
the needs of the people. Nietzsche is of the opinion that the primary purpose for which the
institution of religion was developed was to civilize the human beings and therefore once that
particular state of civilization had been achieved the institution should have been modified
(Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014). Furthermore, in his “Genealogy of Moral” theory he
states that the various precepts of religion which forms a part of the commonly used religions
are actually the contrived rules which have been made by the weaker individuals of the
society to resist the stronger people of the society (Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014). He
divides the entire human race into two broad categories, namely, the stronger class and the

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weaker class. He further says that one of the most commonly used words with which the
weaker people of the society try to control the actions of the stronger sections of the society
are the words “God will punish you” (Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014). Therefore, it
would be apt to say that Nietzsche views religion as a construct which has been created to
maintain the power balance of the society. The present day religions when viewed in the light
of these theories of Nietzsche would seem to be just a façade to maintain the power balance
within the framework of the society. Moreover, further extending the focus of this particular
theory from the religion of Christianity he said that almost all the religions of the world and
the Holy texts which they follow have certain common features in them. For example, the
Bible has an Almighty God and the evil Satan similarly the other religions of the world also
have an all powerful God and an evil agent. Furthermore, another important philosophy
propounded by Nietzsche was the Eros Theory, which states that for the creation of
something new as well as beautiful the older things which it is going to replace must be
destroyed (Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014). Therefore, in the context of the present day
religious system of Australia it can be said that the newer as well as liberal forms of religion
should be created on the ruins of the redundant orthodox systems of religions which the
nation have been following for a very long time.
The majority of the philosophical works of Nietzsche deal with the impact which the
concept of power has played in the formulation as well as the evolution of the various kinds
of religion which are prevalent in the world at the current moment. In this particular context,
the concept of “will to power” is significant to note which appear in a number of
philosophical works of Nietzsche like “The Wanderer and his Shadow” (1880),
“Daybreak”(1881) and others(Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014). In the opinion of
Nietzsche and others the human beings are more likely to get influenced by the concept of
power and its related aspects like ambition, achievement, the will to reach attain the highest

5RELIGION IN AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY
level of achievement and others. Thus, the theories of “Genealogy of Morals”, “Eros
Theory” and the concepts articulated in the famous work “The Gay Science” can be seen as
the efforts of the philosopher to explain the relationship between power and religion
(Andersen and Krauss, 2012). In short it can be said that Nietzsche saw religion as the means
adopted by the weaker section of the society to attain power and defeat the stronger people.
Diversity forms one of the key components of the religious framework of Australia
(Andersen and Krauss, 2012). The government has not made it mandatory for the citizens of
the nation to follow any particular religion and thus it is generally seen that the various
people of the nation follow various different kinds of religions (Andersen and Krauss, 2012).
However, it is significant to note that most of these religions are very redundant and stills
follow the concepts as well as the precepts which were propounded thousands of years ago
(Andersen and Krauss, 2012). The primary reason why most of the people of the nation of
Australia and others turn towards the various kinds of religion is because of the peace as well
as the sense of security which it provides to the people (Bourget and Chalmers, 2014).
Furthermore, it is generally seen that the various kinds of religions which the people follow
gives them the security that the things which happens in their lives happens for a reason and
God has sent these hardships in their lives to test their faith in Him (Meister and Copan,
2013). Moreover, the various kinds of religions also try to preach the viewpoint that at the
end of the day things are likely to get better (Meister and Copan, 2013). Therefore, it would
be apt to say that hope as well as the sense of security which the construct of religion
provides to the people is one of the main reasons why the majority of the people turn towards
the various kinds of religion and these can be said to be the inherent aims of the concept of
religion (Kelsen and Potz, 2012). However, the concept of hope as well as the peace which
the people seem to be deriving from religion would seem to be a complete façade when they
are viewed through the lens of the philosophies of Nietzsche. Thus, when viewed through his

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theories the present day religious system would only reveal the measures adopted by the
weaker sections of the society to outsmart the stronger people of the society.
The two essential components of the concepts of religious are belief and rites
(Magnus, Stewart and Mileur, 2014). Therefore, it is seen that the majority of the religions of
the world have evolved their own systems of beliefs as well as rites. Thus, it is generally seen
that the religion of Christianity has also evolved its own system of rites as well as beliefs
(Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento, 2012). Some of the major beliefs of the religion of Christianity
are the omnipotence of God, unshakable belief in His teachings and sayings, belief in the
“Kingdom of God” and others (Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento, 2012). Some of the major rites
which the people who follow the various precepts of Christianity need to follow are the
various people need to perform are the diverse kinds of masses, fast and others (Locklin,
Tiemeier and Vento, 2012). These beliefs as well as the rites when viewed through the
“Genealogy of Moral” would appear as the strategies of the weaker entities of the society to
dominate the stronger entities of the society (Nietzsche, 2012). Thus, in order to synchronize
the various religions of the world the individuals need to take the help of the Eros theory of
Nietzsche for the creation of new beliefs as well as rites which are totally in synchronization
with the current needs of the people (Bourget and Chalmers, 2014). This particular theory of
Nietzsche propounds the concept that for the creation of something new as well as beautiful
the existing things needs to be destroyed and the new thing needs to be created on the ruins of
the things which have been destroyed (Bourget and Chalmers, 2014). Thus, the existing
religions of the world need to take the help of this particular theory to get rid of the rites as
well as the beliefs which have formed the central fulcrum of their religious system and to
replace them with new and meaning beliefs and rites which would not only be more meaning
for the people of the present times but at the same time would be in synchronization with the
current requirements of the people (Runzo, Martin and Sharma, 2012).

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One of the most common issues associated with the process of the pastoral care is
the treatment of old age as an area of problem. Experts are of the viewpoint that the concept
of death is often seen as a problem within the framework of the present day society which
sees death a redundant thing within the framework of the modern day world which is often
seen as a “death-denying culture” (Werblowsky and Werblowsky, 2016). The technological
advancements of the present world have greatly empowered the people of the society in a
significant manner and therefore it is seen that the human beings have been able to control
most of the important processes associated with their lives (Werblowsky and Werblowsky,
2016). However, death is a factor which the human beings have not being able to control as
of yet. It is generally seen that the concepts of old age and death are often seen coterminous
with each other and thus one thing has come to represent the other (Deleuze and Guattari,
2014). Human beings have been trying to control the factor of death in a significant manner
but they have not been able to do as of yet and it is a reflection of this particular fact that the
threat of old age as well as death still looms large over the human beings inspite of all the
advancements they have been able to make in the recent times (Deleuze and Guattari, 2014).
The role played by religion in this particular context is also significant to note. The various
religions of the world view old age as the precursor to death and therefore they consider the
construct of old age to be an important factor (Meister and Copan, 2013). The various
religions of the world view death a necessary process and not a negative thing. This particular
process is justified by these religions as the process by means of which the various
individuals of the world after the completion of their Earthly duration are able to meet their
Creator (Meister and Copan, 2013). The various human beings view this particular process as
a negative one or more appropriately a negative process. However, this particular issue when
viewed through the lens of the Eros theory would seem to be a necessary one and important
for the process of the creation of new entities (Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento, 2012).

8RELIGION IN AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY
Therefore, it would be apt to say that this particular issue when viewed through the specific
lens of the philosophies of Nietzsche would seem to be a necessary for the process of creation
of new entities (Locklin, Tiemeier and Vento, 2012). Thus, the human beings instead of
seeing this particular thing as a negative one should try to see it as a positive one which is
necessary for the proper maintenance of the balance of the nature.
To conclude, religion forms an important part of the lives of the individuals and it is
generally seen that the construct of religion is being used by the various entities of the world
to render semblance to their lives. Therefore, it is generally seen that the various entities of
the world have being using various kinds of religions for the process of deriving hope as well
as sense of security to their lives. Furthermore, it is generally seen that the people use the
various kinds of religions to justify all the negative things which happen in their lives.
However, in the recent times it is seen that with the rise of various new kinds of theories and
research the genre of religion has undergone much transformation and it is a reflection of this
particular fact that the various religions of the world undergoing drastic change in the recent
times. Moreover, the various theories of Nietzsche and others have also brought about the
necessary change which was needed for the construct of religion to be still meaning even in
the present times. It is significant to note that the concept of religion was developed to
civilize the human beings. Therefore, after the human beings got civilized the construct of
religion should have ceased to exist or undergone changes as per the requirements of the
people. However, this particular thing did not happen and this is one of the reasons why the
people are increasingly turning towards the alternate forms of religions like spirituality and
others.

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