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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RocketMan who wrote (129329)	10/15/2001 11:51:48 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Thanks

To: RocketMan who wrote (129329)	10/15/2001 11:58:40 AM
From: Oblomov	Respond to of 436258

RM, thanks for finding this.

To: RocketMan who wrote (129329)	10/15/2001 12:26:55 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Was permitted to post -- Haim, I've read Thus Spake Zarathustra thoroughly and have read the remaining major works of Nietzsche. In the context of current events, I think that Nietzsche would say that Osama bin Laden fits very closely his concept of the Last Man. Nietzsche, and by extension Zarathustra, rejected all mass movements, and he certainly would have detested one based on such blind unreason as bin Ladin's Jihad Islamism. When he wrote TSZ, Nietzsche did mean to allude to Zoroaster, who founded the monotheistic religion that you reference. But his writings on religious topics were mainly a response to Christianity. Where he parted with Christianity was in its exaltation of the weak over the strong (the meek inheriting the earth, etc.) - he called it a "slave morality" because of its promise of justice only in the hereafter and its rejection of the material world. He thought that freedom belongs to those disciplined and mentally tough enough to reject the crowd and seek enlightenment on one's own terms. Based on my reading, I think that he would have had high regard for the purist form of Judaism, for the reasons that you mention. Similarly, I think that he would have admired the modern state of Israel - it has survived despite all of its enemies, and it has never sought to "win by losing". What is unfortunate is the manner in which his sister used his name (she cared for him after he descended into syphilitic dementia) to advance her protofascist and virulently anti-Semitic causes. Her influence did much to damage his reputation over the following half-century. He never would have allowed this to occur had he retained his faculties. For example, consider how he broke off his friendship with Richard Wagner after Wagner became a born-again Christian and started advancing anti-Semitic views. I sent this as a PM because I didn't want to prompt a debate over the virtues of Christianity on the CFZ thread. Regards, -----