Wherever we run across a morality we find an assessment and ranking of human drives and actions. These assessments and rankings always express the needs of a community and herd: whatever profits it in the first place-and in the second and third-is also the supreme measure of the value of all individuals. By means of morality, individuals are led to be functions of the herd and to attribute value to themselves as merely functionsmorality is herd instinct in the individual. (Pg.130, Nietzsche)Nietzsche, in this quote, is saying that humans will tend to see things in a specific way due to their shared heritage and historical formation. When Nietzsche says, "God is dead", he means that Westerners and Christians have killed the idea of a loving God because their ideas were often hypocrisies. After all, how can a purely good God promise eternal damnation for our sins? Christians are brought up to fear their own desires. Nietzsche writes, " Faith is always most desired, most urgently necessary, where will is lacking, for the will, as the feeling of command, is the distinctive sign of self assured authority and strength. In other words, the less one knows how to command, the more urgently one desires some commander, some strict commander- a god, prince"(p. 147. Existentialism) Nietzsche, here, is explaining what gave rise to religions, such as Christianity. Since we are constantly enslaving ourselves to new masters, and never following our own ideas, we are weak. I feel that Nietzsche is saying that Christians, do to the lack of faith in themselves, need some other commanding force. Faith in someone other than yourself, weakens the will in the sense that it takes away from the faith and authority you should have compiled in yourself. Nietzsche felt that humanity has been trained in slavery, or to follow our herd instinct. He believed that Christianity is a sickness of will. Christians enjoy the intoxication they feel in church. ...
