Sam Harris - Nietzsche's Madman

Friedrich Nietzsche's Gay Science brought us the Parable of the Madman which is virtually prophetic of Sam Harris. To be fair, Sam Harris is not the only one although, he hopes someday you'll join him and the world will be as one. In case you have never indulged, I have included the full text of Nietzche's parable below.

I have, to some extent, chronicled the claims of various atheists to the effect of: atheism is not only more logical than theism but also more moral, more humble and holier (see here). Sam Harris hails from a particular sect of atheism that seeks to establish a styled atheist religion complete with rituals and mystical practices. It may be noted that originally this is exactly what Buddhism was. I have written about how some of the first Buddhist missionaries to the USA preached both an atheistic as well as a holier than Christianity message (see here). It may also be noted that atheists have attempted this beginning in the 1700s and 1800s.

Nietzsche's parable tells of a madman who sought God and was mocked by atheists. The madman then cries "Whither is God? I will tell you. We have killed him-you and I. All of us are his murderers."

One of Nietzsche's famous, or infamous, statements occurs here, "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him." The interesting thing is that upon recognizing that we have murdered God there is some desperation which in part states, "What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent?...Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"

He further states, "_whoever is born after us-for the sake of this deed he will belong to a higher history than all history hitherto." It is interesting, and horrifying, to note that Nietzsche wrote this in the late 1800s and actually wrote that this event was yet to come. Prophetically, those who were born afterwards, the descendents of the God murderers who themselves considered their ancestors heroes for committing or conceiving such an act, did in fact belong to a higher history. In a matter of speaking that is, they wrought upon the world the bloodiest century in human history.

No I am not reading Sam Harris through cryptographic lenses nor seeing a conspiracy between the lines. Although, it is interesting to note that Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) sought to establish a civil religion according to which,

"If anyone, after publicly recognizing these dogmas, behaves as if he does not believe them, let him be punished by death: He has committed the worst of all crimes, that of lying before the law."

In a sense, Sam Harris mirrors this sentiment in stating,

"Some propositions are so dangerous that it may even be ethical to kill people for believing them. This may seem an extraordinary claim, but it merely enunciates an ordinary fact about the world in which we live."1

What is most fascinating about Sam Harris' view on religion is that he complains that religion is manmade and thus seeks to replace it with a manmade religion (after his own image). More accurately, Sam Harris complains that theistic religions are manmade and make assertions about supernatural transcendence which can only be known through personal subjective experience. In its place, he seeks to establish a manmade religion that makes assertions about materialistic transcendence which can only be known through personal subjective experience.

In 2005 Edge The World Question Center asked a very interesting question, "What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?" Sam Harris was one of the responders:

"What I believe, though cannot yet prove, is that belief is a content-independent process. Which is to say that beliefs about God-to the degree that they are really believed-are the same as beliefs about numbers, penguins, tofu, or anything else_
What I do believe, however, is that the neural processes that govern the final acceptance of a statement as 'true' rely on more fundamental, reward-related circuitry in our frontal lobes-probably the same regions that judge the pleasantness of tastes and odors_
Once the neurology of belief becomes clear, and it stands revealed as an all-purpose emotion arising in a wide variety of contexts (often without warrant), religious faith will be exposed for what it is: a humble species of terrestrial credulity. We will then have additional, scientific reasons to declare that mere feelings of conviction are not enough when it comes time to talk about the way the world is. The only thing that guarantees that (sufficiently complex) beliefs actually represent the world, are chains of evidence and argument linking them to the world_
Understanding belief at the level of the brain may hold the key to new insights into the nature of our minds, to new rules of discourse, and to new frontiers of human cooperation_"

Note the future-hopes qualifiers, "_yet_Once_will be_We will then_"
Sam Harris is currently studying neuroscience and it seems as if his purpose, as a scientist, will be to work on proving absolute materialism and to do so in a field of science which is not exactly a hard science but a soft one-maybe malleable enough to find a God gene-meme.

Notice his staked deck: religious faith is a humble species of terrestrial credulity and once the neurology of belief becomes clear religious faith will be exposed for what it is: a humble species of terrestrial credulity. This is circular illogic. In other words, he is setting out to prove what he already believes to be true-no doubt, he will prove his beliefs even by gyrations that will strain the very neurons upon which he will be experimenting. It appears that Sam Harris' goal is not to become an unbiased scientist who merely reports conclusions and is prepared to throw away a lifetime of research if it happens to be disproved. Rather, he is attempting to gain a fa&#a7;ade of science in order to push his absolutely materialistic worldview.

What does appear certain at this point in time is that Sam Harris' sect of atheist is setting out to build a neo-religion in order to replace the churches which they see as the tombs and sepulchers of God.

Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: "I seek God! I seek God!"

As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Has he got lost? asked one. Did he lose his way like a child? asked another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated?-Thus they yelled and laughed.

The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him-you and I. All of us are his murderers.

But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

"How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whoever is born after us-for the sake of this deed he will belong to a higher history than all history hitherto."

Here the madman fell silent and looked again at his listeners; and they, too, were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, and it broke into pieces and went out. "I have come too early," he said then; "my time is not yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time; the light of the stars requires time; deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than most distant stars-and yet they have done it themselves.

It has been related further that on the same day the madman forced his way into several churches and there struck up his requiem aeternam deo. Led out and called to account, he is said always to have replied nothing but: "What after all are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?"

1. 1. Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason (W. W. Norton & Company, 2005), pp. 52-53