Day 69

March 10, 2017

"Nihilists?!  F*ck me... I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism Dude, at least it's an ethos..."

While in still in school, I had a philosophy class that touched briefly on the different branches.  The instructor also happened to be a Methodist minister, and always wore these snazzy bow ties. He was great, and I loved him. 

When he discussed Nihilism, I remember feeling frightened at a gut level.  Seriously? A belief system that basically states morality, love, peace, and justice are not inherent, and that finding the purpose of one's life and happiness should be the ultimate goal? It sounded like Satanism!

Keep in mind, I was still a kid with no life experience and this was the my introduction to the subject.  Over the past forty years, I've matured a bit, and come to realize that Nihilists are not a bunch of lunatics plotting to destroy society as I know it.  They're not evil monsters.

What does strike me as funny -- makes me laugh out loud -- is that in quite a few movies and television shows, when the subject comes up, at least one person has the same knee-jerk reaction I had during Dr. Klein's lecture back in 1977.