Frederick Nietzsche proposes that humanity has based its existence upon false standards. He concludes that when we examine those standards they collapse upon themselves. Christianity, according to Nietzsche, must be set aside and this is what leads to the powerful and abrasive images of Nietzsche's writings, as well as to the melodrama of such reevaluation of values.
For Nietzsche, there are four main traditions, which have been passed down in humanity and which must be reconstructed. These are: Christian Values, Secular Values, the Values of the Herd, and Ancient Greek Values. According to Nietzsche, each of these must be attacked:
Nietzsche's Rejection of Christian Values
• Nietzsche rules out such Christian values as turning the other cheek, going the second mile, loving ones neighbor as oneself, and the demonstration of compassion for the suffering. He rejects these values as inappropriate.
• Nietzsche's problem with these "Christian concepts" roots in the inappropriate paradigm of the strong assisting the weak. According to Nietzsche, the weak should appropriate the power within "self" that enables him to rise up on behalf of himself. This is part of being the authentic human being.
• When the individual is capable of rising up from himself in order to rise above his circumstances he not only renders the person in power needless to assist him but the "weak" individual discovers what it is to live authentically and genuinely, to live out his humanity to the fullest without the assistance of some external moral code which attributes this strength to "God" or to "faith" or to "religious superstition." This old frame of reference for values is no longer needed according to Nietzsche.
