The ISSN 0014-1690 Ethical Record Vol 94 No. 8 SEPTEMBER 1989 Editorial ford and featuring the poet TONY HARRISON. May there be many more. THE RUSHDIE READINGS"... People who criticise such occasions on the grounds that they are offensive to , THE PUBLIC READING.OVektraetstrOal Muslims show an extraordinary lack of SALMAN RUSHDIE'S Harel tSCriaktic historical perspective., Since the Renais- Verses which took place,. inCColtWayli-iall sance, and particularly since the publica- On Sunday July 2 was MajOiVachisirie-.a tion of The Origin of Species in 1859; ment for the Society. Arlingeay. our intellectual and scientific progress in the Secretary NICHOLAS HYMAN:Miro • again West has inevitably involved hurting showed notable organisational Skill, this people's feelings. No advance is possible event was the first of 'its kintLin.Britain: unless established views are challenged No public platform had preViMisly been —a process which is both painful and granted to people wanfingitO,readjrom necessary. Also, no-one holding a par- Satanic Verses. SPES,moiche&o.M.1 ticular philosophical position should cite "first"—no mean feat -in-,ViesOofo'the his feelings in support of it. The only furore caused by the Iliishdiet,affair, support should be rational argument. and the:dangers and threats–A(*4 zby It's almost impossible to list .all the some of the extremist eletnéhIS.:in the intellectual freedoms we enjoy in the Islamic fundamentalist maveinent 'in West which would simply not exist if this country. fear of giving offence had been upper- The event meant thatthe SoCiety Was most in the minds of the pioneers of pointing the way to other .hbmanist earlier generations. organisations and advocates of free The subject of religion in modern thought and speech. Let's hope •these society is, incidentally, looked at in two other groups will respond appropriately. booklets soon to be published by the Recently, in the pages of The Ethical National Secular Society. One is What Record, the humanist movement as a is Religion? an extract from PANDIT whole was justly criticised for missing NEHRU'S Autobiography, and with a opportunities, for not taking stands and Foreword by MICHAEL FOOT. The other initiatives when there was .a positive is Ghetto Schools in Britain, by BARBARA need to. The Rushdie issue is a chance SMOKER. This argues against denomina- not-to-be-missed for asserting the values tional schools. Each booklet costs £1.50. of intellectual freedom. One promising There will be a publication launch for development since the Conway Hall both in the library at Conway Hall on readings has been the recent (televised) Monday September 25th from 6.45– "Blasphemers' Banquet" held in Brad- 8 pm. All are invited. CONTENTS Page Coming to Conway Hall 16 Nietzsche and Christianity—S. E. PARKER 3 The Redevelopment Issue Again 5 Background to Our Time—H. J. BLACKHAM . 6 Melting-Pot or Multi-Culture?—BARBARA SMOKER 11 Viewpoints 18 The views expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the Society. Published by the South Place Ethical Society, Conway Hall, Red Von Square, London SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY The Humanist Centre, Conway Hall 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Telephone: 01-831 7723 8-027—Edfitiy1-61463C717 2,aerPaot,11:n-i:Jc5 r'reT tcf,31 ;ill; on no '.. 4; rt t.- Apppipled..tectureEsil Harold .Blacktiam, T. F. Evans, Peter Heales, 'Richard Scol:et' Bal-haraStriokei,sHarhltiMeSaoe, Nicolas Walter - i:J AAR at Afig;ktIM MT Trils:teat-,(Sath`?Begilirthiistine :Bondi, Louise Booker, John Brown, Anthony "Chaninaripi1Peter.Heales,v DiM Li4erkedge,R491,toiercy;) fwema-cKinoii;.,Vietor -koSe,q3arbaralSinokerf-Harry StOpek-koe.'-`""'"6 'il"zu?'. vv-if -sz-Aci;liq raril tn:th ;4311v.1mml0 rn .TY:ATI1-;friT'aiii)1 Honorary;Represeatative:.);•Norman.,,Bacraci :Chairman i.GerieraaCommittee: -Barbara,Smoker...;DeputyChiarnian:i:Diane.:MtirraynHonorari:Registrari!Lesley pawsongioriorary,!Treasurer;;Don.:Liversedge. 'Secretary: Nicholas)Hyman. Hall Manager: ,GeoffreKtfAustin.,ylionocary LibrariaMi EdwinairPalmerfitEditar;„ The ;EthicalyRecordr,Tom HI`ubeos;:(asiSted byrNiehalita lijimah;ltesleypDawsoniand !JIMAddison).;Concerrsicommitree Chairman::1Lionel,Eltommi rtriotinfil ot4 f t; Gehekaltacommitte.e:.`, TheOfficepc; and Jean: Bayliss,,;fouise.-BOOkel; Richard 'BenjaMin; CYitithia Bleard',"Jit4Mond CaSsidY;,0„..N: Ellis .HilimanNaorni LeWieAlide _Marsha:lb:1LisaifrIonks;;Terri. Diahe Maiii5c-LeaValtenVncirbdVid WilliaMs. EIEOTI,1 Lro: ' cOE 1,1 3nIt AT.; 111-)trIT,-.;G: h1;;s:Itt:211:1;ETillit bfitheTlies'M 11)i .TimitI TT ii r-oiff nfir :1111I lads ,-;90,:q. —it A. S. NEILL, progressive:„.(ge,ipreferred. the;word,.frioneeritheadinassteikof Summerhdl, „didi!not; . GOldirle:#da a Jerr I cr , 't "I L )G6tding"S11;Lbid:Of:me]Eliesh.2Saiioutd; party;Of.,sCliOolboyswho are.,dibppea ,on adesertlisland'ind',beCinte.iv4ge; It ?piay:bea;Set;b"661Ciii iiiinetiehbensc ;$ Neill dhserie-ch..„: 2` " ,21 -; :iignifitilit"that"`the. rea'ding .they Coulflogail lb nonce Wa§4P0t.:practised:bytheir'rmrents and 'teachers:Any 'chaiited diSe‘When,MVen;freedoniwill be saii,alet."..f.'„1.: ;17' "' One Clifferehdelk etWeenttOlding'S';boys :and rtiy; pupils ,*,:thdr theY'fiaxgEhO iaterest in thle..:little,'AiitS;',ihey,:de het-even .knoW:Aheirtiames; .phesTalie4s'10 4 a pretectiiPelittitud&to the liitle-onesf w4lcing:,cjasi':Isiggy; who possibly neVer 'Pla)ecli,Ut'tedirigganie hi' his life, 'IS,'the 'Mily One-Who -shoWsnintelligenee' aha 'bOiirrevert to SaVagery,'Why didn't': PiggY .4-4a Ralph?" • Neilritiggeited -Hill a feliairlrmightThaVE-softefied-their"hatefulTheafts" but adds that "some suppressed schoolgirls might well have joined the-savage-gang." The Ethical Record is posted-free t6members. The:annual charge:to Subscribers is £4..Matter for publication,should reach -the Editor,- Tom Rubens, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL (01-831 7723) no later.than the:first of the month for publication in the following month's issue. 2 Ethical Record, September 1989 NIETZSCHE AND CHRISTIANITY Abridged from a talk given to the Sunday Forum June 18, 1989 S. E. PARKER NIETZSCHEIS FAMOUSFOR TUE STATEMENT"God is dead". He does not, however, concern himself with arguments for or against the existence of a god, although he was a declared atheist. He even thought that the image of a god could serve as the indicator of a people's strength or weakness. It could register the waxing and waning of "the will to power" which Nietzsche believed was the fundamental law of life. When the ancient Jews were a conquering people their god, Jehovah, reflected their power. He was a god of joy, strength and "justice". When they subsequently suffered the reverses and disillusionment of the Assyrian conquest and the Babylonian exile, the image of Jehovah underwent a drastic change. From being a god expressing their triumph, he became a god who was a crutch and a consolation for their defeat and their weakness. He changed from a god of conquest and aggression into a god of the weak and the "gdod". It was this god of "goodness" and impotence that Nietzsche saw as being - bequeathed by the Jews to the Christians. Nietzsche's "good" was, however, not the "good" of the Judeo-Christian creed. His • "good" was power and its enhancement: "What is good?—everything that increases the feeling of power. ... What is evil? —everything based in weakness. What is joy?—the emotion of power increasing, or a resistance overcome. Not contentedness, but more power! Not peace at any price, but war. Not 'goodness' but more ability ... The weak and misbegotten shall sink to the ground: that is our humanitarian slogan; and they shall be helped to . sink. What is the most harmful vice?—pity shown to the misbegotten and the feeble —Christianity" (The Antichrist). For Nietzsche the attacks made upon Christianity up to his time had not only been timid, but false. Christianity was not only a supernatural creed, it was also a morality which attempted to reverse natural selection, to thwart the course of evolution by praising the weak and denigrating the strong, who alone are the justification for life. Proof of this can be found in the fact that Christianity originated and found its first followers among slaves. Fearing their masters and wanting to avenge their inferiority, the slaves fashioned a doctrine designed to undermine and overcome their masters' domination by means of the guilt- inducing notions of sin and pity. Christianity sprang from resentment and sought to bring down the ruling caste as does its offspring—socialism. The slaves were incapable of triumphing over their masters by force of arms so they resorted to stealth and cunning. For the morality of the powerful they substituted the morality of the servile. "Christianity was the revenge of the impotent upon the potent. The success of this slave revolt caused the destruction of the intellectual accomplishments of the ancient world. The scientific method, the art of reading, the sense for fact, were "buried in a night. Not trampled to death by German and other heavy feet. But brought to shame by crafty, stealthy; anaemic vampires. Not conquered—merely sucked dry." (Ibid.) At the end of The Antichrist Nietzsche indicts Christianity as "the one great curse, the one intrinsic depravity, the one black impulse of resentment, for which no subterfuge is too vile, or too furtive, or too underhand, or too mean. I say the thing is the one indelible blot on the achievement of man . ." Nietzsche's attack upon Christianity, however, was not as all-encompassing