The Antichrist

“It was as if his apostasy from the faith of his fathers, filling him with the fiery zeal of the convert, and particularly of the convert to heresy, had blinded him to every other element in the gigantic self-delusion of civilized man.”

In the biographical portion of his introduction, H.L. Mencken describes Friedrich Nietzsche’s hatred of Christianity. Nietzsche’s critiques span the entire breadth of Western (particularly German) culture, finding ressentiment in every aspect of society. Mencken contends that to Nietzsche, the culprit behind all these woes was always Christianity—the downfall of the religion’s influence being the main objective of the latter’s bibliography.

“The fact is that Nietzsche had no interest whatever in the delusions of the plain people—that is, intrinsically. It seemed to him of small moment what they believed, so long as it was safely imbecile. What he stood against was […] the pollution and crippling of the superior minority by intellectual diseases from below.”

Mencken argues against the common belief that Nietzsche intended for Christianity to be destroyed altogether. He contends that Nietzsche’s elitism made him apathetic to the common people’s beliefs. Nietzsche’s primary concern was that the “delusions” of these people grew to influence the philosophical elite, chaining them to Christian morality when they should have been given license to explore intellectual power free from morals.

“Democracy and free speech are not facets of one gem; democracy and free speech are eternal enemies. But in any battle between an institution and an idea, the idea, in the long run, has the better of it.”

Mencken offers his own take on Nietzsche’s elitism, arguing that simply standing by democracy and calling it sacred is not enough; logic must enter the discussion. He laments democracy disallowing arguments against itself, caving to mob rule when the intellectually strong—such as Nietzsche—should be given leeway. He argues that this is why Nietzsche’s works were so despised by democrats, even though this hatred only strengthened his arguments.