The nihilist who sounds like a conservative

Here is a discussion from last April in which I contrast John Derbyshire’s nihilist lament for the West (Westerners once despised lesser breeds, but now despise themselves and so are going down) with a morally sound lament for the West (the West once believed properly in itself, but now has lost that belief and so is going down).

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Robert in Nashville writes:

Your observations about nihilism and John Derbyshire’s hopeless contempt for his own culture, brought to mind the observations of Roger Scruton about nihilists, in his short work, “The West and the Rest.” As he noted in his conclusion, “The death of God leaves only one remaining absolute, which is nothingness. The duty to annihilate is the last remaining glimpse of the transcendental in the heart of one who has lost all belief in it and who cannot live with the loss. He notes Anna Greifman: “But nihilism is the other side of religion: it is the disappointed howl of the believer, on discovering that God is dead…”

I don’t know exactly what to think of this. I am a theist, but not a Christian, so what authority do I have to believe or insist upon absolutes? And yet I do. I don’t know what Mr. Derbyshire’s beliefs or history of loss of belief is, but it would be interesting to know.

In my view, I think the unbeliever, having lost his belief in God, turns to a new ideology which he makes a religion, of universalism. This new religion too, promises an end-time, and a salvation day in which all are one and equal. But only if one will first turn away from the old allegiances of belief in God and nation, as a heresy to be, not just abandoned, but in which the new believer is expected to take an active part in annihilating. Perhaps this is why the left does not just disagree with a traditionalist, but responds to him as a hated enemy and heretic. In this way, he show that he is once again a believer. For what man can stand in nothingness and not search for something to grasp?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 18, 2008 06:00 PM | Send