A couple of passages from The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Things are otherwise with those who are higher up. They, led by science, want to establish themselves in truth and justice with their minds alone, but now without Christ, as formerly, and they have already proclaimed that crime does not exist, that sin does not exist. And they are right in their way, for if one has not God, then what crime can there be?
If God does not exist, there is no highest good, no thing above man and outside of man that man can aim for. There is nothing to prevent man from developing his own rules – Nietzsche’s Übermensch comes to mind. We have been living under the tyranny of this Übermensch for a few centuries now. We see today this phase is coming to an end, one way or another, rationally or irrationally.
And no one bothered to reproach them anymore, no one put in a good word, which was positively strange, as the Elder’s devoted followers were after all in the majority within the cloister; but it seemed that on this occasion the Lord Himself had permitted the minority temporarily to gain the upper hand.
The Elder died, and his body began to give off a terrible smell. This was taken as a sign by some that he was not acceptable to God, so a few started badmouthing the Elder.
As can be seen in this passage, a loud and forceful minority can shame or quiet a majority – just as can be seen in our society.
Posted by bionic mosquito
