I have a post brewing about asceticism as the perfect intersection of Nietzsche and Christianity, but, since Nietzschean Christianity is a weird thing to talk about, I thought I'd soften the ground with a couple of quotes, beginning with this one from gay sadomasochist Guy Baldwin:
Christ was reportedly a guy who was a sensitive renegade, set himself up to be on the receiving end of some very serious suffering, and taught that submission to a higher authority was the key to salvation. Who could be surprised that I turned out to be a lifelong gay sadomasochist with Christ as my role model?
Second, I offer these bullet points from a manifesto for "closeted Nietzscheans" that a friend of mine started to write. (I should mention that he would be mortified to appear alongside the above quote.)
At our weddings we will quote Corinthians and toast that love which is patient and humble; but later we will revel in that love which is power and domination.
During the day we say it is a virtue to be cheerful; but we secretely love those who have great contempt, for they truly have great reverence, arrows of longing for a further shore.
And finally, two bits from America's greatest ascetic, Emily Dickinson:
Don't you know you are happiest while I withhold and not confer—don't you know that "No" is the wildest word we consign to Language?
You are like God. We pray to Him, and He answers "No." Then we pray to Him to rescind the "no," and He don't answer at all, yet "Seek and ye shall find" is the boon of faith.
Unlike my closeted Nietzschean friend, I don't think she'd mind appearing next to Guy Baldwin's blasphemy—"Cupid taught Jehovah to many an untutored mind..."
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