Ritual nihilism: Difference between revisions

'''Ritual Nihilismnihilism''', also known as '''Nihilistic Ritualismritualism''', '''Neo-Nihilism''' or '''Cult Nihilismnihilism''', is a set of philosophical beliefs combining the ideas of Cosmic, [[w:Existential_nihilism|Existential]] and [[w:Moral_nihilism|Moral]] [[w:Nihilism|Nihilismnihilism]], held together via the underpinning of the functionalist concept of '''Ritualism''' as a part of Strain Theory and the perspective of pointlessness as a sort of Cosmic [[w:Aestheticism|Aestheticism]]. A '''Ritual Nihilist'''nihilist may express their philosophy in any number of ways, with many adherents to it having a passive acceptance of the society in which they reside in. The outlier in this, however, is [[Kæra'zna]], who posits itself as a state built upon the philosophy. In this the '''Board of Collective Truth''', which heads the state, expresses the philosophy as an all-encompassing ideology that rationalizes the state's adoption of '''Unethical'''unethical and '''Totalitarian'''totalitarian doctrine. This is done through the emphasizing of the more controversial concepts within the philosophy based upon the idolization and worship of the inherent pointlessness and insignificance of life and sapience, hence developing the pseudonym of '''[[Cult Nihilism'''nihilism|Cult nihilism]].

The Theory takes an extremely skepticalsceptical view of any belief which constitutes an intelligent design or inherent meaning behind the Universe. Ritual Nihilists take the [[w:Existential_nihilism|Existential Nihilist]] concept that existence is absurd and arbitrary, and any metaphysical or religious doctrine trying to describe it otherwise is rather a natural and flawed response to the fear of death. Ritual Nihilists, however, look at the pointlessness of the universe as beautiful in itself, holding the notion that the lack of intrinsic meaning and function to the universe allows it to be seen as if it were expressive art without an artist. Proponents of the belief tend to take opposition to the view that Nihilism and Anomie can be citied as justification for despair at the perceived pointlessness of existence, arguing instead that despair is only one of the possible stepping stones in perceiving the universe in its true form: meaningless, abstract and yet artistic in the arbitrary nature of it all. This absolute opposition to religion has sparked notable controversy on the aptness of the term ''"Cult Nihilism"''nihilism as a probable misnomer that goes against one of the tenants of Ritual Nihilism, describing it with a religious veneration it does not have. However, ratheras humorouslynoted by those observing the philosophy's adherents, this argument is stated by seemingly anyone ''other'' than the Ritual Nihilistsnihilists themselves who, in their unusually positive view of the concept of meaninglessness, will sometimes refer to themselves as Cult Nihilistsnihilists when speaking to the Philosophicalphilosophical community to display to absurd irony of such a debate.

Ritual Nihilistsnihilists, in concordance with [[w:Moral_nihilism|Moral Nihilismnihilism]], harshly reject concepts of an objective morality or the traditional belief that there are objective properties which in some way obligate us to act (or not act) in a certain way. They also take the stance that any statement that relies upon Ethical terms is also invalidated, contrasting against some defenders of Error Theory that would still see such talk as a useful tool despite agreeing on the belief that these objective qualities are indeed, false at a fundamental level. Ritual Nihilists take the position that beliefs based on morality are neither true nor false, rather that they are invalid as they rely on the presumption of the underpinning properties of morality that Ritual Nihilists believe do not actually exist. Thus, any theoretical action or decision based solely on morality and nothing else is entirely pointless besides the subjectively held belief of the decision maker that their action had a moral quality that it objectively does not. This aversion to the concept of morality has seen use as a blanket nullifier of criticism of immoral actions taken by Ritual Nihilists in positions of power, who will assert that valid moral justification for any action is impossible as the prerequisite that objective morality is true has not, and can not, be met. The most stark example of this is found in the governance of [[Kæra'zna]], with discussion of morals within the governing body being considered long dead while policies of eugenics, forced labour and mass executions are passed without significant opposition from the adherents to the State's interpretation of the Philosophy.