The Priestly Roles of the Last Century

[CLNT!]

Having read "On the Genealogy of Morals" and more recently "Twilight of the Idols," I felt compelled to assess how the role of priest may have evolved since Nietzsche's time. While in the most obvious sense, the priest still exists as such within religion, though with various new vectors of extending influence (the televangelist, for example), the term may well apply to more secular strata of influence--namely in economy and policy. The nature of what I am getting at in this regard is well-documented within the films of documentarian, Adam Curtis:
Century of the Self -> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2641575773935962254#docid=6718420906413643126
Power of Nightmares ->
The Trap -> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=404227395387111085#

For example, if one of the most contemporary evolutions of the slave is as the consumer, the media and marketeers exhibit the most priestly role over such a slavery. Suffice to say, the aim of consumer culture (if it can be referred to as such) is the fracturing and placation of mankind, and by such does the priest suppress all that is masterly in man, extending and perpetuating his slavery--effectively seeking to eliminate the possibility of the master (that is, the master outside of the various priestly castes, one of merit and self-making, rather than mob edict or passive consent).

[Onasander]

Yes, the Priest has evolved, by reading Nietzsche. There isn't a seminary without a copy these days.

[the_dwarf]

why not? their religion evolved from reading Plato.

[Onasander]

Religion yes. We've hardly covered this up. Religion is rites and explanations. They evolve and die out. Religion is remarkably secular in nature. I believe in God, but have little in way of religion. Trinkets. Even the monastic robe is a joke if thought about closely. It was useful in Egypt during the times of the Desert Fathers of the late Roman Empire, when men would enter into the deserts and live in a monastic cell or small community in isolation in the desert. It's survival into the modern age... though it's very easy to understand the why it did so- is still rather silly as a object, a mark of tradition that has little baring on the actual task at hand of the deepening of the spirit and serving god though the aid and inspiration of man. Bluejeans and a collar shirt should work just as well. A apartment as well as a cell. A job as well as gardening or making trappist cheese. But it's a continuation, and it aids in the process for those who desire it, and doesn't perceivable cripple. I shrug my shoulders at it, and accept allowances must be made. I am sure others do the same upon seeing me.

And I think we took much, much more from the Neo-Plotinus movement. Ask a Catholic or Orthodox priest sometime about the Nous. Not all christians, even in the Catholic or Orthodox Church, bother with Platonic or Platonic explanations of philosophy, some choose to take a Taoist approach, or even a Hindu approach in all things that does NOT contradict the scriptures. Catholic church has Hindu style monks in India, near impossible to discern from the local monks, who've taken on every tradition and philosophy that doesn't inherently contradict. Orthodox churches are starting to explore similar options. We never were limited to Greek and Roman ideals, it's not a rule anywhere..... infact, given our Jewish roots that had anti-greek sentiment in the beginning, it's not surprising we're exploring outside it. So long as the essential message remains clear, it's pretty much for the most part is all good. I can only name a few exceptions where Roman or Greek customs dominate- such as in Polygamy (not a real rule- the holy roman emperor Charlemagne had 5 wives, and the Ethiopian church always allowed Polygamy).