The Will to Power

I really dislike the notion of people telling me what I can say or what I can think. For example, every time I run across those stories on the Internet where some bureaucrat in some government-run educational institution tells someone he can’t say something I get incensed. (I’m not so incensed about non-government-run institutions doing that, because I have a simple solution: have nothing to do with that institution. But I am forced to pay for or subsidize government-run institutions.)

However, I am less and less inclined to waste much time over this for the following reason. There are things that must be said, and those things I will say. And then there are things that need not be said. And it is only my will-to-power that incites me to want to say those things.

I will choose the following example, controversial and prone to misunderstanding though it may be. As a white person I am basically “prohibited” from saying the so-called “N-word.” In some circumstances there could literally be legal sanctions involved if I were to say that word. On the other hand black people can say the word with impunity.

So in thinking about this I ask myself, “Isn’t this a double standard? Why should black people be able to say this word and I be sanctioned in various ways if I say it?” And the fact that there exists such an external compulsion has the well-known effect described in the Bible: the law that says “Thou shall not say the N-word” incites in me all manner of desire to say the N-word (see Romans 7:7-8).

However, here’s the way I resolve this issue in my mind: “I don’t want to say the N-word.” I don’t want to offend people in that way. I have no desire to be the kind of person that demeans others even if there’s a double standard involved. Saying the N-word in no way advances my agenda in life; rather the opposite.

Now this involves limiting my actions. There are a lot of things I don’t say or do that I might otherwise say or do because I have no desire to offend people — not out of fear but out of love. Life is hard enough; why should I make it harder for people? And that involves not thinking about what would offend me but what would offend them.

For example, I am basically not offended when people say bad things about Christianity. I am used to it. I simply recall the passage that says, “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or the age to come” (Matthew 12:31-32). What I see here is that every sin and blasphemy (except one) will be forgiven — even those against the Son of Man. (I always hope that people will not manage to figure out how to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit!) So if Jesus is willing to forgive, can I be any less willing?

But when I consider other religions, I know that their adherents don’t always think the same way. And since I gain nothing from insulting those religions, I try to avoid doing so. I will adhere to the truth even where I think it contradicts other religions, and I will say so, but I won’t deliberately try to offend members of other religions.

Here’s the thing. Such a thought process does not really limit my freedom. It limits my will to power. And those are two different things.

Will to power is the idea that I will not limit my actions because of others. If I want to do it, that’s all that matters. Or perhaps I will limit them slightly. The Wiccan “rede” (short version) says, “An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will.”

Much of modern morality involves this kind of thinking. Even Christians think this way. For example, when I was growing up, a common question was “How far can you go?” in your interactions with your girlfriend or boyfriend. In other words, “What limits on my desires should I accept?” (I contend that this is the wrong question.)

In similar vein, the notion of “boundaries” is sometimes mis-interpreted to mean avoiding allowing other people to limit your actions by manipulating you or otherwise imposing on you. (The notion of self-differentiation is a much better way to think about boundaries.)

Ultimately, though, I don’t take this view of things. My goal is not to exercise my will to power. Rather, my goal is to love my neighbor.

Here we see why I don’t fight for my “right” to say the N-word. How could such a thing possibly be loving? It’s not whether or not it’s harmful — but does it do anyone any good? Do I break down walls and barriers by doing this? Clearly not. Then what’s the point?

So I refrain from offending others not because I am not free, but because I want to love them. I don’t want to fight battles that do not advance this cause because they are at best a waste of time.

The Bible actually talks like this. Paul in Galatians says the following:

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. — Galatians 5:13-15

Here we see that the goal of our freedom is not just “opportunity for the flesh” — the unfettered expression of our desires. Instead our freedom is oriented toward love.