My grasp of Nietzsche's statement "God is dead" fluctuates between an almost enlightened comprehension of what he means to a virtual stupor of confusion. However, during my more lucid moments of understanding(which I like to believe outweigh the moments of stuporhood), I see his point on a variety of levels. Nietzsche's writings on the subject are loaded with meaning; he purposely leaves his words wide open to interpretation. Just how we absorb Nietzsche's ideas on the subject of God's death, however, are directly contingent on who or what we think God really is. Nietzsche seems to approach God as a concept rather than a man. This results in a somewhat paradoxical slur, because concepts generally don't "live" in a tangible enough sense for them to also "die." Personally, I see Nietzsche's God as a personification of a concept. This concept is not easily definable itself; it can be either a somewhat broad religious conception of divinity, or; God can represent religious values and fundamentals themselves. Nietzsche's defense of his claim that God is dead operates on many planes. It is this that compels me to describe not one, but several of the reasons I extracted as to why, exactly, God is dead.
             Religion, for Nietzsche, is a regimen of doctrines. Religious practice, observance, and faith are facilitated by a set of rules. The regulations imposed by religion are life-defining: religion dictates how we should compose ourselves in life, as well as what in life we perceive as important. Straying from the boundaries of religious teaching is unholy, and ultimately, bad, in that doing so defies holy instruction. When God says "Thou Shalt," there are no options for an observant follower. Within the structured laws of religion, there is no room left to assert one's power to will freely. Nietzsche illustrates this by presenting a conceptual dragon representative of...