Article #8 - Fourth Series - June 5th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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One Thing, Jesus Christ - Article #8 - Fourth Series - June 5th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Article:
Kelly Clarkson’s 2011 song “What Doesn’t Kill You” has a very popular line: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

The lyrics: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Stand a little taller. Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone. What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter, footsteps even lighter. Doesn’t mean I’m over ‘cause you’re gone. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stronger; just me, myself, and I. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”  These lyrics echo the thoughts of an unexpected philosopher.

Friedrich Nietzsche…He was a 19th century German philosopher who once stated, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Nietzsche was very influential in our contemporary culture, especially among atheists. Nietzsche is well-known for his statement, “God is dead. We killed him.

I am not proposing that Kelly Clarkson’s song is trying to promote the philosophy of Nietzsche. In fact, I think it is a song about a basic truth - We grow through difficulties in life.

Nietzsche believed that Christianity had the wrong values. It held up the lowly, the mighty were cast down from their thrones, the hungry were fed, and the rich were sent away empty. In other words, the wrong people were victorious within Christianity, and it was preventing humanity from achieving its full potential.

Therefore, the whole system of objective truth and moral values needed a new foundation for Nietzsche. This “new foundation” would be built upon “will power.” Humanity could achieve its own dream and pave a new future through the Übermensch (superior human). God was simply getting in the way; it was time for humanity to take control.

Several German political and military leaders in the 1920s and 1930s interpreted Nietzsche’s less than 40-year-old philosophy and tried to apply it. The Nazi Regime became the Übermensch. The Nazis organized a systematic, inhumane regime which was built upon a basic philosophy: truth and morals are found in whoever has the stronger power.

Christianity interprets the words, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” under a much different rubric.

What is the symbol of Christianity? A cross. For Catholics, it is a crucifix which depicts Christ on the cross. In other words, Christianity holds high what killed Jesus Christ.

Notice, there is a massive assumption which undergirds Nietzsche's phrase “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Death is the end game for him. One must be strengthened and equipped under circumstances less than death, but it cannot be death itself because that’s the end.

On the other hand, consider Jesus’s words in John’s Gospel, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12:24).

Christ’s words imply a journey, an adventure, and an abundance of fruit which comes through death. Death is not the end for Jesus Christ.

The next time you hear Kelly Clarkson sing “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” consider how Christ demands and promises so much more.
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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.