In Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche puts a substantial amount of emphasis on the body rather than the mind. In bringing out his points, many questions can be raised on the restrictions religion puts on natural bodily instincts. .
According to Nietzsche, the ideals and expectations that religion demands in attempt to improve humanity are absurd. "To call the taming of an animal its" improvement sounds almost like a joke to our ears."(p.38) As humans, we sometimes disregard the fact that we are animals because of our ability to think abstractly. However, a human is as much of an animal as a lion regardless of that advantage or disadvantage. Likewise, a lion would never hold back its hunger, aggressiveness, or any other instinctive behavior. That behavior is crucial to its survival. Still, overwhelmingly, religion puts boundaries on such instincts in humans. .
For example, Muslims hold back hunger by fasting, just as Christians suppress sexuality, and Buddhists embrace non-aggressive behavior. These restrictions are meant to create peace and civility between peoples and therefore improve humankind. It is rather ironic then that religion has been the basis for many hostilities dating from the crusades to recent battles in the Middle East.
Nietzsche suggests thinking and behaving according to instinctive values rather than on values set up by some other source; thus relying on what the body demands more heavily than what the mind can reason out. Nietzsche claims it is not healthy to pursue a life of guidelines and boundaries given that there is a sort of freedom and purity in a life lacking restrictions. "All naturalism in morality, that is, all healthy morality, is ruled by an instinct of life- some decree of life is fulfilled by a particular canon of "shall" and "shall not", some restriction and hostility on life's path is thereby shoved aside." (p.27) In part, Nietzsche is saying that a portion of the individual is lost due to a prearranged set of morals, which does not allow certain behaviors.
