This whole thread seems ridiculous to me. It just looks like "people needlessly complicating how they think about life". Why do you have to permit yourself to do anything? At least appealing to a higher power justifies why you would feel restricted. Nihilism just isn't for me, I guess.

Things being "permitted" wouldn't occur to someone born recently in a secular context. This is a historical artifact in relation to the 1700+ year grip that Christianity had on people's minds.

I suppose so, but nihilism doesn't seem to mesh with religion anyways.

As far as I understand, nihilism and existentialism were both reactions to the "death of religion". Nihilism concludes that everything is devoid of meaning. Existentialism concludes basically the same thing, but then is like "so let's go be ourselves and have fun, find ways to enjoy life" basically. I think this is where the "is permitted" part comes in.

But anyway nihilism is related to religion in the sense that it's a reaction to the end of religion.

That's philosophy in a nutshell haha.

Some people tend to be thinkers and others are doers.