Catastrophe and the Cure: Nihilism

I've realized over the past couple of days that I originally planned to touch base on different philosophical point of views in an attempt to enlighten an often misinformed world. Reviewing my previous entries I've noticed that the only philosophy which I truly argued is Existentialism. I mentioned in that post that Existentialism can be very closely related to Nihilism through certain perspectives and relying, of course, on certain aspects of the philosophy. I do realize, however, that there was no true substance supporting that argument, so today's post will be an attempt to connect the two philosophies, as well as being an opportunity for my own personal opinions in relation to Nihilism.

I'll start by explaining the pure basics of Nihilism and how they can easily be connected to Existentialism:
Basically, the philosophy argues that no true human morality or sense of morality exists. No action is better or worse than another simply based upon objective morality. If we were to rely on this theory of a lack of morals, then it would be easy to reject any higher power, as nihilists do. The philosophy states that because there is no sense of morality, there can be no reasonable belief in a higher power or deity. It also argues that our lives have no true meaning or goal, which supports their theory of the lack of some higher force. It goes on to contradict itself (which I think is a way to cover all bases) by stating that if in fact some higher power does exist, we have no moral obligation to either worship or acknowledge its existence. Basically, the philosophy relies on the negative connotation of the human condition in unison with some general lack of meaning to our lives. It is essentially a pessimistic, depressing view of life.

The entire philosophy contradicts itself. It states that no truth can exist in the world we live in. We are all essentially liars and the order under which we live lacks any truth. If the statement of a lack of truth were correct, then that same statement would lack truth. This may sound confusing (and it would not surprise me if it did) but think of it this way:
If I were to say "Don't believe a word I say" then you would not be able to believe what I had just said, causing everything I would say following that order to be true and believable.
Nihilism states "There is no existence of truth". If this is true, then the statement that truth does not exist would be untrue.
This may seem like I'm picking the wrong battles against Nihilism, but I am simply trying to communicate the fact that the teachings of this philosophy doesn't even attempt to hide any contradiction of itself, it is plain and simple. The entire philosophy is a paradox.

A Nihilist may argue that the previous quote has been altered over time and would instead say that although truth may exist, it is strictly unattainable under human circumstances. If this were true, then how would the nihilist have deemed true the theory that human life lacks morality or truth. If we cannot find any truth under human constrictions then how would they deem their philosophy as true, and how can they be certain that we lack morality and truth?

Although Nihilism and Existentialism differ in many ways and existentialists and nihilists would be in disagreeance, the two philosophies have much pessimism in common. I'd argue against both in an attempt to save my own mind. I could not bare to live in a world where there is nothing to live for and no truth or level of morality on which to rely. I do believe that we create our own destinies and that we are in charge of our will, but at the same time I believe so only because God has given us the power to do so. We do not live under the constraints of any deity, but we do live under the guidelines. It is left as a choice whether or not we decide to follow the guidelines placed before us and whether or not we choose to live a life with meaning. Having said that, it is obvious that I believe all life has meaning, all life has an effect on the world and, whether the effect is good or bad, that person will be remembered in one way or another. I think of it as, if life were to lack all meaning, we would not mourne the dead, we would not reflect upon the past. We would not feel emotions such as guilt or emtional pain, we would not hope to affect any lives (whether positively or negatively).
This may be based upon my own thoughts, but I believe strongly that not only does Nihilism directly contradict itself, but it directly contradicts the world we live in.