Hostile evangelization?

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Ontheway

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There is a new pastor at the church I usually attend. Last Sunday’s bulletin carries a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche, the fellow who declared that God is dead.

The bulleting carries no inspirational massages from St. Francis, St. Augustine, pope Francis, St. John of the Cross, pope Benedict, or any of the hundreds of saints, popes, writers, apologists, or philosophers whose words inspire and illuminate the faith.
Only Nietzsche.
HELP!!:confused::mad:
 
What’s the quote and how is it presented in the bulletin?
 
It is not displayed prominently and it is not “offensive” to Christian sensibilities. But, this is not he point. Someone went to the trouble of selecting this particular philosopher out of hundreds that could have been chosen.

I am certain that one could find inocuous quotes from other enemies of the Church, but who would want to include them in a church bulletin and why?
 
To judge this fairly, what is the article or context of the quote? You said it wasn’t displayed prominently but what surrounded it? Do you know who puts the bulletin together for the parish and have you spoken your concerns to this person?
 
That makes sense, but try to remember when you were children.
 
Things like this bother me also but I usually try to let it go if possible. Some people are not as well-informed as others. They see these quotes and like the sentiment but do not realize the back stories of the authors. Perhaps you should attempt to find out who is responsible for putting it in the bulletin and then try to have a conversation with them regarding your feelings.
 
That does seem somewhat odd. But, by itself, I probably wouldn’t worry too much about it.

I know some parishes use certain bulletin services, so there are parts of the bulletin that they don’t necessarily have any control over. And even the parts they do have control over aren’t necessarily put in there by the priest. It could be someone else in the parish office that is responsible for that.
 
I don’t know who puts the bulletin together and I did send a message to the general parish mailbox; the only one I could find on their web page.
 
Ontheway said:
I don’t know who puts the bulletin together and I did send a message to the general parish mailbox; the only one I could find on their web page.
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emails can be ignored. stop in at the parish office and ask to speak in person who puts the bulletin together. In the final run, it is always the priest that gives the final say on anything in the bulletin so you may have to end up with him.
 
Without the context, nobody here can say if the quote is helpful or not.

Personally, if the pastor of somebody is trying to illustrate a point or demonstrate the source of something in our culture today, Nietchze could be VERY appropriate.

Evangelization is not just fuzzy bunnies, happy faces and hippy Jesus pictures. Jesus cracked the whip (literally) when the situation called for it. Our society today surely calls for it in many ways. Remember that Jesus didn’t have harsh words for sorowful, repentant sinners, he had harsh words for content and smug jerks who felt they had nothing to repent of. There’s no shortage of people like that today, is there?
 
The point of all this is the question of authority. When does it become appropriate for a church-based organization to quote a Nietzsche, or a Lenin, Mao, Hitler, etc. Not that I am equating all of them, but there is a principal at stake. I am certain that I could come up with a warm and fuzzy, or a lofty quote from Bin Laden. But…what kind of example does he make?

It does not really matter where the two line phrase appear in the bulletin, what font is used to print it, what is it next to, or even what is says.

What this example tells me is that my church is using the “God is dead” Nietzsche to make a point about my faith. It seems to me that there is something profoundly wrong here.
 
Unless your parish is using Nietchze to demonstrate a point about the human condition. Smart and insightful guys often notice things and make good points, even when they aren’t believers.

It’s even worthwhile to understand Marx’s ideas so that we can comprehend how so many people could fall for them and learn from the experience.

But again, I haven’t seen the context, so I can’t say for sure.
 
Ontheway said:
The point of all this is the question of authority. When does it become appropriate for a church-based organization to quote a Nietzsche, or a Lenin, Mao, Hitler, etc. Not that I am equating all of them, but there is a principal at stake. I am certain that I could come up with a warm and fuzzy, or a lofty quote from Bin Laden. But…what kind of example does he make?

It does not really matter where the two line phrase appear in the bulletin, what font is used to print it, what is it next to, or even what is says.

What this example tells me is that my church is using the “God is dead” Nietzsche to make a point about my faith. It seems to me that there is something profoundly wrong here.
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I understand what you are saying but to fairly judge what was put in the bulletin, some us on the thread have asked what the quote was and the context of the quote. I would be sure that he wasn’t quoted to promote his ideas. Sometimes atheists or non-believers etc can say profound things which can make one stop and think. Remember in the OT, God did use non-Jewish nations to chastise his people. Sometimes God does use someone even though that person denies God and is against God. I think it would be worth your time to make an appointment with your priest and discuss your feeling over this. Ultimately, it is the priest that is responsible for what is published in the bulletin not the church secretary. Maybe others see it like you but if one person complains, maybe it will not happen again. Tell the priest that you would rather see quotes from different saints instead of this atheist. But again, for those of us on the internet who haven’t seen the quote, it would be helpful to know the quote and context so we can fairly judge for ourselves.
 
Ontheway said:
What this example tells me is that my church is using the “God is dead” Nietzsche to make a point about my faith. It seems to me that there is something profoundly wrong here.
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This is my feeling about the situation too. It is just not really appropriate. Maybe the priest thinks he is being cool and intellectual and well read. 🤷
I think this deserves another email if you don’t get a reply, or a visit. Explain why it bothered you, suggest more appropriate things for the bulletin. if nobody complains then it is not likely that things will change.
 
Contra_Mundum said:
This is my feeling about the situation too. It is just not really appropriate. Maybe the priest thinks he is being cool and intellectual and well read. 🤷
I think this deserves another email if you don’t get a reply, or a visit. Explain why it bothered you, suggest more appropriate things for the bulletin. if nobody complains then it is not likely that things will change.
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I get that “cool and intellectual and well read” garbage from my college age nieces. They think that they are the only ones that can read and that whatever they happen to read in class, and it is usually just snippets, is a revelation to the world. I certainly don’t need that attitude from my parish priest. And I don’t need Nietzsche to teach me about the “genealogy of morals”.
 
Ontheway said:
I get that “cool and intellectual and well read” garbage from my college age nieces. They think that they are the only ones that can read and that whatever they happen to read in class, and it is usually just snippets, is a revelation to the world. I certainly don’t need that attitude from my parish priest. And I don’t need Nietzsche to teach me about the “genealogy of morals”.
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Just go speak to your priest but please do it in charity. If you go in there with “I don’t need that attitude from my priest” when you don’t have all the facts of why it was put in there in the first place, or the motivation behind it, you probably won’t be well received. Again, some of us have asked for the quote and the context which would help those of us trying to help you understand and see the complete picture.
 
robwar said:
Again, some of us have asked for the quote and the context which would help those of us trying to help you understand and see the complete picture.
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Well, if the quote was about the geneology of morals then it suggests that morals are man made constructs. I don’t think a priest should be advertising such ideas 😦
 
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