More Nietzsche

Here is another quote from Nietzsche in The Gay Science: "What decides against Christianity now is our taste, not our reasons."

People often give apologetic arguments for the existence of God, but the truth is what Nietzsche claims here, people believe in God when it makes them feel good. One of the most frustrating things for me in ministry was seeing people show up in church when things were bad - that was when they needed God to help them. Whenever people needed something from God, they would be in church or ask the other church members to pray for them. When things were good people would avoid church. Sometimes it was vice versa, but people had emotional reasons for worshipping God, it was never a thoughful decision for a lot of church-goers. I think Nietzsche has it right, in the contemporary church in the U.S. people do or don't go to church based upon emotions, not reason. Is this bad? Not necessarily. However, if everything is an emotional decision sooner or later your emotions will lead you astray. I know that when I am tired everything seems wrong, if I relied upon my emotions when I was tired I would make a lot of foolish decisions.