your favorite quotes

[Chaerophon]

Should have known that this "quote" would come out at some point <_< Quite frankly, I don't understand this reaction from Christians. Nietzsche is probably the best test of faith that exists in the literary world... (Dostoevsky?) How better to consolidate one's perspectives on the world than by challenging them and seeing where they end up? Those who have the courage to do so read Nietzsche and come out of it all respecting him (although they will probably pity him at the same time). Those who do not... make t-shirts that say this kind of thing on them. Some of the strongest Christians that I know have read and respect Nietzsche, and in fact, a prof at my school, a devout Christian and a pillar of the local Anglican community, who has in the past taught theology courses did his PhD thesis on Nietzsche. He loves him. Go figure. Nietzsche's value is the emphasis that he places on self-direction and questioning our ideas.

Many Christians would do well to subject themselves to such a test - not because their faith is "wrong", per se, but because they might realize a thing or two about the nature of their blind faith and try to find a more meaningful inner peace in the search, consolidating their beliefs, rather than in some misguided stupour of doctrinaire moral superiority. I think that some Christians could become better people by reading such works (I certainly don't intend this as some sort of broad generalization - but there are certainly those to whom it applies). Of course, they might just have nervous breakdowns.