The priest got mad at me because I told him...

[Ponder This]

"You are a host, and your job is to entertain your guest."

He said something like. "Here you are judging me and telling me I'm an entertainer. I don't go to church to entertain them, I go to church to spread the word of God. Go away. I don't want to talk to you."

Anyways, I know this guy because he goes to my gym. And one day I decided to talk with him about religion which I usually don't. What I told him was I believe that every priest of every religion is a host who entertains his guests.

To me they are like clowns, or comedians, seriously. What is the job of clowns or comedians? Its to entertain their guest, right? Don't they play music and sing songs in every religion? How are they not entertainers? Please tell me. The life is a show, period.

Maybe he was offended because he knows that his job isn't just to entertain people.
If the goal is simply entertainment, then neither the message nor the edification of the people matter. The message can be anything as long as the audience smiles and claps. If you tell him he is just an entertainer, it's like saying that he doesn't care about the message. Maybe he is an entertainer and maybe he isn't, but calling him entertainment or saying that he just there to entertain people directly challenges his notion that there is a deeper meaning to what he does. This is obvious, isn't it?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Well judging by the latter portion of your post maybe he has a legitimate right to be upset. Things ought to be said in consideration of another's feelings. Your idea of entertainment seems to be similar to that of a court Jester. To many people who are serious about belief, religion is not a joke nor entertainment to the extent of laughter.

I think it depends on what else went on in that interaction that @Hammzah hasn't told us about so far.

Going up to someone keeping to themselves who you know to be a priest and insulting their profession would be very rude.

OTOH, if a priest had been proselytizing and pestering @Hammzah to convert, then that would be a different story. If he had been invited to tell the priest what he thought of the priest's religion or sales pitch, it's fair game for @Hammzah to give his honest opinion.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Do you not understand that spreading the word of God is a serious responsibility and is a sacred duty reflecting devotion to God?

How serious - and worthy of respect - the responsibility is depends greatly on how well the person can justify that it really has been bestowed on them.

If a religious minister can't even make a good case for even the existence of their god, it would be very hard for me to take him seriously that his god has somehow indicated that he wants the minister to be his representative on Earth.

... and I've yet to see a religious minister who has been able to give a good case for the existence of their god.

 

[Nakosis]

"You are a host, and your job is to entertain your guest."

He said something like. "Here you are judging me and telling me I'm an entertainer. I don't go to church to entertain them, I go to church to spread the word of God. Go away. I don't want to talk to you."

Anyways, I know this guy because he goes to my gym. And one day I decided to talk with him about religion which I usually don't. What I told him was I believe that every priest of every religion is a host who entertains his guests.

To me they are like clowns, or comedians, seriously. What is the job of clowns or comedians? Its to entertain their guest, right? Don't they play music and sing songs in every religion? How are they not entertainers? Please tell me. The life is a show, period.

Apparently not a very good one.

Now here's an entertainer for you...

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

"You are a host, and your job is to entertain your guest."

He said something like. "Here you are judging me and telling me I'm an entertainer. I don't go to church to entertain them, I go to church to spread the word of God. Go away. I don't want to talk to you."

Anyways, I know this guy because he goes to my gym. And one day I decided to talk with him about religion which I usually don't. What I told him was I believe that every priest of every religion is a host who entertains his guests.

To me they are like clowns, or comedians, seriously. What is the job of clowns or comedians? Its to entertain their guest, right? Don't they play music and sing songs in every religion? How are they not entertainers? Please tell me. The life is a show, period.

Many modern churches operate precisely as you say.

 

[RabbiO]

You've obviously never attended one of @RabbiO's sermons.

There are times my wife wishes she was so lucky.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

I think it depends on what else went on in that interaction that @Hammzah hasn't told us about so far.

Going up to someone keeping to themselves who you know to be a priest and insulting their profession would be very rude.

OTOH, if a priest had been proselytizing and pestering @Hammzah to convert, then that would be a different story. If he had been invited to tell the priest what he thought of the priest's religion or sales pitch, it's fair game for @Hammzah to give his honest opinion.

Well the OP didn't offer the whole story and going by what OP said it appears that the OP was rude.

 

[Hammzah]

Many modern churches operate precisely as you say.

Something like that crossed my mind.

Your job is to entertain your guest, period. And, the rules apply to everyone.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I would have been just as irked. When you enter into a church, or a temple, or any holy place, the priest is not the host; the gods are. The priest is a spiritual leader that directs and guides the religiously social act of worship and ritual. Neither is it the job of the gods to "entertain"; we go to their spaces - or spaces designated for their worship - to "entertain" or give thanks to them. I quite concur that you're being excessively cynical and/or selfish in views regarding the roles of religion, and expecting them to conform to what you expect of them.

Isn't a commander in the army an entertainer? Don't you think keeping soldiers bored is a bad idea?

No. Soldiers are not in the Armed Forces to "have a good time", and if they're bored then there's often something for them to do. It's a job, not a recreational vacation, and it's far from the Commander's job to make sure they're "entertained". Neither is this a good parallel to priesthoods.

 

[Hammzah]

I would have been just as irked. When you enter into a church, or a temple, or any holy place, the priest is not the host; the gods are. The priest is a spiritual leader that directs and guides the religiously social act of worship and ritual. Neither is it the job of the gods to "entertain"; we go to their spaces - or spaces designated for their worship - to "entertain" or give thanks to them. I quite concur that you're being excessively cynical and/or selfish in views regarding the roles of religion, and expecting them to conform to what you expect of them.


No. Soldiers are not in the Armed Forces to "have a good time", and if they're bored then there's often something for them to do. It's a job, not a recreational vacation, and it's far from the Commander's job to make sure they're "entertained". Neither is this a good parallel to priesthoods.

What gods are you talking about? Are you talking about the spirits that might be inside of the show place?

 

[syo]

"You are a host, and your job is to entertain your guest."

this is wrong.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

What gods are you talking about?

Any. You're still being quite short-sighted in your view that a religious ritual or service is "entertainment" with the sole purpose of giving you a good time.

 

[Hammzah]

Any. You're still being quite short-sighted in your view that a religious ritual or service is "entertainment" with the sole purpose of giving you a good time.

The priest is the maestro, and he does not have to play any instruments, either.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Leading a religious service is not the same as conducting a concert.

 

[Hammzah]

Leading a religious service is not the same as conducting a concert.

Same idea, though, right?

 

[4consideration]

@Hammzah I don't see a reply to my questions. I've bolded them this time, to make them more apparent.

My take on his response initially was that he might be practicing turning the other cheek, and not holding and directing verbal aggression toward someone that seemed to initiate aggression.

I realize it may, perhaps, have been a more friendly encounter than it seemed in the OP.

Was your message to him that you think priests are like clowns, which is a term you used in your OP?

Or, was your message that you thought it is a priest's job to engage and interest people -- and the term "entertain" was more positive than insulting?

The impression I got from your OP is that you actually hold a view of priests one would expect a priest might find insulting, and then now you're talking like you were trying to give him some useful information, which he may have accepted.

I'm not of the opinion that you ought to find his chosen life-style useful, personally -- but I'm questioning whether you meant to be helpful or insulting.

 

[Darkstorn]

Same idea, though, right?

No?

Unless you are naive enough to think that military commanders are entertainers, then maybe.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Same idea, though, right?

No, absolutely not...

I can't tell if you're seriously asking this and making these comparisons, but it really seems like just trolling. It's like saying that because a rock star uses a microphone, every use of a microphone is entertainment.

 

[Hammzah]

@Hammzah I don't see a reply to my questions. I've bolded them this time, to make them more apparent.

I only told him that I think your job is to host and to entertain your guest.

 

[Hammzah]

No, absolutely not...

I can't tell if you're seriously asking this and making these comparisons, but it really seems like just trolling. It's like saying that because a rock star uses a microphone, every use of a microphone is entertainment.

Did you forget to include other instruments other then a microphone? Did you forget to include an electric guitar, drum set, and an electric piano?