[November 2004 journal entry]
Being ‘religious’ – across the theological spectrum from fundamentalist to liberal – entails assigning final authority to ‘God’, ‘Christ’, Jewish scripture, Christian scripture, and/or Christian traditions. Since every such final authority requires a human medium (including human language), every such final authority is inescapably idolatrous in that the assigned finality at some point shuts off questioning and doubt. Being ‘non-religious’ means for me (1) that ‘God’ by definition transcends (breaks) human language, (2) that Jewish scripture, Christian scripture, and Christian traditions serve as a compilation of narratives/reflections, and (3) that ‘Jesus’ is an imagined conversation partner.
