[June 2005 journal entry]
Teilhard de Chardin (The Divine Milieu, p. 68) -- “The great objection brought against Christianity in our time, and the real source of the distrust which insulates entire blocks of humanity from the influence of the Church, has nothing to do with historical or theological difficulties. It is the suspicion that our religion makes its followers inhuman”.
Teilhard implicitly separates intellectual honesty – historical, theological, scientific, political, . . . – from being ‘human’. I would instead associate (not equate) intellectual honesty – which necessitates critical examination of ‘historical or theological difficulties’ -- with being ‘human’. I do agree with Teilhard’s proposition re a widespread suspicion that Christianity makes its followers ‘inhuman’. A ‘non-religious’ approach to spirituality and ethics – with a view of ‘Jesus’ as essentially human – takes this suspicion seriously and measures itself by the damage or enrichment done to every person’s humanity.
