"Right"-eous & Christian?????

Lately I've rediscovered an author that had a great effect on me in college, lo those many years ago. I saw a couple of references in articles I'd read, probably in The Atlantic, and I proceeded to find some of his writings. I refer to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit (!?!?!?) theologian and a paleontologist who was on the team that classified Peking Man. One of his quotes appears on the header of this blog.

Now I am not very religious. If asked, I usually respond R.C.L. (Roman Catholic Lapsed). So how do I reconcile having this Jesuit as an influence? Well, Teilhard is logical. He's a scientist. While he tends to a Christian interpretation of phenomena, he maintains his analytical bent. His works aren't filled with "God" but rather man's search for the "Unity." I might take some issue with his assertion that mankind is the apogee of evolution but I do agree with his idea of continued mental and spiritual evolution to join the noosphere.

Where we presently reside is very ostentatiously "Christian." There is an evangelical mega-church just a few blocks north of us and a Baptist mega-church four blocks to the south. Most of the citizens in this city are self-avowed Christians. "God bless" is almost as dominant a form of greeting as "hello" or "good-bye." The former mayor had an "important" conference on a constitutional issue recently---President Obama's speech to school children. This is "Nobama" land, for sure. Why he's a socialist!!!

And why are these Christians so afraid of socialism? Likely because they have forgotten to read the New Testament. This is "eye for an eye" and "homosexuality is abomination" land. Right out of Leviticus and the Books of the Old Testament. We don't hear about "turn[ing] the other cheek", "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", or "love thy neighbor as thyself". Much less the sharing of food and lodging in the Christian community described in Acts or the Epistles of St. Paul. I guess I'm saying I don't see a lot of Christianity being practiced by today's Christians.

God doesn't have a flowing white beard---that's an anthropomorphism, endowing human traits on the deity to make him "understandable" to humankind. The problem is we've overdone this. I can accept a deity as the entity that fired off the Big Bang, the energy that started the universe spinning and expanding. But I cannot accept racism and discrimination being excused as Christians following their Master. These people are following the Jewish faith with the "vengeful God" and the Pharisees. As I recall, these same were cast out of the Temple and the Messiah was to bring a new order---"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light."

Maybe our God-fearing "right"-eous people need to revisit the teachings of the Christ. Start with the Sermon on the Mount. And how socialistic is it to multiply loaves and fishes so the poor might have a meal? Thanks, I'll stick with Teilhard and his more realistic view of the Unity.