'I Love Humanity - - - '

'I love humanity, it's people I can't stand.' is a pretty good way of expressing a particular attitude. So is 'I love people, it's humanity I can't stand.'

There have been times when I've felt like embracing both views: not at the same time, though, and that's another topic.

"Never ... an Abstract Attitude"

The humor, or sarcasm, in 'I love humanity...' involves distinctions between the abstract idea of "humanity," and the anything-but-abstract reality of people we know. Or, for that matter, people we don't know.

I think it's okay to 'love humanity,' but I need to be concerned with people, too:

"... Social concern must never be an abstract attitude. ..."
("Caritas in Veritate," 47)

"Abstract?"

When "abstract" is used as an adjective, as it is in that sentence, it means:

1. Existing only in the mind
   • Separated from embodiment
2. Not representing or imitating
   • External reality
   • The objects of nature
3. Dealing with a subject in the abstract
   • Without practical purpose or intention
   (Princeton's WordNet)

I think it's definition #3 that's particularly important in the context of "Caritas in Veritate." Thinking lovely thoughts about caring for "the underprivileged" doesn't do much good unless they lead to action.

Love, Neighbors, and Bureaucracies

Turning 'social concern' into practical action is important: Luke 10:30-37 and all that. I've been over this before. Often:

• Love God, love your neighbor
  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)
• Everybody is our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-30; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825)

Thinking that individual people are important isn't the same as saying that all charity must be done by individuals, for individuals:

"...Development programmes, if they are to be adapted to individual situations, need to be flexible...."
("Caritas in Veritate," 47)

Benedict XVI doesn't try to micromanage by describing exactly how each development program should work. The Pope does say that the programs should be:

• Flexible
• Involve the people who benefit
  • Directly
  • In the programs'
    • Planning
    • Implementation

There's more - there always seems to be more - about development programs and people. Also why "bureaucratic and administrative machinery" needs to be watched: carefully. And that's almost another topic, for another post.

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More posts about "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
"Caritas in Veritate"

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Related posts:

• Charity
  • "The Status Quo Must Go"
    (July 30, 2012)
  • " 'Civilizing the Economy' "
    (June 18, 2012)
  • " 'Love Thy Neighbor:' Putting Faith Into Practice"
    (February 5, 2012)
  • "South Sudan, the Táin Bó Cúalnge, and Working for a Better World"
    (January 6, 2012)
  • "Faith, Works, and Spirituality for Dummkopfs"
    (October 5, 2011)
• Emotions
  • "Reason, Emotion, and 'Take These Son-of-a-Bitches Out' "
    (September 6, 2011)
  • "Giving: From the Heart, and Other Vital Organs"
    (March 17, 2011)
  • "Hating People? Not an Option"
    (December 9, 2010)
  • "Global Warming, End Times - 'We're All Gonna Die' Over the Last 45 Years Or So"
    (October 3, 2009)
  • "Being Counter-Cultural in 21st Century America"
    (March 17, 2009)
• Economics
  • "Development isn't a Four-Letter Word"
    (October 8, 2012)
  • "Upset Applecarts: A Hopeful Sign"
    (March 5, 2012)
  • "Success, Wealth, Poverty, and Getting a Grip"
    (September 27, 2010)
  • "Statue of Saint Rita of Cascia, Biggest Catholic Statue, Unveiled Today"
    (June 26, 2010)
    Particularly
    • Back to Santa Cruz and Religious Tourism
    • Money, the Love of Money, and a Link
  • "Is the Church For Capitalism? Yes: and No"
    (March 13, 2010)

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More:

• "Caritas in veritate - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI"
  Pope Benedict XVI (English translation) (June 29, 2009)

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