Humanity Is an Idol

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about “love of humanity” or “love of humans.” From Raven-Symoné to Malala Yousafzai, we have heard calls to stand up for all human beings regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or taste in Cubist art. There is some truth in these exhortations. We should respect all human beings, but we should also love them in a deeper way than that advocated by many contemporary celebrities. In the popular sense, these calls can be pernicious in their reductiveness and simplicity.

Love is not reductive or simple; it is the deepest and scariest of human emotions, leading to everything from willful death to passionate intercourse. Love is complex. You can’t “love” humanity in an abstract sense. Maybe if a god commanded you to love, you would be compelled to. But how do you love Joseph Stalin outside of religious compulsion? How do you secularly love Jeffrey Dahmer, or Joseph Kony? Because they are humans? Because they share the same basic cellular structure? I’m not convinced that anyone can love such people based solely on their humanity. It seems to me that you have to love them in spite of it.

Human beings are also too complex to be loved so blandly. It would be hard to argue that humans are simply good. We are capable of great love, great kindness, and great ingenuity. We give our lives for others; we donate to charities; we build immense cities. Yet, we murder, rape, and steal. Our depravity knows no bounds, and the artifices of law and order prove this reality.

And so the idea of eliminating religions, social differences, and the entire concept of normalcy in the name of “love of humanity” is both misguided and doomed to fail. The decision to not “judge” (read: “have an opinion on”) others is itself a judgment. The decision to “love” the abstract ideal of “humanity” falls short where humanity is most human. Part of being human is wrestling with depravity, sadness, and difference. True love of humans doesn’t make an idol of humanity, but instead sees it for what it is: hurting, and in need of healing. Christ’s call to pray for those who persecute you is love. And while I may respect our secular celebrities and their accomplishments, I don’t think these people can effectively practice what they preach if they can’t take humanity for what it is. But, then again, I suppose that’s what makes them human.