Human Dignity Found In Religious Community

Abstract

This chapter argues that the communal religious experience of individuals forms a vital part of who they are: their being. My point is not that we are literally created by communal religious experience, but that it is only through such experience that we actualize our full potential as relational beings. So, by analogy, the person who wants to be a hockey player and has the potential to be one can exist even if the state bans hockey; but, in another sense, he cannot be a hockey player (actualize his potential) unless playing hockey is permitted. Likewise, as an inherently relational and religious being (homo religiosus), one cannot realize one’s potential outside of a community of shared religious experience. In that sense, one cannot be a Catholic without a Catholic Church. Therefore, denying communal religious experience to a person is like denying vital food for that person’s body, leading to stunted development and sickness. As such, it deserves our respect as a crucial part of their human dignity.

Keywords: communal identity, human dignity, religious identity

JEL Classification: K39, Z12