We cannot have the mental habit of thinking that a serious effort of a rational understanding of our faith and of its consequences is just unnecessary sofistication, needed only for Doctors of the Church, theologians and those who teach in seminars. This is an attitude that could be justified (maybe) centuries ago, when most people were analphabet and had to invest all their efforts for barely sustaining themselves on the material plan. It is certainly not a good approach in a complex society like ours.

     I don't condone either the scandalized reaction that we Christians often have when asked (or challenged) the reasons behind things we consider really basic. Let's face it: this reaction often just masks a rather deep ignorance on our side.
     It is also a reaction that eventually is not compatible with our duty of seeking the good of those who surround us. In the Western, developed society I live in, Christians have to face the hard fact that they are a minority, often a tiny one. If we are so ignorant about Christ, Christian faith and doctrine, we should just be indulgent and admit that the faithful of other religions or the pagans are just not knowledgeable about what we are speaking about. They sometimes have an aggressive attitude toward Christianity, often they just start from a distorted vision of it, or they just don't understand our language that we tend to use as a technical jargon.
     In other words, we shouldn't be scandalized of anything. Instead, we should always have an attitude of patience and make an effort of being everything to everybody (to quote St. Paul) and explain our reasons in the most honest and plain fashion.
     I often use to think that it should never be necessary to expose why, say, the Holocaust was a monstruosity. This should be self-evident to any human being with a brain. For most people, in the present world, this is the case. However, unfortunately, circumstances may change, and people may not find it so obvious and instinctive to reject Nazi-style genocide. We shouldn't be shy to take the time of explaining the obvious. It is better to explain the obvious too many times, rather than giving it for granted and having bitter surprises.
     To come back to Christianity, I think this should be, in positive, our constant attitude. I am saying in other places of this website that many concepts of Christianity are just elements of what we could call the "natural religion" of mankind, pefectly reachable by the sole force of reason of any normally formed human. I am also saying, though, that many men, owing to what is ultimately our decayed nature, are not equipped, or are not ready, or are not willing to grasp and integrate in their lives parts or all of this natural religion.
     Even more so when it comes to elements of our religion which go beyond the natural religion, and for which we have to invoke the Revelation of God. To give a trivial example, if you have grown up in a society with a Christian cultural background, chances are that you more or less know what Easter is, even if you are not a Christian. Last Easter my wife, who is Japanese and a Christian, was mad to find a good, simple and straightforward text in Japanese to help explaining Easter to some Japanese non-Christian friends who, in perfect good faith, asked her whether Easter is a festival of eggs or something like that (by the way, if you have not grown up in a society with a Christian cultural background, Easter is the feast where we celebrate the death and Resurrection of Christ. Incidentally, we eat eggs because the egg is a metaphore for the re-birth of life).
     Hence, once more, the responsibility for us Christians to undertake a huge work of information and formation.

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