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Saturday, April 9, 2016

H IS FOR ... C.S. LEWIS?

“A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is alright. This is common sense really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping.”
 - C.S. Lewis


C.S. Lewis began to light his pipe, glanced at Freud, frowned, and then put it away.  


"I forgot.  If smoking brings you memories of past pain, I will not smoke in front of you."

Freud sneered, "I thought you would be in the Great Beyond."

Lewis shrugged, "But I am, Doctor.  I thought you knew: Meilori's is a suburb of  Purgatory."

 Freud snorted, "Have you then been kicked out?"

Lewis smiled sadly.  "Perhaps I have been a bit of a scamp, and I must bide here awhile?"

"Or perhaps you died, remaining here among the dead ashes of your false faith?  You see, I never believed, and here I still am."

 “When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over.  He has not done it so there is yet time for you to reconsider your worldview."

Freud rolled his eyes.  "Please tell me that you are not going to try to harangue me into heaven!"

"Goodness, no.  A man is never successfully argued into changing his mind.  Quite the opposite: the man becomes more obstinate in his views."

"Hfmmmfh!"

Lewis sighed, “Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it.” 

"I leave it as I left life.  Ethics are merely a kind of highway code for traffic among mankind that is all. They change with time and culture."

Lewis nodded.  "The German nation under the Nazi regime obviously ignored the law and practiced a morality the rest of the world considered abominable."

Freud's face saddened.  "Indeed.  My four sisters died in one of their foul camps."

Lewis spoke softly, 

"The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better than another, you are, in fact, measuring them both by a standard, 

saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than the other."

Lewis took out his pipe out of habit and then put it back into the inside pocket of his coat. 

"The standard that measures two things is something different from either. 

You are in fact comparing them both with some Real Morality, admitting there is such a thing as a real Right

 independent of what people think, and that some people’s ideas get nearer to that real Right than others.”

 Lewis concluded, 

"If your moral ideas can be truer, and those of the Nazis less true, there must be something— some Real Morality— for them to be true about.”

"Bah!" snapped Freud who turned to me.

"We are up to H, Roland.  What does H spark in your mind?"

"Hope," I said.

"Hope?  For what?" barked Freud.

"Hope that you choose wisely in the days to come."

C S Lewis smiled sadly and faded away. 



19 comments:

  1. Hope must exist. After watching the video I must say I come down on the side of the lawyer, or my feelings and opinions are similar to his. I'm not a very religious person. I'm not like Freud, I do believe in God, I'm just not a very observant religious person. The argument in the video seemed to be whether religion makes people moral and good and when the lawyer said the reason he is good to others is basically because that is how he would want to be treated, the otters jumped in and immediately attributed his statement to the, "Golden Rule," thus giving it back to God and attributing it to religion. That's not what he said or meant. He doesn't treat people with goodness and kindness rather than ill will and evil because God told him, "Do unto others ..." I completely understand what he means and I think it boils down to sinple empathy. We ( or at least me, speaking for me personally) I choose to treat people with respect, kindness, and goodness as opposed to the way the Nazi's treated the Jews, because I could never hurt another person. It's because of the do unto others, but it's because of my empathy for others and not because of a rule or a law that orders me to treat others a certain way. I hope that made sense.
    So, Ghost Freud, i know you believe that religion is to prevent people from becoming lunatics and to give us some kind of law and order to follow, but for me, at least, even without the bible, commandments , or laws I would still still treat my fellow man/woman/neighbor the same. My morals would not change.

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    1. Sometimes others hear what they expect or want to hear. Poor lawyer.

      I think ritual trivializes God often. I think living what He teaches is the best way to grow close to Him. Thanks for such an insightful comment. :-)

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  2. HOLY HAPPY HAIRY and HYMN!

    Very Nice Post... but you know that, that's why you posted it! Right!

    Welcome in the letter "H"... thank you!
    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2016]

    Stop over and find a free "SIX STRINGS: BLOGGING AtoZ CHALLENGE" Here: http://www.jmhdigital.com/

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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  3. Fascinating take on Lewis and Freud! I'm quite intrigued to check out the rest of your A to Z posts now.

    Cheers - Ellen | http://thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com/2016/04/h-is-for-ham-radio-nancy-drew.html

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  4. I'm also interested in reading the rest of your posts. This is quite intriguing.

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  5. That's interesting. Freud was such an enigmatic being. I think he could be explored endlessly.

    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge http://www.kathleenvalentineblog.com/

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    1. Indeed he could, Kathleen -- which I do for the rest of April. :-)

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  6. Give me the suburbs any day! Now I have to go get a tissue. Tears of laughter.

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  7. My goodness, lots to digest and think about in this post. Excellent stuff, Roland!

    Susan A Eames from
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

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    1. I am so happy you enjoyed this post. I am at the CyPhaCon still so unable to visit my blogging friends as I would wish! :-(

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  8. "HOPE", the very thing, I have been indebted to You for, Roland. For talking me through a dark period of life, when all I believed 'Hope' was/or equated to: was not accepting the life thus given, with all its demons and sacredness. Hope life wouldn't of been so cruel, or may have made more sense, than its possible too at times. Hope life wouldn't of been so painful. Hope was looked at, as something to never long for, as in the longing, therein layeth the suffering. Hope is not something to long for, its our birthright as human beings. You taught me that, as well as their is no "me" no "I", no "I wish" things would be better. Hope is one of the last gates to true freedom. Hope is not a wish, not a alternative ending, or beginning. Rather a wish or blessing, of that which simply is, sacred here and now. Gassho- Roland

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    1. You were a blessing to me as well, Robert when life was all too challenging. Gassho to you, my friend.

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  9. Very interesting conversation! Well done!

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    1. I tried to have fun but also provoke thought with this post. Glad you liked it.

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  10. Even in the darkest times in my life there has been a flame of hope. I Believe it's God in me. :) I'm always amazed.

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    1. In my darkest times somehow The Father always pulled me through. :-)

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  11. You always nail the endings. Well done.

    Hope is crucial. Without it, we can't survive.

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