Due to my homily last week where I quoted The Chronicles of Narnia, I decided to read a little C.S. Lewis. In this case, it really is a “little” C.S. Lewis: The Abolition of Man. It’s short, but it packs a punch.
In essence,
Lewis is contradicting some of the philosophy that was prevalent in his time (1943)
which, indeed, continues to this day.
Although he never uses the term, he is condemning moral relativism, the
scourge of modern philosophy that many popes have labeled the worst evil that
we face today. Moral relativism, of
course, states that there are no moral absolutes. Today, we hear this as “my truth vs. your
truth.”
It's not an
easy read, I would say it’s probably the most difficult Lewis that I have come
across, but in the end, you get the point.
Moral relativism eats itself and creates “men without chests.” In other words, if we continue down that
road, the many will be controlled by the few who rule “rationally” based on
whims. One part that stood out to me was
when he said that the Conditioners (the rulers) will say they are using logic,
but instead it is just impulses, rather than actual reason. Thus “their extreme rationalism, by ‘seeing
through’ all ‘rational’ motives, leaves them creatures of wholly irrational
behavior.” If that doesn’t sound like
current progressives, I don’t know what does.
As usual, C.S.
Lewis was ahead of his time. Or, our
time has not learned from the problems of his time. Either way, if you can wade through the
sometimes thick philosophical language, The Abolition of Man remains a classic
that we need to heed.
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