There are many titles I like to give my opinions on for recommendations, and there are stories I like to break down in terms of writing style, development, and plot for study purposes. Then there are works of literature that I need to sit down and analyze and apply to my life to truly grasp its intended meaning.
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis falls into the latter category.
My background is in academia, and while I have focused on combining my learning with my faith in recent years, I still feel the pull to analyze and process. This title is not an easy pill to swallow, but it's written in the vernacular, something unheard of for me when regarding philosophy and theology. I love stretching my mind, but when I discuss these topics, I do so in my everyday tongue. Why can't they be written accordingly?
The following will be my take on a handful of passages from the Foreword and Book One: Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe. There are four books total. I don't plan on creating a thesis or breaking this series down into anything deeper than the aforementioned title of the post. This is my take on our current lifestyle throughout the world although my experience does rest with the United States and its desperation for instant gratification and individual indulgence.
Foreword
Sin is Real, and It is Prevalent
On page XVIII of the Foreword by Kathleen Norris, the idea of sin is questioned. Not about whether it is good or bad or even what that entails, but the questioning of whether it exists morally. The world has gradually reached a point where "the notion of sin [is] obsolete," but as Norris points out, that idea "has not diminished human suffering." Whether society follows a belief of avoiding sin or pretends it has been eliminated, the people are still facing terrible degradation, hunger, and pain because of human activity and decisions.
How does society explain the wars, famine, and hatred rampant in this world? If not based on religion, how can the forgoing of sinful acts aid the terrors surrounding every country? The more society says that sex isn't sacred, the more couples face cheating and a lack of emotional connection. The more the news stations showcase murders and rapes, the more common they appear in everyday life.
If these are the ideas that are now obsolete, how many people will take up this easier way of living immorally to embrace individual indulgence?
Sin is not only real, but prevalent in today's world. If everyone lived by the code of truth, honesty, integrity, and consideration, there wouldn't be a convict remaining to steal, murder, or terrorize. However, since society has slowly encompassed the idea that sin isn't real, just a faith-based lie fed to the people by religious institutions to monitor their behavior, more individuals are stepping away from honesty and integrity to live for themselves at the cost of others.
Don't call it sin. Call it selfishness. Call it abuse. Call it terror. Call it hateful. Whatever society wants to name it, it needs to be addressed and overcome by the peoples' desire for a kinder world, not just for themselves, but for their neighbors as well. Sin is not obsolete; society just changed its title.
Book One: Right and Wrong
Individual Indulgence
The problem with the generations born in the 1990s and later falls to a simple phrase: instant gratification. Everything is available at the click of a mouse. This lifestyle forged by modern technology has molded entire generations into thinking of themselves before they think of others because helping others doesn't provide the instant fun they want for themselves.
Lewis says that every person knows the Moral Law or the Law of Human Nature: to be a decent human being (10). However, when first spoken in the 1940s, Lewis notes that most people find excuses for failing to be a decent person because of their desire for self-preservation and individual indulgence. This idea rings far truer in the 2010s where the entire world is connected and suffering is broadcast across news outlets and social media websites, but the most anyone seems to do is share and spread the atrocities happening around the globe without actually doing something to help.
That is to say, while individuals may not be heartless, modern society wants to see a showcase rather than action. The person who shares the most heartbreaking news has the greatest heart. People's self-preservation falls to the instant gratification of having others online praise them for their willingness to focus on the problem, but without the work required to stop the problem and provide a solution for those suffering.
Lewis says that the core of behaving decently is to live unselfishly (20). If a woman thinks of her children before herself, she shares her love and care. If a child obeys his mother and does not act out against her wishes, he exhibits the lessons learned through this love and care. Thus, both are decent to each other in their relationship. It's difficult to harm others intentionally when someone is constantly aware of the other person before their own needs and wants.
If a person's first priority is the well-being of their neighbor, friend, or family as opposed to their individual indulgences, there might be less suffering through the world because news of the suffering would not just be shared; it would be noticed and aided.
Dismay and God's Alliance
Regardless of whether someone is a believer of faith or not, and regardless of the specific faith, Lewis argues that every person knows the idea of Moral Law or the Law of Human Nature. Depending on how someone views the grand maker of the universe, Lewis points out that "[the maker] is [people's] only possible ally, and [they] have made [themselves] His enemies" (31). Lewis does say God instead of maker, but the end result is the same: each person is called to be decent, but makes excuses to be indecent, and thus should expect some kind of persecution from the creator.
Even for those who believe the universe is independent of a mind, would that same universe not have in play safety nets to protect itself from those wishing to unleash harm to itself and its inhabitants? How can people expect to be right with the world and those in it when they constantly find reasons to be the exemption to the law of human decency that they hold others to in the strictest regard?
People have made God their enemy by continuing in the ways of the world: greed, lust, revenge. The comforting news Lewis gives his readers is that Christianity begins not with comfort, but with dismay (32). Christianity began not with Pharisees, but with Gentiles; not with perfect persons, but with sinners. People have never stopped sinning, and the state of the world proves that society's actions have turned away from the Moral Law more with each generation.
The problem to overcome now is whether society wants to change its ways. Do individuals want to give up indulgences to better someone else's life? Does society want to sacrifice instant gratification to work on solutions to improve itself? Would the world see the impact of an entire species changing for the betterment of mankind toward a reign of decency, or would it only slow the destruction it's destined for?
For Part 2 of this series, click here.
For Part 3 of this series, click here.
For Part 4 of this series, click here.
For Part 3 of this series, click here.
For Part 4 of this series, click here.
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