Looking at People

The Twilight vampire series is still hot, probably because of the movies that are now coming out about this. I just saw an advertisement for the latest installment. When I read these books, I was struck by Bella's horror of aging and dying, and her great desire to be "immortal" as well as to be with Edward "forever." The gifts that the vampire receives include eternal youth, amazing physical abilities, and often a special sense or psychic talent. The vampire also receives a powerful desire to kill and drink blood. The Cullens deal with this by hunting animals rather than people.

I couldn't help feeling a strong antipathy towards this type of vampire existence, especially because it is portrayed so enticingly and mixed so liberally with powerful (unrealistic) romance. These books are popular with young girls who do not yet understand the negatives that might be inherent within this type of lifestyle. The vampire still operates on a flawed Earth, and is subject to many negative influences including anger and death (of others and potentially themselves). The vampire also has a sense that he or she is "special": he or she has been drawn out of the pool of mortals to live a special, charmed life.

Contrast this with the Christian view of life: all people are immortal. This existence on Earth, now, is a brief preliminary that allows each individual to decide whether he will turn to God or go his own way. This choice is cemented at death. Jesus talked more about hell than anyone else in the Bible, and also more than any other subject. Hell is eternal separation from God who is the source of all good things.

If true (and I believe it is) this means that every person should carefully consider what sort of person he is becoming, and furthermore what sort of person OTHERS are becoming. You should value each person, not act as if they are something disposable or dismissible. I love CS Lewis -- forty-some years after his death, his words still resonate powerfully. Here is something he writes about how to treat others, with these eternal destinies in mind:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations, It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal...it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."

from CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory

The Last Battle

CS Lewis is, I think, my favorite writer. The man is brilliant, whether he writes essays, or long thoughtful works, or fiction. I would have loved to have met him, although I imagine conversing with him would be disconcerting. I might say "good morning," and he would snap, "define good, and what you mean by a 'good'morning, and why you are wishing me a 'good morning' when you don't know if I have spent an uncomfortable night on a lumpy mattress." I'm sure I would be tongue-tied and nervous, although I would sit quietly and hope he might not shine the spotlight too focused on me.

As a child I read The Chronicles of Narnia too many times to count, and I wonder if they didn't help me accept ten or fifteen years later the need to consider the possibility of God's existence and miracles as I investigated the events surrounding the death of Yeshua. If you haven't read the Chronicles, please do; they are richly allegorical for adults and wonderfully exciting for children. The movies, while superbly made, are different; the books are magical.

I wanted today to quote a small passage from The Last Battle, the last book of the series and my favorite. The situation seems strangely contemporary and disquieting.

In the story, an Ape has seized power of the country through trickery by claiming to represent Aslan, The Lion, the religious God-King figure who watches over Narnia although has not appeared in the country for generations. Here is an excerpt from the Ape's speech to the citizens of Narnia (talking animals, dwarves, and a few humans):

"And now here's another thing," the Ape went on, fitting a fresh nut into its cheek. "I hear some of the horses are saying, Let's hurry up and get this job of carting timber over as quickly as we can, and then we'll be free again. Well, you can get that idea out of your heads at once. And not only the Horses either. Everybody who can work is going to be made to work in future. Aslan has it all settled with the King of Calormen -- The Tisroc, as our dark faced friends the Calormenes call him. All you Horses and Bulls and Donkeys are to be sent down into Calormen to work for your living -- pulling and carrying the way horses and such-like do in other countries. And all you digging animals like Moles and Rabbits and Dwarfs are going down to work in the Tisroc's mines. And --"

"No, no, no," howled the Beasts. "It can't be true. Aslan would never sell us into slavery to the King of Calormen."

"None of that! Hold your noise!" said the Ape with a snarl. "Who said anything about slavery? You won't be slaves. You'll be paid -- very good wages too. That is to say, your pay will be paid into Aslan's treasure and he will use it all for everybody's good" Then he glanced, and almost winked, at the chief Calormene. The Calormene bowed and replied, in the pompous Calormene way:

"Most sapient Mouthpiece of Aslan, The Tisroc (may-he-live-forever) is wholly of one mind with your lordship in this judicious plan."

"There! You see!" said the Ape. "It's all arranged. And all for your own good. We'll be able, with the money you earn, to make Narnia a country worth living in. There'll be oranges and bananas pouring in -- and roads and big cities and schools and offices and whips and muzzles and saddles and cages and kennels and prisons -- oh, everything."

"But we don't want all those things," said an old Bear. "We want to be free..."

*

Freedom is priceless. Our country was formed by brave men, not cowards, and bought and retained its freedom through the blood of many patriots over generations. As Ronald Reagan said (quoting Scripture), the USA is a shining city on a hill, offering hope and regeneration to many. It is not perfect, of course, but it is still remarkable. Our generation is now the steward of this freedom to pass to the next generation, and I just pray we don't lose it.

~~

Evolution and the Moral Sense

CS Lewis describes a *Natural Law* of an intrinsic sense of right and wrong that penetrates all people, all cultures, in all times. Another name for this is *Conscience.* I wanted to quote a little from Lewis' book, Mere Christianity:

I know that some people say the idea of a Law of Nature or decent behavior known to all men is unsound, because different civilisations and different ages have had quite different moralities.

But this is not true. There have been differences between their moralities, but these have never amounted to anything like a total difference. If anyone will take the trouble to compare the moral teaching of, say, the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Hindus, Chinese, Greeks and Romans, what will really strike him will be how very like they are to each other and to our own...for our present purpose I need only ask the reader to think what a totally different morality would mean. Think of a country where people were admired for running away in battle, or where a man felt proud of double-crossing all the people who had been kindest to him. You might just as well try to imagine a country where two and two made five. Men have differed as regards what people you ought to be unselfish to -- whether it was only your own family, or your fellow countrymen, or every one. But they have always agreed that you ought not to put yourself first. Selfishness has never been admired...

I go on to my next point...None of us are really keeping the Law of Nature...this year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people. There may be all sorts of excuses for us. That time you were so unfair to the children was when you were very tired. That slightly shady business about the money -- the one you have almost forgotten -- came when you were very hard-up. And what you promised to do for old So-and-so and have never done -- well, you never would have promised if you had known how frightfully busy you were going to be... I am just the same. That is to say, I do not succeed in keeping the Law of Nature very well, and the moment anyone tells me I am not keeping it , there starts up in my mind a string of excuses as long as your arm... The point is that they are one more proof of how deeply, whether we like it or not, we believe in the Law of Nature. If we do not believe in decent behaviour, why should we be so anxious to make excuses for not having behaved decently?...

These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in.

*

I remember discussing Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene in tenth grade. Dawkins' thesis stated that altruistic behavior wasn't really altruistic: it allowed for the survival of the individual's genes even if not the individual himself. For example, a bird raising an alarm for a predator might result in his being eaten, but if nine cousins escaped (each containing 1/8th of the bird's genes), then it was a bargain because 9/8 of the warning individual's genes were preserved: the Gene was seen as the ruling principle.

This makes a certain kind of sense, but I can't help feeling that it falls a little short. For example, imagine I'm conversing with someone who tells me she believes that everyone should be free to decide his own standard of right and wrong -- situational ethics is another name for this. OK, thinks I, and then I grab her purse and start emptying it on the couch.

*What are you doing?" she asks in horror.

*Oh, I've just decided that it's all right for me to search through your things. I'd like a mint or stick of gum."

I think CS Lewis has hit on something true with his description of *Natural Law*. He goes on to suggest that this moral sense comes from a transcendent God who has placed this sense of right and wrong within each person. Well, whether God exists must be decided by each person, but it's certainly an intriguing argument. I believe a prayer that is always answered, if asked sincerely, is to ask God to reveal Himself to you.