The Sacrament of The Table
"The Phenotypic Expression Of Religion Matters More Than Its Dogmatic Genotype
Dear Paul and Velda,
Under the rubric of "don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone," Cynthia and I wonder if either of you still self-identify as Catholic?
I do.
"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."
Coming soon!
A brand new parking lot!
Chartres Cathedral burning, April 15, 2019
"All the books were starting to turn against me."
"All the books were beginning to turn against me. Indeed, I must have been as blind as a bat not to have seen, long before, the ludicrous contradiction between my theory of life and my actual experiences as a reader. George MacDonald had done more to me than any other writer; of course it was a pity that he had that bee in his bonnet about Christianity. He was good in spite of it. Chesterton had more sense than all the other moderns put together; bating, of course, his Christianity. Johnson was one of a few authors whom I felt I could trust utterly; curiously enough, he had the same kink. Spenser and Milton by strange coincidence had it too. Even among ancient authors the same paradox was to be found. The most religious (Plato, Aeschylus, Virgil) were clearly those on whom I could really feed. On the other hand, those writers who did not suffer from religion and with whom my sympathy ought to have been complete—Shaw and Wells and Mill and Gibbon and Voltaire—all seemed a little thin; what as boys we called ‘tinny.’ It wasn’t that I didn’t like them. They were all (especially Gibbon) entertaining; but hardly more. There seemed to be no depth in them. They were too simple. The roughness and density of life did not appear in their books.... The upshot of it all could nearly be expressed in a perversion of Roland’s great line in the Chanson: ‘Christians are wrong, but all the rest are bores.’"
C.S. Lewis
A Christian nationalist, Trump cult friend of mine, who happens to have at least residual respect for C.S. Lewis, is -- true to form -- convinced that she KNOWS the mind of God right down to the most minute detail.
How else can these folks justify their unwavering fondness for Malignant Messiah?
Pax et amor
Alan
Libertarians and Trumpistas use this quote to argue against the use of masks as a contagious disease preventative.
Some memes even adjust Lewis' image so that he is portrayed wearing a surgical mask.
Again, Aquinas -- with his insistence on proportionality and perspective which he considers the ubiquitous accompaniments of sin -- strikes just the right note.
To oblige people to wear masks is not qualitatively different from obliging surgeons and their surgical teams from wearing masks.
The real tyranny is what we have now: a robber baron who imposes cruelty.
But the petty, pissy self-righteousness of the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers, is the real "sin" - the "mortal sin" - because there is no fundamental proportion and perspective brought to bear.
Trump is a bad man, a man who spews falsehood in such relentless torrents that the very touchstone of truth is corrupted. And so we have ended up with a vengeful, mendacious, cruel, dictatorial ruler who knows no bounds and recognizes no bounds because his followers are fundamentally lawless people who prefer the petty freedoms of rejecting public health benefits such as surgical masks and vaccinations when it is precisely these pissy, prissy, petty acts of rebellion that not only enable but enforce the domination of a full-on, fascist dictator.
Proportion.
Perspective.
Recently we saw the lack of proportion and perspective come into play in these same petty, pissy, prissy Christians rallying around Netanyahu's genocide in Gaza.
Yes, Israel has the right to protect itself against invasion.
But perspective and "proportionate" response are the cornerstone of any war that can be considered "just," rather than chest-thumping brutality that utterly destroys enemies.
The Christian "Just War" Tradition: What Are The Prerequisite Conditions Of A Just War... And How Do Just Wars Come To An End? (With Particular Reference To The Iraq War, and the Gaza War of 2023)
Christians (at least "Christian nationalists") believe that evil can - and should - be eliminated.
But I doubt you'll find a single theologian - of any stripe - who will assert that Satan can be eliminated.
Beaten back, perhaps.
Kept in check, perhaps.
But not eliminated.
And if elimination is possible, why hasn't the "interventionist Creator God" of Christianity already intervened to eliminate His Satanic Majesty? (Apokatastais is another matter but not within the scope of this post...
It is no secret that the history of Christianity reveals its close alliance with fascism.
God's "Final Solution" is the ultimate purgation of all-consuming fire.
Hitler's "Final Solution" was the all-consuming fire of prison camp ovens.
And if it weren't for God's "Unquenchable Lake of Fire" justifying eternal torment for most human beings, I can't imagine we'd have many of the human horrors predicated on divine vengeance.
Religion, Eternal Punishment, And Hell-Gehenna (With A Special Guest Appearance By Bertrand Russell)
Best Pax-Barbaria Posts On Mercy, Forgiveness, Retribution, Punishment
Best Pax Posts On Punishment And Torture As "Necessary" Methods For Righting Wrongs
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/best-pax-posts-on-punishment-and.html
Compendium: Christian Conservatism, Biblical Literalism And The Unique Hatred Of Yahweh's Command That ALL Men In Any Town Where Rebellious Children Live, MUST Stone Them To Death
The Quandary We Are In: Hannah Arendt And The Necessary Primacy Of The Supersensual. And what, prithee, do G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and George Carlin's praise for nuns have to do with it?)
The 20th Century Writers Who Have Been Most Influential in the Development of My "Outlook" and Worldview are Ivan Illich, Hannah Arendt, Thomas Merton, Wendell Berry, Neil Postman and G.K. Chesterton
Compendium Of G.K. Chesterton Posts (And What I Consider The Necessary Companion Piece Of Spanish Philosopher José Ortega y Gasset's Views On "The Incipient Unraveling Of The Western World)
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