Worsen the better

Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good - above all, that we are better than someone else - I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil.

C. S. Lewis

Using religion to elevate oneself above others debauches the nature of faith.  A spiritual pride imparts not virtue, but a corruption of compassion and wisdom.  It obscures both the true nature of the observer and the observed; and serves to promote a venal mindset.  Selling integrity for self aggravation squanders morality and purchases the squalid comfort of feigned superiority; a bargain where only evil gains.  Humility demands a recognition  of one's own shortcomings, along with an acceptance that each person must deal with their own demons.  

One can't sanctify personal vice by the desecration of others; this only worsens the better of both.

Little big ones

Democracy demands that little men should not take big ones too seriously; it dies when it is full of little men who think they are big themselves.

C. S. Lewis

The smallness of stature prevails among many politicians.  This wouldn't be tragic, if they would acknowledge their diminutive nature, and act accordingly.  There exists, however, a breed of political animals that flourishes in the discordant and belligerent environment that dominates today.  These people have bloated themselves with self importance; forsaking humility in a mad pursuit of power.  Their willful ignorance blinds them to realistic self appraisal; and fuels egotistical behaviors based on an inflated self image.  As such, they reject compromise and accommodation as beneath their dignity, clamoring instead for ever increasing control over the civic policy by any means necessary.  

Thus, the process of democracy dies, killed by the aristocratic demands for domination.  In the pursuit of winning, even a the cost of chaos, a republic lies slaughtered.  Scavengers pick at the carcass; gorging themselves on the carrion that was a commonwealth.  

In the name of "freedom" the little big ones make the mountains of liberty into minuscule molehills of tyranny- and laud themselves as giants in such a land.

Tumor of the times

For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.

C. S. Lewis

Willful ignorance depends upon more that just a lack of knowledge; it requires a rancid pride to sustain it against the reality it denies.  Of all failings, pride remains the most pernicious, the most intractable, and the most destructive vice common to all humans.  It breeds contempt, it spawns both arrogance and indifference; it is a disease as infectious as it is persistent in the minds of the many.  Pride proclaims compassion weakness; it devours the capacity to empathize with others; and it happily exterminates the capability to forgive.  

When pride overshadows humanity, the ensuing darkness cloaks vice in an impenetrable gloom; obscuring self reflective considerations that might mitigate ignorance and hatred.  Allowed to spread unchecked, pride consumes faith, hope and charity; ravaging rationality and temperance in an ever increasing desire to obtain power at any cost.  

Pride has become the tumor of the times; a malignant malady of the spirit that must be excised lest it kills those who cherish it. 

Eyes wide shut

One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts.

C. S. Lewis

These are times where the "facts" are an alternative to truth.  When people are trained to disbelieve their senses for the sake of conscious convenience, they willingly embrace a cowardice that leads to destruction.  Life and liberty, concern and compassion, faith and fearlessness; all are cast upon the fire of fearful ignorance.  Steadfast refusals to admit a mistaken belief would seem ludicrous and laughable if they didn't involve a death sentence; individuals and families are torn asunder over the inability to concede that a mistaken course of actions has led to the termination of life. 

Trusting in magic potions and spells for protection may provide momentary comfort, but the reality of death brings "a peculiar clarity" to the most hardened believer.  Unfortunately, there will alway be those that pander to cowardice, mouthing platitudes about "freedom" and "independence " of thought, while stoking irrational fears into a conflagration of gutless hatred.  Painful as it may be, critical thinking skills must be deployed to learn the truth; parsing out the facts and acting accordingly is the kind of courage most needed now.

The task of ordinary people undertaking these deeds is nothing less that heroic; those with eyes wide shut to the facts embrace the most abysmal cowardice.

Numbly Comfortable

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.

-C.S. Lewis

As the nation debates the history of racial bigotry in America, voices are raised in apprehension around the teaching of this history in schools.  Some parents decry the attempts to instruct children in mistakes of the past; arguing that to convey the truth about white exploitation of people of color will make some uncomfortable.  

Sacrificing truth for comfort teaches contempt for truth; scorning veracity to alleviate cognitive dissonance numbs the mind and spirit to the harsh reality of the pain caused by a callous indifference to the suffering of others.  Humans tend to  accept such unshared misery as normal; blaming the victims for their adversity.  With this acceptance comes a diminished humanity; a wanton cruelty that numbs compassion.

In this state of disposable truth, nothing is strong; and the wishful thinking of the numbly comfortable leads to a despair of progress and improvement; a despair that ends in self destruction.

Who's driving the bus?

When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movements become headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget the precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it's to late.

Frank Herbert

Jaime Escalante: You only see the turn, you don't see the road ahead.

The quest to infuse politics with religion tempts the pious.  Looking at the depravity of power displayed within the gears of government disheartens even a sanguine citizen; graft and deception flourish in nearly every system and the repairs seem distant and difficult.  Revising a structure that debases elected officials and deprives their constituents of life and liberty would seem an obligatory task, but one that eludes even the most diligent seekers of reform.  In an attempt to rectify such a situation, many are drawn to the conclusion that adopting a religious basis for the state is both just and expedient.  The problem with such a solution is that it combines the power of religion- eternal, divine, and unlimited- with the temporal, terrestrial and finite powers of politics- to the detriment of both.  

The art of communal accommodation  that government seeks to embody often offends some religious mindsets. There can be no compromise when virtue and vice are concerned; thus political opponents morph into demons, vile creatures that must be destroyed.  In the pursuit of a truly good system, power becomes paramount; and laws become commandments.  Objections and reflective considerations challenge not earthy participants, but God.  In the rush toward directing the nation, those assuming control blind themselves to possible detrimental destinations, trusting that celestial guidance will protect the faithful.  

In the end, the bus is driven by desire, and the end is often terminal.  

Righteous wrong turn

God will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of heaven as a shortcut to the nearest chemist’s shop.

C.S. Lewis

In a society where convenience is worshiped, God becomes a tool to justify employing odious means toward loathsome ends.  Sanctifying cowardice, hallowing hatred, glorifying violence; all are easily accepted underneath the shroud of a deity designed to serve the depravity of human desire.  When Faith becomes subservient to sin, the best intentions lead ultimately to the stygian depths, and those who follow find themselves perdition bound.   Let us ensure the path we follow is guided by love, humility and courage lest we make a righteous wrong turn.