C.S. Lewis: the most oppressive tyranny

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/526469-of-all-tyrannies-a-tyranny-sincerely-exercised-for-the-good ^ | 1970 | C.S. Lewis

[zadox]

“
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)

[zadox]

I found myself wondering what C.S. Lewis would think of these times and remembered a quote- which turned out to be from the book of essays "God in the Dock".

I'm sure that Fulton J. Sheen, and Chesterton would have quite a bit to say - it would be juicy I'm sure and not at all favorable to that false prophet Dr. Fauci.

[NobleFree]

not at all favorable to that false prophet Dr. Fauci.

Nonsense - public health laws are for everyone else's right to not be infected by you.

The Lewis quote is spot-on as regards the War on Pot and other "vice" laws, though.

[Secret Agent Man]

Dont kid yourself

Cwii is a 100% necesity

Not a welcome one, just a necessary one

[doingtherightthing]

Laws? There are very, very few laws and an overwhelming amount of “requirements”

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[zadox]

This overblown “response” to a virus has been backasswards. The healthy wearing masks and shutting down normal business is not rational. It is not going to over until herd immunity - or November 4th- if, God forbid, Biden wins.

[Big Red Badger]

How can they Speak?
Churches are Closed.

Hey, wait a Minute

[Red6]

I love his writing!

Someone else here recommended a book from him and I want to read it soon.

Ever since I read “The Abolition of Man” I have been a fan:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/3340640858/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Excellent, excellent, excellent writer. Deep!

[Montaignes Cat]

The quote comes from an essay about humanitarian punishment under the law - is it for a crime or a sin or a disease, is it to accomplish punishment or deterrence or a cure?

A few sentences after the above quotation comes these lines which strike me as relevant to the proliferation of grievances for which some are now demanding redress:

“To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.

[MRadtke]

I loved reading “The Screwtape Letters”.

[GreyHoundSailor]

Strange that NONE of those public health laws were enacted to prevent active TB patients from infecting us. Probably because a majority were protected third world migrants.

[zadox]

I think the C.S. Lewis book that most reminds me of our times is That Hideous Strength and N.I.C.E. National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments. C.S. Lewis had it spot on how the elites and the media can work together to create an "event".

[Hebrews 11:6]

You beat me to it, zadox. Jack told his biographer that he considered the "best" of all his books to be its precursor, Perelandra (I thoroughly agree--its 20-page core of Satan tempting Eve is unsurpassed), but that his "favorite" is That Hideous Strength.

[grey_whiskers]

“The vocal organs and brain taken from Alcasan,” he continued, “have become the conductors of a regular intercourse between the macrobes and our own species. I do not say that we have discovered this technique; the discovery was theirs, not ours. The circle to which you may be admitted is the organ of that co-operation between the two species which has already created a new situation for humanity. The change, you will see, is far greater than that which turned the sub-man into the man. It is more comparable to the first appearance of organic life.”

“These organisms, then,” said Mark, “are friendly to humanity?”

“If you reflect for a moment,” said Frost, “you will see that your question has no meaning except on the level of the crudest popular thought. Friendship is a chemical phenomenon; so is hatred. Both of them presupposes organisms of our own type. The first step towards intercourse with the macrobes is the realisation that one must go outside the whole world of our subjective emotions. It is only as you begin to do so that you discover how much of what you mistook for your thought was merely a by-product of your blood and nervous tissues.”

“Oh, of course. I didn’t quite mean ‘friendly’ in that sense. I really meant, were their aims compatible with our own?”

“What do you mean by our own aims?”

“Well—I suppose—the scientific reconstruction of the human race in the direction of increased efficiency—the elimination of war and poverty and other forms of waste—a fuller exploitation of nature—the preservation and extension of our species, in fact.”

“I do not think this pseudo-scientific language really modifies the essentially subjective and instinctive basis of the ethics you are describing. I will return to the matter at a later stage. For the moment, I would merely remark that your view of war and your reference to the preservation of the species suggest a profound misconception. They are mere generalisations from affectional feelings.”

“Surely,” said Mark, “one requires a pretty large population for the full exploitation of nature, if for nothing else? And surely war is disgenic and reduces efficiency? Even if population needs thinning, is not war the worst possible method of thinning it?”

“That idea is a survival from conditions which are rapidly being altered. A few centuries ago, war did operate in the way you describe. A large agricultural population was essential; and war destroyed types which were then still useful. But every advance in industry and agriculture reduces the number of work-people who are required. A large, unintelligent population is now becoming a dead-weight. The real importance of scientific war is that scientists have to be reserved. It was not the great technocrats of Koenigsberg or Moscow who supplied the casualties in the siege of Stalingrad: it was superstitious Bavarian peasants and low-grade Russian agricultural workers. The effect of modern war is to eliminate retrogressive types, while sparing the technocracy and increasing its hold upon public affairs. In the new age, what has hitherto been merely the intellectual nucleus of the race is to become, by gradual stages, the race itself. You are to conceive the species as an animal which has discovered how to simplify nutrition and locomotion to such a point that the old complex organs and the large body which contained them are no longer necessary. That large body is therefore to disappear. Only a tenth part of it will now be needed to support the brain. The individual is to become all head. The human race is to become all Technocracy.”

“I see,” said Mark. “I had thought—rather vaguely—that the intelligent nucleus would be extended by education.”

“That is a pure chimera. The great majority of the human race can be educated only in the sense of being given knowledge: they cannot be trained into the total objectivity of mind which is now necessary. They will always remain animals, looking at the world through the haze of their subjective reactions. Even if they could, the day for a large population has passed. It has served its function by acting as a kind of cocoon for Technocratic and Objective Man. Now, the macrobes, and the selected humans who can co-operate with them, have no further use for it.”

“The last two wars, then, were not disasters in your view?”

“On the contrary, they were simply the beginning of the programme—the first two of the sixteen major wars which are scheduled to take place in this century. I am aware of the emotional (that is, the chemical) reactions which a statement like this produces in you, and you are wasting your time in trying to conceal them from me. I do not expect you to control them. That is not the path to objectivity. I deliberately raise them in order that you may become accustomed to regard them in a purely scientific light and distinguish them as sharply as possible from the facts.”

[elbook]

.

Most Terrifying Words :

“WE ARE FROM THE GOVERNMENT, AND WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU”

.

[Montaignes Cat]

Thank you both for the recommendation. I will look for it today.