Why Narnia Still Matters

When Zelazhney wrote his fantasies, he did not “Proselytize” because he wrote from a position of non-belief. he drew upon The Myths of the past as cultural and artistic material.

C. S. Lewis, on the other hand, believed in the world view that he inserted into Narnia. Since he believed in the Truth as he saw it, then OF COURSE it will become part of his narrative.

Most of us here on FR believe in (at least) the principles of conservatism, Constitutional Freedoms, and free enterprise. It is therefore the NORM to see posts that are about THOSE things that we believe in. And we hope that what we write will convince others to believe what we believe is the truth.

Are we to censor the particular genre of Sci-fi-fantasy if it doesn’t conform to a pre-set norm of atheism, adherence to hard-science only, or the cultural trappings of ANYTHING but Christianity? This would fly in the face of everything we hold dear as conservatives and patriots.

Let C.S. Lewis share his faith in the the medium of his fantasy fiction. it is his inalienable right.

It is also your inalienable right to dislike it! :-)

But, be advised, my FRiend...Christianity (and Judaism) are rapidly becoming the target of persecution in the obamanation. Let us not join the chorus of abuse of the Christian World View by calling it “Proselytizing” as if that is a dirty word.

Good heavens...who's calling for censorship? I'm simply weighing in on why I have some issues with Lewis' Narnia series. What gives you the impression that I'm calling for it to be suppressed?

I will admit to a bias towards hard sf over fantasy, although I can still enjoy a good fantasy story; heck, I just read every story in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher recently...which, BTW, incorporates many elements of Christian theology into its setting. One of the characters (Michael Carpenter) is the best portrayal of a paladin I've ever seen. Mind you, in the Dresdenverse all pantheons & myths are real, so you're just as likely to meet a valkyrie or a member of the Unseelie Court as you are an angel.

Let C.S. Lewis share his faith in the the medium of his fantasy fiction. it is his inalienable right.

I'm not trying to stop him!

It is also your inalienable right to dislike it! :-)

It's not the sharing of his faith that I dislike; I enjoyed "The Great Divorce" and "The Screwtape Letters". In the case of Narnia, though, I think the story suffered because of it.

Let us not join the chorus of abuse of the Christian World View by calling it “Proselytizing” as if that is a dirty word.

I don't think it's a dirty word, but I do think it's an accurate one.

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