Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 1/2/21
C.S.
Lewis, the atheist turned Christian, professor at Oxford and Cambridge, and
author of great renown said it best. In his little book titled “The Great
Divorce” Lewis argued that good and evil cannot co-exist. One or the other must
win and will win.
Lewis’
absolutism alarms many people today. Had he not died less than an hour before
John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the world would probably know him better. And
if he were still living, Lewis would still be alarming us. Lewis believed in
objective truth and acknowledged that truth is always narrow.
“Life
is not like a pool,” Lewis wrote, “but like a tree. It does not move toward
unity but away from it. Evil cannot develop into good. Time does not heal it.”
Ayn
Rand, having endured evil Russian communism before coming to America, wrote the
following in 1957: “When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain
permission from men who produce nothing, when you see that money is flowing to
those who deal, not in goods but in favors, you may know that your society is
doomed.”
Lewis
and Rand, total opposites on matters of faith, were both dividers who forced
clarity.
Division
is sometimes not only preferable but essential, if the good and right are to
prevail. We juxtapose ideas during a political debate in order to compare them
and then embrace one and discard the other. We acknowledge that more often than
not, two cannot walk together except they be agreed.
Rodney
King, allegedly beaten badly by cops but continuing a life of petty crime until
his death, famously said, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Today during the corona
virus visitation, many are saying, “We’re in this together.”
Well, no we’re not.
There’s little togetherness in America. Too much mixed information is tossed us.
Too many commands are being given. Too many unelected bureaucrats are running
the show, politicizing a pandemic. Our representative democracy, if not at
stake, is surely being tested. If right wingers become violent, watch for the
difference between the official response to them and the non- response to the
leftists who rioted and even took over portions of cities.
Division
is often good, and there are several divisions that our current president brought
about. His critics have aptly called him a divider and indeed his role as a
divider has been well received. Apparently 74 million voters – practically half
of the voters in the November election – approve of the role he assumed. Here
are just three of those divisions.
He
divided the general populace and the news media. Not that the media was deeply
loved by the populace in the first place, but for the most part we accepted the
fact that news had become commentary and simply shook our heads in disgust. The
president would not do this. He challenged media elites and actually jerked
them around on a string, displaying their disdain for ordinary folks,
particularly conservatives. Consequently most media personalities are consumed
by Trump-hate. Consequently Americans are now taking “news” with a grain of
salt.
He
divided nationalists and globalists. For decades many Congressional Republicans
and Democrats alike have been globalists. Ignoring the needs of the vast middle
class, they allowed jobs to spread abroad, not to heartland America. The very
words, “America First,” scare them. Globalists ignored the fact that America’s
heartland isn’t New York and Wall Street but Peoria and Main Street.
It’s interesting that a
New York billionaire, recently named the most admired man in the country, spoke
to and won the hearts of the heartland rather than trafficking in the rarified
air of entities like the U.N., the World Health Organization and the World Bank.
Globalists, who definitely include most of America’s corporate CEOs, like to
keep the gravy train running, fueling it with cheap labor. (Guess what
percentage of Walmart’s suppliers are in communist China.) Forget that
globalism destroys national, homogenous cultures. Consumerism and moo-la, not
borders, are what matter to globalists.
The
president also divided secular elites from religious commoners. Secular elites,
having lost their minds, have given us post-birth abortion, white-shaming,
emasculated cops, and “What gender do you prefer?” Conservatives are asking, “What
in the world can be next?” And they’re ready to fight it. Such division is
good.
Division
is often the price we pay for needed correction. C.S. Lewis and Rand, like Patrick
Henry, Churchill, Reagan, and other true lovers of freedom, simply believed
there was a time for “Yea, yea” or “Nay, nay.”
Georgia’s
senatorial election is such a time. The socialism that Lewis and Rand have
disdained and the President has fought is up for a vote.
Roger Hines
December 30, 2020
Roger, as usual, has hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteGod bless America- land that I love
Donna Stroud
Excellent Roger. Thank you for making us think.
ReplyDeleteI have much respect for you Mr Hines, but sadly disagree with you regarding President Trump. I have voted Republican most of my life. But the last few years have felt totally party-less. And at this point President Trump appears to be doing all he can to test if not actually undermind our representive democracy. "Our representative democracy, if not at stake, is surely being tested" Your words apply so well to his actions of late.
ReplyDeleteThank you for these words of wisdom and truth.
ReplyDelete