The Abolition of Man
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
"We have been trying, like Lear, to have it both ways: to lay down our human prerogative and yet at the same time to retain it." Thus wrote C.S. Lewis in his book The Abolition of Man, describing how education was intended to form human beings from barbarians into civilized creatures. True human life is civilized life, and civilization is only possible when mankind submits to a historically-recognized moral order.
In this book, Lewis does not argue for the existence of God: he leaves that for his other books such as Mere Christianity. This book simply tells that all advanced cultures throughout human history have subscribed to moral codes that are remarkably similar, with rules such as "Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Do to others as you would want them to do to you." Without such rules, a society withers away and self-destructs.
This book was written in 1943, the year I was born. As a teenager, I began reading some of the books by Lewis and they have shaped my spirit for the better. The Russian word for "education" is "obrazovanie" from the word "obraz" that means "icon" or "image" - so education's goal is to restore the image of God that man was originally created for. Even though that image has been distorted by sin (we as Orthodox Christians do not hold to Augustine's doctrine of total depravity), man is capable of some good. Every culture that lasts has similar positive value systems.
But during my lifetime, we have seen a radical shift in values. What was considered immoral and unmentionable has now become trendy and propagated by the media. Adultery was hushed up, now it is nearly celebrated. Homosexual acts were illegal and offenders were sent to prison, now it is politically incorrect to say anything negative about it. The prophet Isaiah wrote - "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Is. 5:20).
Now it is considered child abuse to tell a child "No! Don't do that!" Today people suffer from the delusion that a child should be allowed to do whatever he or she wants to do, to become whatever "gender" they-it-ze identify zemselves to be. So if in fact I'm fat, I simply identify myself as slender: I'm trans-slender! Or I identify myself as an ostrich, so watch out: I spit, I can kick you really hard, and if I don't like how you react, I'll just stick my head in the sand and you will cease to exist.
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche outlined "the transvaluation of all values" in his book The Antichrist that railed against what he considered to be the Christian doctrines of total depravity, that man is constantly struggling against sin... and unable to shake free from the curse. Christianity's elevating chastity, for example in Mary's virginal conception, which to Nietsche contradicted the "natural values" of sex and procreation. What began as a philosopher's brainstorm has gradually filtered down to the common man. By now, his ideas have turned the Christian value system upside-down and inside-out.
In a given culture, value system X is thought to be the best value system to have, so people with value system Y are ridiculed and followers of Z values are put in prison. But imagine a post-transvaluation of values culture where people who follow Y are thrown in prison, those who follow X are mocked, and nearly everyone follows Z. This is where we are today: we don't have to imagine it, we're already there.
The Apostle Paul wrote to his disciple Timothy - "If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim. 5:8). Why would Paul need to write that? It is because, with the Gospel message of caring for the sick and needy, some people would identify themselves as poor or disabled so they could receive charity from the church. But he wrote here that the primary responsibility for care is within each extended family. Those who hide their wealth so that the church or the state will support them are worse than a pagan, wrote Paul: even pagans have better morals than some who pretend to be Christians!
St. Paul, after listing who should qualify as a needy widow in verses 9-15, went on to write in v. 16 - "If any man or woman who believes has widows, let them relieve them, and don't let the church be burdened; that it might relieve those who are widows indeed." The church or the state has limited resources, society is not able to provide for everyone. There must always be more "makers" than "takers" or else the church and the state will exhaust its resources and go bankrupt.
And yet, lawyers and financial advisers will counsel people with a sick, disabled or elderly relative to hide that person's resources in a trust fund or under the name of someone else so that person will qualify for social benefits. I personally know of cases where a disabled person had a relative keep his money in a separate bank account under her name so his own bank account wouldn't have more money in it than what would qualify him for welfare. But they, in turn, would deceive him: on his birthday and at Christmas they "gave" him money gifts - from that bank account!
Here is another case: an elderly woman put her home in her children's names so she could qualify for Medicare. But after she died, the government found out about it and the family had to pay back. And here's a third case: elderly parents in Russia signed their apartment over to their son, but when the father died, the son beat up his disabled mother so badly she had to go to a nursing home, then he took over the apartment. But his former wife worked for the FSB (the former KGB) and when she learned what happened, some thugs gave him such a beating that he lost several teeth and was laid up himself.
The only cultures that last are those which observe traditional value systems; those that fail to do so... fail. Keep in mind St. Paul's above warning: if you do any such deceitful thing, you've denied the faith and you're worse than a pagan. Remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira when they tried to deceive the Apostles (Acts 5)! Finally, St. Paul wrote - "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good" (Romans 12:9). Evil is still evil, and good remains good: there's no real transvaluation of values, those who think there is are only deceiving themselves.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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