- While some men spend their lives in trivial pursuits
or in the arena of stepping over anyone and everyone to get ahead others
choose to use their lives more constructively in not leaving behind a life
of nothingness or worse yet ruined lives and carnage not so C.S. Lewis.
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- C.S.Lewis was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and in
his all too short 65 years pilgrimage did more than some one hundred others
intent only on their own self gain, image and criticizing everyone else
whom they identify as lesser. Lesser if the truth be known for in their
minds to laud another is to diminish themselves. Sad state of affairs.
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- Mr.Lewis has an astounding set of credentials in academics
and intellectual achievements. He was enlisted in the British Army and
commissioned an officer at age 19. At the age of 21 he wrote Death in Battle
his first published work. He attended Oxford where he received a First
in Honor Moderations (Greek and Latin Literature), a First in Greats (Philosophy
and Ancient History), a First in English. At the mere age of 27 he was
elected a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford where he served for 29 years
until leaving for Magdalene College.
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- In 1931 Lewis became a Christian through his close friendship
with J.R.R. Tolkein. Lewis wrote of this in "Surprised by Joy".
In 1935 he wrote the volume of 16th Century English Literature for the
Oxford History of English Literature series. It is a classic. In 1937 he
received the Gollancz Memorial Prize for Literature in recognition of The
Allegory of Love ( a study in medieval tradition). In 1941 the Guardian
publish his Screwtape Letters in weekly installments. He gave the money
to charity. He also did radio at this time..the talks were called "Right
and Wrong".
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- In 1943 at the University of Durham, Lewis delivered
the Riddell Memorial Lectures (Fifteen series) subsequently published as
The Abolition of Man. In 1946 he was awarded honorary Doctor of Divinity
at St.Andrews. In 1952 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctors of
Letters by Laval University, Quebec. In 1954 he accepted the Chair of Medieval
and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge. He gave his Inaugural Lecture,
"De Description Temporum". His review of Tolkein's The Fellowship
of the Ring appeared in Time magazine.
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- In 1956 Lewis received the Carnegie Medal in recognition
of The Last Battle. In 1959 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor
of Literature by the University of Manchester. He died the same day on
which President Kennedy was assassinated. On his gravestone is written
"Men must endure their going hence".
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- Aside from his teaching-lectures-and radio programs he
wrote numerous Nonfiction and Fiction works. Including The Chronicles of
Narina, The Space Trilogy, Surprised by Joy, Mere Christianity, The Allegory
of Love, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Narrative Poems,
Latin Letters, Till We Have Two Faces: A Myth Retold, Mere Christianity
and on and on and on. Amazing. In 1942 he wrote the Screwtape Letters...Screwtape,
Proposes a Toast. Amazing that part of the toast in its prophetic speaking
of today's chaos in education!
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- 1942 "In that promising land the spirit of I'm as
good as you has already become something more than a generally social influence.
It begins to work itself into their educational system. How far its operations
there have gone at the moment, I would not like to say with certainty.
Nor does it matter. Once you have grasped the tendency, you can easily
predict its future developments; especially as we ourselves ill play our
part in the developing. The basic principle of the new education is to
be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent
and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic'. These differences
between the pupils-for they are obviously and nakedly individual differences--must
be disguised."
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- "This can be done on various levels. At universities,
examination must be framed so that nearly all the students get good marks.
Entrance examinations must be framed so that all, or nearly all, citizens
can go to universities, whether they have any power to profit by higher
education or not. At schools, the children who are too stupid or lazy to
learn languages and mathematics and elementary science can be set to do
things that children used to do in their spare time. Let them, for example,
make mud-pies and call it modeling. But all the time there must be no faintest
hint that they are inferior to the children who are at work. Whatever nonsense
they are engaged in must have--I believe the English already use the phrase
'parity of esteem'. An even more drastic scheme is not impossible."
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- "Children who are fit to proceed to a higher class
may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma- Beelzebub,
what a useful word! - by being left behind. The bright pupil remains democratically
fettered to his own age-group throughout his school career, and a boy who
would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coaevals's
attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON THE MAT" Note: Remember Mr.Lewis
wrote this in 1945. Let us fast forward.
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- News Telegraph: Sept 21-2003 "School exam chiefs
are to remove all risk of failure from key national tests by replacing
the current F for "fail" with an N for "nearly". Markers
are to grade exam answers as either "credit worthy" or "not
credit worthy" instead of correct or incorrect. etc" Can your
child read? Do simple math? (without a calculator). How are they spending
their days besides studying for nonsensical tests? Where is the passion
and excitement in learning and teaching? Is the inquisitive, intelligent,
creative child now label hyper-active and in need of medication in order
to become more passive and compliant? Do parents even question such a diagnosis
(mental health on school records) and make the effort to studying the numerous
books on Ritalin and the effects on children in giving them this or any
other mind altering drug? To not do so is willful neglect. A child only
has his parents to protect him/her from the insane. How is it that many
of us learned to read back in the 50s in a week or two weeks time and were
permitted to go ahead at our own speed. But then there was the lunacy of
whole language back then and now high school graduates can't read or write
an understandable essay! Well if students in this Brave New World-Orwellian-Animal
Farm scenario are being readied for passive, compliant, obedient, drone
labor jobs why then there's no need to know how to read or do simple math
now is there?
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- Ever have computers go off in a store? Everything stops
since nobody can just do the math in their head or on paper! A job at McDonalds
needs no math skills--take a look at the cash registers sometime. There
all marked by symbols and change made automatically. No reason why monkeys
couldn't do these jobs. But then its the parents who are at fault. They
too have become complacent and unquestioning to the ruination of their
children. Maybe a day at school to observe might be a suggestion. A look
at the books. Civics? How about History? Any history in there you know
of. But never fear there are 'some' children being adequately educated.
Send for a brochure of some Private Academies--see the languages-literature-music-science-computer
classes-sports-extra curricular foreign studies etc. that the children
of the elitists are being taught. But most likely most will be too lazy
to do even this. That's why you'll have "some animals more-much more
equal than others". Per chance you have an opportunity read some
of C.S. Lewis's essays-books-or poetry. Then listen to the President or
Rumsfeld ad lib. I rest my case.
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