The Abolition of Man

The Abolition of Man

C.S. Lewis convincingly illustrates in his book The Abolition of Man how modern academia is altering the fabric of society by the way they infuse their philosophy into textbooks. “They write in order to produce certain states of mind in the rising generation…. because they think them to be the means to some state of society.” The ideas found in ‘The Little Green Book ’, a text-book designed for elementary school children, are aimed at building a secular society based on scientific materialism. This type of society is termed progressive and enlightened. The aim is to focus on ‘real’ or ‘basic’ values which will cut away the ‘parasitic growth of emotion’ and help to keep men centered on logic and reason instead of feelings. Ethics, religion, and morals are said to be without merit because they are outdated and do not work within the framework of scientific thinking. This belief system has produced a society of what Lewis terms “men without chests.” He states that if values are based on the ‘natural’ man then there can be no foundation for virtue, because we are departing from what makes us human, namely our morality. Without the establishment of ‘the Tao’ or the truth to be an underpinning of educational teaching then the ultimate outcome is the crumbling of character. It is apparent our culture has become selfish and materialistic, without loyalty or courage, and focused on worldly things instead of eternal values. This erosion of principle has caused a landslide of problems ranging from personal despair to societal decay. There is an epidemic ailment that is burdening many people today and it is the atrophy of character. ‘Men without chests’ have lost heart.

The word ‘heart’ can be used to represent the core of life and strength. This includes the mind, spirit, and soul of a person. One of the dictionary definitions states: ‘Heart is the center of the total personality with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion: the center of emotion, in contrast to the head as the center of the intellect.’ Therefore, the seat of the soul is the heart. This is where valor, integrity, honor, love, and the whole range of emotions and beliefs are held. There is a divinely inspired sense of right and wrong that is also felt within the heart. But for many, this point of truth is obscured. The feelings and ideals of a person are educated out of them and are looked upon as inferior to logic and reason. “all emotions…are contrary to reason and contemptible and ought to be eradicated”, according to the producers of modern texts like 'The Little Green Book'.

This divorce of reason from emotion has produced “fools and villains”. “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” This is witnessed time and time again as we listen to the news with shock and horror. I believe that Lewis was right in stating, “The practical result of education in the spirit of The Green Book must be the destruction of society.”

This is why I feel such a resonance with the appeal to return to the classics. Within the classics we will find the Tao, the way, the light --- truth. It is in finding this path that we will be open to the knowledge that man is not only a visceral being, but a dual being with a divine spark which I call the ‘Light of Christ’. This knowledge has been buried by piles of worksheets and fill in the blank tests that coincide with The Green Book. Modern education does not allow the teaching of traditional values and has replaced them with rational/scientific views and methods. In addition, one of the most important classics that our society has turned from is the Bible. It has been called a fictitious tale of imaginary legends and it is scorned as stale mythology. This departure from a core book has created a black hole of relativism. “we are ready to scrap traditional morals as a mere error and then to put ourselves in a position where we can find no ground for any value judgments at all.” Within this realm man has lost hope for anything better than this world except what is thought to be the ultimate in triumph…the accumulation of power. Many will, “Give up… soul, (to) get power in return.”

The basis of C.S. Lewis’ appeal is that the foundation for a secular society is corrupt. Because the Tao or eternal truths have become irrelevant to modern man, we have ceased to look within the center of the soul and have come to depend on might and mind instead. As a result, there are an enormous number of cases of heart disease and it is the leading cause of death of the spirit. The groundwork for this ailment starts at a young age with a seemingly benign ‘little green’ book; however, the outcome is in Lewis’ words, “The Abolition of Man”.