Interesting C. S. Lewis quote

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CarolfromTX

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Location
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C. S. Lewis Quote on Tyrannies


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“Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under the omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
 

When I was a child and later became a teacher in NJ, every school day in the NJ public schools had to start out with the teacher reading 5 verses from the Bible, and the kids reciting the Lord's Prayer and the pledge of allegiance.

An example of the moral busybodies imposing their religious values on a captive audience, perhaps? (Well not audience exactly. Captive participants is more accurate.)
 
Sunny said:
When I was a child and later became a teacher in NJ, every school day in the NJ public schools had to start out with the teacher reading 5 verses from the Bible, and the kids reciting the Lord's Prayer and the pledge of allegiance.

An example of the moral busybodies imposing their religious values on a captive audience, perhaps? (Well not audience exactly. Captive participants is more accurate.)
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I think every class that I was in the teacher had a student read from the Bible. We each took a turn. If you were absent from school, when you returned, yeah, that's right, it was your turn.
 
Sunny said:
When I was a child and later became a teacher in NJ, every school day in the NJ public schools had to start out with the teacher reading 5 verses from the Bible, and the kids reciting the Lord's Prayer and the pledge of allegiance.

An example of the moral busybodies imposing their religious values on a captive audience, perhaps? (Well not audience exactly. Captive participants is more accurate.)
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Not where I lived in NJ. Then again, I was only there for grades 7-12, but still...
 
Many media personalities and some experts on social issues and politics warn of democracy failing. I am not convinced 100% either way. The one thing I do fear the the percent of Americans that would capitulate to tyranny in order to save their own skin.
 
I don't ever remember reading from the Bible at school, not even in the two years I went to Catholic school. But I remember the recitation of the Our Father, Presbyterian style. As a catholic, I refrained from the "for thine is the power..." part. Which is actually quite beautiful and poetic. I don't think I was scarred by it. But then, I have a pretty strong constitution, and had one even as a child. LOL!
 
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CarolfromTX said:
I don't ever remember reading from the Bible at school, not even in the two years I went to Catholic school. But I remember the recitation of the Our Father, Presbyterian style. As a catholic, I refrained from the "for thine is the power..." part. Which is actually quite beautiful and poetic. I don't think I was scarred it. But then, I have a pretty strong constitution, and had one even as a child. LOL!
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No Bible readings in my school days, either. We'd stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and then have a "moment of silent meditation."
 
fmdog44 said:
Many media personalities and some experts on social issues and politics warn of democracy failing. I am not convinced 100% either way. The one thing I do fear the the percent of Americans that would capitulate to tyranny in order to save their own skin.
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When tyranny comes steamrolling through, takes your house, puts you in prison, strips you of your identity you won't concern yourself with other people saving their own skin.
 
The current virus show exactly how far people will go to turn on each other without applying the first bit of independent thought.

But I don't think things are all that different from our nation's founding. My knowledge of history is not very strong, but I don't think that independence from England had anywhere near the support of the majority. We are generally low-risk/status quo creatures. That's not changed.
 
StarSong, it may have varied from one community to another. But that was a firm "thing" in northern NJ. No teacher had any options in this; if you wanted to teach in elementary school in NJ (we were told) you had to start out every day like that.
 
One of our presidents was supposed to be a Constitutional Lawyer, I guess he forgot what it said.
How a constitutional freedom was dismissed from our schools
is a long twisted tale. "We dare not offend those that disagree."
 
Sunny said:
StarSong, it may have varied from one community to another. But that was a firm "thing" in northern NJ. No teacher had any options in this; if you wanted to teach in elementary school in NJ (we were told) you had to start out every day like that.
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As I said, I didn't attend elementary school in NJ, only 7-12. No Bible verses in those grades in my district's public school.
 
MarciKS said:
Maybe if they had continued to instill Christian values in us, the world would be a better place than it is today. JMO
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The problem, as Lewis himself often wrote, is obvious: whose choice of values is objectively Christian? The evangelical Right who support Donald Trump? The much smaller evangelical Left who want a kinder, more egalitarian society? The Roman Catholics who want to ban abortion? Take your pick. There are Bible verses to support pretty much any value of interest.
 
I'm an atheist. For most of my life, I've had to deal with "people of faith", who believe that I should live my life by their religious tenets. As an example, one December , a woman said, "Merry Christmas". I replied, "Happy Holidays". She followed me out into the parking lot, all the while screaming, "MERRY CHRISTMAS" at me. So what was her objective? Was it to wish me well, or to impose her religious beliefs on me?
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I'm an atheist. For most of my life, I've had to deal with "people of faith", who believe that I should live my life by their religious tenets. As an example, one December , a woman said, "Merry Christmas". I replied, "Happy Holidays". She followed me out into the parking lot, all the while screaming, "MERRY CHRISTMAS" at me. So what was her objective? Was it to wish me well, or to impose her religious beliefs on me?
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This was the act of a self-entitled woman who believed her belief system to be superior to yours. How dare you deny her "right" to presume everyone does/should be Christian and celebrate Christmas in the way she does.
 
CarolfromTX said:
C. S. Lewis Quote on Tyrannies


​
“Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under the omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
Click to expand...
The catch, though: do they really believe it's for others' 'own good,' or are they simply exercising and reveling in their own power?

The first thing that came to mind was this: https://www.alice-miller.com/en/for-your-own-good/
 

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