Free Republic

C. S. Lewis, my favorite all time author, wrote of many things. He saw humanity for what it is, especially in light of humanity's creator and moral author. One of his observations regards the tyranny a government can be on its people, when they engage in the business of humanitarianism. Here he speaks of the tyranny of the nanny state... "Of all 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 omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his...

MOSCOW: Several objects resembling living beings were detected on photographs taken by a Russian landing probe in 1982 during a Venus mission, says an article published in the Solar System Research magazine. Leonid Ksanfomaliti of the Space Research Institute of Russia's Academy of Sciences published a research that analysed the photographs from the Venus mission made by a Soviet landing probe, Venus-13, in 1982. The photographs feature several objects, which Ksanfomaliti said, resembled a "disk", a "black flap" and a "scorpion".

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any...

Rising Atheism In America Puts 'Religious Right On The Defensive' High profile of faith-based politicians such as Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry masks a steady growth in secularism Paul Harris in New York 1 October 2011 About 400 people are preparing to gather for a conference in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote the end of religion in the US and their vision of a secular future for the country. Those travelling to the meeting will pass two huge roadside billboards displaying quotes from two of the country's most famous non-believers: Katharine Hepburn and Mark Twain. "Faith is believing what you know...

Cliffs' Notes for conservatives. This isn't your child's C.S. Lewis. If you don't have time to read C.S. Lewis's book, The Abolition of Man, let us distill it down for you.

I enjoy political hardball as much as the next reporter. It’s barely concealed truth that campaign journalists, like the operatives we cover, love negative campaigning and revel in OTT insults and martial rhetoric. Even candidates often lapse into the language of “rip his throat out”, “tear his eyes out” or “drive a stake through her heart”. It’s no secret either that many Republicans despise Democrats with a passion and vice versa. Just as British MPs hide their contempt of their opponents by referring to them as “the honourable member’, American politicians have their own, albeit less formal, ways of masking...

Comparing Christianity and the New Paganism The most serious challenge for Christianity today isn't one of the other great religions of the world, such as Islam or Buddhism. Nor is it simple atheism, which has no depth, no mass appeal, no staying power. Rather, it's a religion most of us think is dead. That religion is paganism — and it is very much alive. Paganism is simply the natural gravity of the human spirit, the line of least resistance, religion in its fallen state. The "old" paganism came from the country. Indeed, the very word "paganism" comes from the Latin...

How would you rewrite, or should I say, add to CS Lewis’ examples after seeing this video? [Tosh.0 Video] These two men seem to be referring to not only the law as in the penal code/system… but they resolved this act with reference to some “fair standard” that is above the written law of man. IMHO that is. [....] "EVERY ONE HAS HEARD people quarreling. Sometimes it sounds funny and sometimes it sounds merely unpleasant; but however it sounds, I believe we can learn something very important from listening to the kinds of things they say. They say things like...

"Of all 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 omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s 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. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult....

Since Katie Couric first asked the question a couple of years back, journalists continue to pepper Sarah Palin with that classic ice-breaker: "So, what are you reading?" The subject came up again in a recent profile in the New York Times Magazine, and last week Barbara Walters returned to the question in interviewing Mrs. Palin as one of her "10 most fascinating people of 2010." In both interviews Mrs. Palin cited C.S. Lewis as a favorite author she looks to for inspiration. This prompted talk-show host and comedienne Joy Behar of "The View" to deride Mrs. Palin and her choice...

It is the third film installment of the Chronicles of Narnia series. The film begins in England, where Lucy and Edmund are staying with their “personality deficient” Uncle, Aunt, and trouble-maker, cousin Eustace. Eustace is very snotty, spoiled, loud, and hates his cousins. Eustace’s hatred for his cousins causes him to torment them. None too soon, when a painting of a ship on the wall starts “moving,” suddenly water starts filling up the room and Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace are from that water, transported into the seas of Narnia. Upon arriving in Narnia, a very large, dragon shaped ship approaches...

This is actually worse than Liam Neeson's ridiculous take on his role in the Chronicles of Narnia. See the Hardball video where Richard Wolffe mocks Palin for reading C.S. Lewis embedded at the original post here or at YouTubeI'm not going to get into what a buffoon Matthews is (you all already know), but I'll let Neil Cavuto do it for me. I've been writing/blogging and engaged in political activities off and on for about 7 years now. Part of the job is to know and understand what the other side thinks. I've had a gut feeling about the...

Richard Wolffe is ubiquitous on MSNBC as a “political analyst.” Just what qualifies him a being such a general know-it-all is kind of a mystery, unless the provincials are just that impressed by a British accent. But when Wolffe’s Anglo-ness should have been an asset on Hardball Thursday night, he could not even identify one of the 20th Century’s monumental British thinkers, C.S. Lewis, as anything other than the author of “kids’ books.” Of course, he was in the MSNBC anything-Sarah-Palin-says-is-stupid default mode, and caught up in a allegedly hilarious bit of Palin Derangement Syndrome patter. WOLFFE: All “The...

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" debuted at the top of the box office this weekend. The third movie entry based on the beloved children novels by C.S. Lewis raked in $24.5 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters despite a weak start on Friday. In the latest Narnia movie, the two youngest Pevensies, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) journey back to the magical Kingdom along with their bratty cousin Eustace (Will Pouter). Led by King Caspian (Ben Barnes), the crew set out on a quest on the Dawn Treader to battle new threats to the...

On Thursday's edition of The View, Joy Behar displayed how little she knows Sarah Palin's favorite authors. As they discussed Palin's answer to Barbara Walters asking what she reads, and Walters said Palin reads C.S. Lewis for "divine inspiration," Behar asked "Aren't those children's books?" She wasn't joking, but she obviously liked the idea that Palin wasn't smart enough to read "adult books." The Narnia books aren't exactly Dr. Seuss. Behar isn't educated enough to know about his classic works of nonfiction in Christian apologetics, like Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.

Before this film, I think the cinematic Narnia series was a little like Lucy, looking enviously at big-sister Susan. Maybe it was trying too hard to be the next Lord of the Rings or aspire to Harry Potter-level success. It worked so hard to be literary and spectacular that, just maybe, it forgot what the Narnia books were at their core: children's stories. Meaningful stories, yes. Good stories, absolutely, filled with allegorical heft and layers of meaning … but at their core, they're meant to be fun. Dawn Treader found the fun. For two hours, I was engrossed in a...

The studios behind the new "Narnia" movie are walking a tightrope in their quest to promote the third film in the fantasy franchise to a Christian audience and to general moviegoers. But they also are going out of their way not to pigeonhole the film as something that will appeal just to the world's 2.2 billion Christians. Case in point is Liam Neeson, who voices Aslan, the resurrected lion in the upcoming film. The actor said at a news conference last week that his character doesn't necessarily represent Christ. That might be news to Lewis, though, who wrote the opposite...

What newspapers do you read? It was the question that arguably did Sarah Palin the most harm during the 2008 election. When the Republican vice presidential candidate could not name for Katie Couric which magazines or papers she regularly read that informed her worldview, it fueled the perception among voters that she was not ready for national office. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Palin set the record straight. "I read anything and everything that I can get my hands on as I have since I was a little girl," Palin told Walters in an interview to air tonight on...

Political correctness has now raised its head is what one would have thought a stronghold of traditional Christianity -- the work of C.S. Lewis. To be precise, the new film of his Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of the best-selling "Narnia" series of children's books.The Dawn Treader is a revival of an old Irish form, the Immram, telling of a ship voyaging among islands, with the crew learning some lesson at each stopping place.The imaginary world of Narnia is, of course, under the rule of kings who acknowledge the rule of its Creator, the good lion Aslan, an attempt by Lewis...

The first official trailer for the third movie installment of the “Chronicles of Narnia” made its public debut Thursday morning, giving fans a peak at what some thought wasn't going to be after Walt Disney Pictures abandoned ship. Released at midnight, the two-minute trailer for "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" beckons Narnia fans to “Return to Hope,” “Return to Magic,” and “Return to Narnia” five years after the first film hit theaters to positive reviews and box office success. “You have returned for a reason. Your adventure begins now,” says the series’ central character, Aslan, in the trailer. Also...

Years ago, when our daughter attended a church- sponsored preschool, we were invited to an informal meeting about parenting techniques. After orientation by the school director, we broke into discussion groups. The topic was discipline, a burning issue for preschool parents, swerving naturally to "How do we teach them right from wrong?" One father in our group apparently wanted to stir the pot. Early in the conversation he asked, "But how do we know what's right and wrong? Do those words have any meaning?" If he was hoping for a Socratic discussion he didn't get it, neither the first time...

Although it might seem unlikely that anyone would wonder whether the author of The Lord of the Rings was Jewish, the Nazis took no chances. When the publishing firm of Ruetten & Loening was negotiating with J. R. R. Tolkien over a German translation of The Hobbit in 1938, they demanded that Tolkien provide written assurance that he was an Aryan. Tolkien chastised the publishers for “impertinent and irrelevant inquiries,” and—ever the professor of philology— lectured them on the proper meaning of the term: “As far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any...

In the past five years - before our very eyes - we have seen the nearly complete erosion and virtual extinction of conservative policies and programs in US politics. It seems that The United States is increasingly becoming more like a secular socialist State than the Representative Republic of "In God We Trust" that it was founded upon. Our Judean-Christian heritage, morality and values do not dominate our culture and society as they once did. Another reality is that many have never known any other kind of society than what presently exists. Accountability, responsibility and virtue are “hisses and by-words”...

From C. S. Lewis: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's 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.

Not only do the findings of science have moral implications, the actual work of scientific research presupposes that the researcher himself is a man of virtue. When scientific research is divorced from, or worse opposed to, the life of virtue it is not simply the research or the researcher that suffers but the whole human family. Take for example, the scandal surrounding the conduct of researchers at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at East Anglia University in the UK. Whether or not the recently revealed emails and computer programs from undermine the theory of anthropological global warning (AGW), it is...

“…For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. …”~W.B. Yeats First, my title is in no way intended to be a slight to C.S. Lewis, but rather a tribute and expression of gratitude for his many works that have profoundly influenced my intellectual and spiritual life these past years. Mimicry, it is said, is the sincerest form of flattery, and while I get the impression that Mr. Lewis was not particularly prone to vanity, I like to think he might be smiling down with the knowledge that my humble efforts here have grown out of thoughts and...

Almost 75 years after the death of G. K. Chesterton and 45 years after the death of C. S. Lewis, millions continue to read them as guides and gurus. New readers will pick up a book, or even just an essay or two, and become lifelong fans and devotees. These portly, homely, undramatic men are still the bookish Christian's rock stars.   Their new readers, having become fans, excitedly look up the lists of their books -- and stop dead. There's just too much to read, and too little time, and some of those books look like slow going....

No doubt many of you have seen the new movie based on the Chronicles of Narnia. The movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is getting rave reviews from critics and viewers alike. Many churches are promoting the movie to its members. Although it is no secret, many young earth creationists who have enjoyed the movie probably do not realize that the author, C. S. Lewis, is an old earth creationist, who believed in evolution.1 Many people, including many young earth creationists, regard Lewis as one of the great theologians of the last century. For instance, a search of...

C.S. Lewis’ short but masterful The Great Divorce is about Ghosts in Hell who journey by omnibus up through a crack in the earth to meet Solid People and hopefully be guided into the mountains. As the Ghosts become substantive their feet are pricked by the sharp grass. Only a few overcome their problems and journey into the mountains while most board the bus and shrink into oblivion as it descends back down the crack from whence it came.

Nearly every Christian with a liking toward fantasy has their favorite Narnia book, Narnia scene, or Narnia character. But so do many non-Christians. C.S. Lewis' classic children's books are a milestone of literary consciousness for young readers of every background and persuasion: for some, a passport through the wardrobe into the real, living Kingdom of Christ. For others, a painful journey from delight to dismay. That was the experience of Laura Miller, columnist for Salon.com and regular contributor to The New York Times. In her early teens, Miller was stunned to realize that the stories that enchanted her childhood were...

Twentieth Century Fox has agreed to co-finance the third movie in the “Chronicles of Narnia” series, pending approval of the final script and shooting budget. If all goes as planned, Fox and Walden Media, which controls the movie rights to C.S. Lewis’ classic children's books, hope to be begin production on "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by late summer so it will be ready for holiday 2010 release.

Some time ago, writer Andrew Klavan wrote a compelling review of the movie "Batman," comparing the caped hero to George W. Bush. Both figures gave of themselves on behalf of good in a knock-down, drag-out battle against pure, unmitigated evil, and neither was appreciated -- quite the contrary, they were often viewed as the bad guys by an ungrateful public. Klavan's analogy was right on. My mind, however, for several years now, has raced back to another movie when I think about George W. Bush -- actually, a scene in the movie, based on a scene in a book by...

Los Angeles - Disney confirmed Wednesday that it would not be involved in the third film of "The Chronicles of Narnia" fantasy series, dealing a blow to the franchise based on CS Lewis's classic books. A spokesperson for Disney confirmed in an e-mail that the company had chosen not to exercise an option to co-produce and co-finance the next Narnia film with producers Walden Media. The Hollywood Reporter cited "budgetary and logistical reasons" for Disney's decision, which leaves the third film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader facing an uncertain future. The film was due to...

The West is a mess, just as Lewis warned. With its decline we face the eclipse of true freedom. Lewis’ words in this book are timely: “And all the time – such is the tragicomedy of our situation – we continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more ‘drive,’ or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or ‘creativity.’ In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue...

Ed. Note: this is the first instalment of a detailed critique of a major New Scientist anti-creationist diatribe. This one deals with a substantial section in the article, which tries to downplay the Nazi reliance on Darwinian theories, and instead tries to smear Christianity as a cause of the Holocaust...

From the moment we walked into the Theatre I could feel the excitement in the air. The make up of the crowd spoke to both the extraordinary appeal of the writings of C.S. Lewis and, I would soon discover, the brilliance of this wonderful film. The Box Office results from the first weekend confirmed what I was about to experience. Prince Caspian Rules. The audience was an inter-generational sampling of every ethnic variety of family. There were grandfathers and grandmothers, mothers and fathers, children of every age, teenagers, and grandchildren. As the lights dimmed, many people were hurriedly trying to...

Walt Disney sequel "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" had no problem reigning over Friday's box office, grossing $19.3 million as it opened in 3,929 theaters. "Caspian's" opening day haul came in slightly lower than industry expectations and behind first Narnia installment, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which pulled in $23 million on its first day and $65.6 million for its final three-day in December 2005. Both pics are co-productions with Walden Media.

I still remember the day the “Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was released; I was the first in line, with my adult son. It was a marvelous masterpiece of a movie. I know that Prince Caspian will be even better. I told Doug during our interview, that I am so excited about seeing this film that I feel like a child again. He laughed and told me I will be thrilled. He continued “...the enemy has tried to steal the film industry, but he has not succeeded. Many in our day seem to think that it is political leaders...

No doubt, Barry Obama's supporters are earnest and passionate about their guy. There are those that worry, though, that this passion is rooted primarily in a visceral, emotional attachment to the abstract, amorphous idea of Barry Obama. The idea of who this man is and why he was (as the fervent would claim) sent to us from the right hand of God the Father is different for everyone, unique to each individual supporter, and really only constitutes his or her personal passions, which they project onto their blank-slate/empty-suit faux-savior.

"An age of science is necessarily an age of material­ism," wrote Hugh Elliot early in the last century. "Ours is a scientific age, and it may be said with truth that we are all materialists now."[1]One does not have to look far to discover the con­tinued accuracy of Elliot's assessment. Scientific materialism--the claim that everything in the uni­verse can be fully explained by science as the prod­ucts of unintelligent matter and energy--has become the operating assumption for much of American politics and culture. We are repeatedly told today that our behaviors, our emotions, even our moral and religious longings...

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war. And then to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible. "That sort of talk makes them sick," they say. And half of you already want to ask me, "I wonder how'd you feel about forgiving the Gestapo if you were a Pole or a Jew?" So do I. I wonder very much. Just...

Fifty years ago C.S. Lewis published an ironic little essay called, "Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus." In it, he reverses the letters of his home country, "Britain." Then he writes about the strange winter customs of a barbarian nation called Niatirb. It's worth reading, as we get deeper into Advent. I'll share with you just one passage. "In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound, (the Niatirbians) have a great festival called Exmas, and for 50 days they prepare for it (in the manner which is called,) in their barbarian speech, the Exmas Rush....

"Always winter, and never Christmas” are, perhaps, the most famous words C. S. Lewis wrote. The phrase comes four times in the opening Chronicle of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. First, Tumnus informs Lucy of a White Witch who has made it “always winter and never Christmas.” Lucy passes on the grim news to Edmund and later Peter. Finally, Mr. Beaver announces, in great excitement, “Didn’t I tell you that she’d made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn’t I tell you? Well, just come and see!” The reason for his excitement is that he can see...

Like Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, "The Golden Compass" (an atheist's stealth attack on faith) was unleashed on December 7. Unlike Yamamoto's attempt to sink the U.S. Pacific Fleet, there isn't much bang to "The Golden Compass." The $150-million blockbuster is as flat as cola left in a glass overnight. The first in a planned cinematic trilogy intended to rival "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" and "The Lord of The Rings," "Compass" may turn out to be the "Heaven's Gate" of juvenile fantasy films. The movie is based on a series of children's books ("His Dark Materials"),...

Anti-Christian Children's Novel Coming out as Time Warner Film in December starring Nicole Kidman By Elizabeth O'Brien LOS ANGELES, August 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The best selling novels of atheist author Philip Pullman, which were written specifically to indoctrinate children with anti-Christian values, have sparked the creation of a controversial new fantasy film to be released this December 7 by New Line Cinema - a Time Warner Company. Starring Nicole Kidman, "The Golden Compass," is based on Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, which includes "Northern Lights" (re-titled "The Golden Compass" in the United States), "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber...

On Dec. 7, 2007, the movie "The Golden Compass," based on the first book in the fantasy trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" by atheist Philip Pullman will be released in theaters throughout the world. Pullman wrote his fantasy trilogy because he was so upset by the Christian evangelism of C.S. Lewis in his wonderful series of Christian tales entitled "The Chronicles Of Narnia." Pullman is an avowed atheist who has dedicated his life to undermining Christianity and the Church among young readers. The film's release is only another example of a culture spiraling away from faith, a culture into which...

CathNews alerts us to the potential problem: Nicole Kidman has denied that a new film she's making is anti-Catholic. The movie features an organisation known as "The Magisterium", which kidnaps children to remove their souls.The Brisbane Times reports that Kidman told a US magazine that her Catholic faith affected her consideration of the script for the film, which is titled The Golden Compass.The fantasy film is based on a novel by Philip Pullman called Northern Lights. It is already attracting attention in the US for avoiding much of the book's perceived anti-Catholic rhetoric.Kidman said some of the religious elements...

LONDON – A debate over a movie’s anti-religious antagonism – or lack thereof – is heating up ahead of its upcoming release, with some accusing Hollywood of “castrating” the anti-Catholic themes present in the novel from which it is based. The expected blockbuster, “The Golden Compass,” is named after the American title of best-selling author Philip Pullman’s novel “Northern Lights” and will star actress Nicole Kidman and James Bond star Daniel Craig. The original children’s novel, part of Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series, rejects organized religion – in particular, the Catholic Church – and critics of the movie version say...

What with James Dobson threatening to support a third party candidate and others questioning Mitt Romney's faith, I thought it might be relevant to post some thoughts about who or what a Christian is and who gets to determine this definition by a man who was one of the greatest apologists for Christianity ever: C.S. Lewis. What follows is an excerpt from just the Preface of the book "Mere Christianity".

Click for VideoDiscussion takes place in CS Lewis Homeland England celebrating his 100 birthday in 1998