XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis   
   From: Gotta_lose@this_spam.com   
      
   AJA wrote:   
      
   > I find over 40 references in CSL works about war.  (CSL Index compiled   
   > by Janine Goffar- highly recommended.)   
   > Basically in a nutshell Lewis says that war is quite literally hell, but   
   > that certain wars prevent even greater evils. For instance:  "If you   
   > cannot restrain a man by any method except by trying to kill him, then   
   > it seems to me a Christian must do that."  (God in the Dock, 49)  Not   
   > that war is in any way good, but it may be the lesser evil.   
      
   Well to me that sounds a lot like my guess.   
      
   >I've never   
   > had to make the choice. Therefore, I can be as rabid a pacifist as I   
   > like.  And that's my coward's way out.  Lewis had to make the choice-   
   > and suffered greatly for it.   
      
   I don't think your 'cowards' description of yourself   
   falls in line with what Lewis was talking about when   
   he expressed such thoughts. He probably didn't have   
   any problem at all with pacifism per say. Lewis'   
   grumblings are very much like what is very common   
   in battle tested veterans. The cowardice that they   
   hate is epitomized by the man who cowers in a nice   
   safe spot in the rear while his friends face death   
   protecting the very spot where he sits. In trenches   
   that image, real or imaginary, extends back to those   
   who avoid service. They sit at home, get rich, drink   
   beer and take advantage of the wives and girlfriends   
   of the boys who suffer to keep them safe. Hitler   
   recruited a whole army of brown shirted anti-Semites   
   rubbing this sore spot in the hearts of German war   
   vets.   
      
   That's why I thought Lewis' sentiments in this respect   
   were somewhat parochial. You would think that over time   
   he would mellow a bit and come to see some of that   
   thinking as being not too realistic. It seems, though,   
   that he carried at least some of that resentment to   
   the grave with him.   
      
   Yours in Christ   
      
   John   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)