C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis, (1898-1963), British novelist

C. S. Lewis Quote

“I do not like the pretensions of Government -- the grounds on which it demands my obedience -- to be pitched too high. I don't like the medicine-man's magical pretensions nor the Bourbon's Divine Right. This is not solely because I disbelieve in magic and in Bossuet's Politique. I believe in God, but I detest theocracy. For every Government consists of mere men and is, strictly viewed, a makeshift; if it adds to its commands 'Thus saith the Lord', it lies, and lies dangerously. On just the same ground I dread government in the name of science. That is how tyrannies come in. In every age the men who want us under their thumb, if they have any sense, will put forward the particular pretension which the hopes and fears of that age render most potent. They 'cash in'. It has been magic, it has been Christianity. Now it will certainly be science. Perhaps the real scientists may not think much of the tyrants' 'science'-- they didn't think much of Hitler's racial theories or Stalin's biology. But they can be muzzled.”

C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis
~ C. S. Lewis

Willing Slaves of the Welfare State, first published in The Observer on July 20, 1958
http://liberty-tree.ca/research/willing_slaves_of_the_welfare_state

Ratings and Comments


Mike, Norwalk

That I could rate this quote with innumerable stars a countless number of times, YES ! ! !

E Archer, NYC

Extremes of secularism and religionism determine the battle lines, but collectivism of any stripe ultimately centralizes power into the hands of a few. Dictates from such bodies funnel rivers of income from the 'followers' to the 'leaders' who then harness that power to build and protect their rackets. The tyrant attempts to place himself between any 2 entities to take a cut of whatever is changing hands. From religious wars to 'Climate Change' the real purpose is to secure power. Not one dime of carbon tax will change the climate, but it will determine who will get rich.

There is no 'settled science' -- that is not science. It is never settled -- what we don't know far exceeds that which we think we know. And as far as religion goes, they can't all be right, so someone is definitely wrong. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism -- they are competing power structures that vary widely in the following of their own dogmas. But historically, religion has been the primary force to govern a people as subjects of Crown and Priest. The secularists reject the Crown and Priest but merely replace them with their equivalents but call them by other names -- while they reject the notion of God, they do not reject the right to rule over others -- they have simply made themselves God.

Mike, Norwalk

Thank you Archer, said well.

Warrdoc, Elk Grove

Thank you, I have gained so much from this website

Patrick, Seattle

Shut up and take your vaccine, Lewis, you Trumper. The Pfizer… or, um… I mean the Government said you have to for your own good and in the name of science. It’s like Fauci said, any attack on Fauci is an attack on science itself.

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