Reading CS Lewis: "Why I Am Not a Pacifist"

I have a new item on my bucket list: I want to read the works of CS Lewis. I've always enjoyed reading Lewis. His gift for the perfect analogy is, I suppose, one of the reasons he is so clear and compelling and why he still has such appeal so many decades after his death in 1963.

Some of his works I know well from frequent exposure. I teach a class on Lewis in my high school, so I read Mere Christianity and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with my students every year. But I've never really read all the way through his essays, stories, and sermons, collected in works such as The World's Last Night, God in the Dock, and Of Other Worlds.

And his letters! Lewis made it a point to respond personally to every letter he ever received from a reader, either in a hand-written note or dictated to his brother Warnie, who typed. It is estimated that he wrote some 10,000 letters. There are three collections that I am aware of, and with that many letters sent to that many fans, I suppose Lewis letters will continue to surface from time to time.

So this is the first of my posts on my readings in the book A Year with CS Lewis, from his essay "Why I am Not a Pacifist."

Lewis argues against pacifism on two grounds:

1. Jesus' admonition to "turn the other cheek" is not to be taken absolutely, to apply in all circumstances (e.g., a student striking a teacher, a criminal attacking an officer) but is rather concerned with inter-personal relationships. This is a distinction I have heard before and which seems reasonable.

Except that the actual pacifism demonstrated by Jesus (and commended later by Peter in his first epistle) did not have anything to do with personal relationships. He was abused by strangers, by representatives of the religious authority and the State. Nothing personal about those attacks, yet Jesus, who had every reason to retaliate, to protect Himself, submitted meekly to those torments.

2. Pacifism is politically impractical. In the end, the strictly observant pacifist is dominated by the bully, whether in the schoolyard or in international relations. In a fallen world, pacifism works well only as a theory, not in real life.

Except that "in the end" the unspeakable suffering of Jesus did prevail -- as did the suffering of the protesters in India and the civil rights activists in the American South. Given enough time, it would appear that it is pacifism, not militarism, that is ultimately triumphant.


This isn't, of course, mere theory. All of us have to make daily decisions about how we will respond to abuse and threats. "Turn the other cheek" and "love your enemy" are what Christ taught and what He exemplified.

And it's not just a personal matter. The Newtown shootings have thrust the gun debate back into the national spotlight. I have yet to hear a Christian argue for the right to bear arms along the lines of WWJD. It seems that whenever a Christian argues for the right to protect and defend with deadly force, the teachings of Jesus must be set aside.

I am no pacifist, but I cannot argue against the biblical soundness of the position.