Black.... and what it is

Elfiet

Elfiet

Comme je fus
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Grew (growing) a great fondness of C.S. Lewis. Currently reading, "Mere Christianity". In a chapter, I quote, " .... to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally, we shall insist on seeing everything - God and our friends and ourselves included - as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred."

hmmm... made me take a step a back and wonder if I am seeing everything in its true color.

Would welcome your comments on the quote before I say more.
 
I wonder... do I perhaps see white when it is black? Not recommended to black when grey.... but is it ok (beneficial) to see white when it is black?
 
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Elfiet said:
" .... to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally, we shall insist on seeing everything - God and our friends and ourselves included - as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred."
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Hyperbole, taking anything to the extreme doesn't seem that useful me...but I also don't know what he is gong on about
 
My interpretation is seeing evil in many things, in more and more things until everything is evil. I think this is very true about society as a whole through periods in time, back and forth between a fear of everything and rose tinted glasses.
 
Ah....and thanx...that makes sense. I have seen people age with both...watched them.go thru life.

Hence I choose the rose colored.
 
Here is the background to the quote:
Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one's first feeling, 'Thank God, even they aren't quite so bad as that,' or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils.

.... therefore, to avoid fate with the devil, one should not see something blacker that what it really is.
This whole theme been replaying in my head for quite some time. On one end you have the devil that waits.... if you indulge to the dark side. But I started thinking about the polar opposite - and where that may lead.

Would it be acceptable to deem a situation that is quite black as being grey... In the polar opposite direction, we would eventually learn to see at least a little white no matter how black it may be. Is this a good thing? Keeping a positive light in situations sounds like a good thing and right thing to do. Does it lead us to the path of the polar opposite of the Devil... which then must be God on the other end. But at what point, if there is at all, are we just fooling ourselves and pulling a white blanket over our eyes. Or does it not really matter so long we walk in the direction of God? Will our faith be strengthen on this white road we take? Just rambling here about the thoughts that were provoked.

- Ahh yes. Rose-tinted glasses! First time I hear this phrase... I think that is how I am steering the quote.
 
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Thankfully I don't believe in that critter...

I see the adversary as my internal demons...no entity...just those little cartoons on each shoulder...

Or in native tradition, the two wold story
 
Elfiet said:
But at what point, if there is at all, are we just fooling ourselves and pulling a white blanket over our eyes. Or does it not really matter so long we walk in the direction of God?
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This is a serious danger indeed. Plus it also leads us into believing what we want to believe instead of what is. Which is a serious issue in modern America more than most any other country.

Not that the philosophy isn't sound. Just that one has to tip toe carefully into putting the most positive spin on an event versus white washing that event. There are many events that are simply wrong, and yes, completely evil. They should not be made out to be anything other than what they are.
 
Devils' Advocate said:
... leads us into believing what we want to believe instead of what is.

There are many events that are simply wrong, and yes, completely evil. They should not be made out to be anything other than what they are.
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Thanks for the comments, DA.

The OP quote was from a chapter on forgiveness. For those new to C.S.Lewis (a writer during war time), I leave you with a couple of other quotes from this same chapter.... just because it rattles in my head and need to get it out (and also perhaps the reader here may enjoy the philosophy):

"... I remember Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate the bad man's actions, but not hate the bad man: or, as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner."

"Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves - to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not."
 
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