by Theo » July 5th, 2006, 10:43 am
I've been away for some time so I hadn't noticed the question before. Brief recap on my religious position: raised Christian, gradually lost faith (or at least certain conviction) between about 15 and 20, now agnostic. I do consider myself very much a Christian-based agnostic and still adhere to most if not all of the moral and philosophical principles I grew up with. I think Allan S referred to himself as an agnostic Christian, and I guess you could call me a Christian agnostic. (Or if it was the other way around.) I remain strongly attached to many principles I would not hesitate to call Christian.
What draws me to a C. S. Lewis website? Well, most obviously, I'm a fan of Lewis and have been since I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at age six or seven. It started my lifelong love for fantasy.
I've read most of Lewis' work, except The four loves, The discarded image, Loki bound, The dark tower and some hard-to-find essays (I would really very much like to get my hands on his essay on George Orwell, another of my favourite authors), and I've liked most of it. I've read most of the books both as a practicing Christian kid or teenager and as an agnostic adult. The Narnia and Space Trilogy books have lost very little. They are still powerful fantasy stories, and the Christian symbolism in them is for the most part neither a strength nor a weakness - it's a part of their character. I do have some problems with The Last Battle, mostly because that's the one book in which I find the religious themes as they are implemented become obtrusive and structurally harm the book, but I'll save that for another thread. The point is that my objections are aesthetical.
The apologetics are somewhat different but not that much. I'm far less impressed by the arguments in Mere Christianity now than when I was 14, and I never much liked The Problem of Pain, but books like The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce are still powerful and thought-provoking even though I don't agree with their metaphysical assumptions.
Rus, I think you're making a bigger deal out of this than is valid. Lots of people read and love authors whose political and religious stances they may not agree with. Most who read and love Jonathan Swift do not agree with his vehemently misanthropic outlook, for example.
I agree with Lewis on a number of points, disagree strongly on others, and shrug about yet others.
Member of the Religious Tolerance Cabal of the Wardrobe
“First they came for Abdul Rahman and I spoke out because I was a Muslim. Then they came for the Palestinians and I raised hell because I was a Jew. Then they came for the Iraqis and I protested because I was an American. Then they came for the Muslims and I spoke out because I was a Christian, Then they came for the poor and I spoke out because I was rich. By the time they came for me, I had all the support a man could ask for.”