At times, as we watch the unfolding of national and international events, especially with regard to the rise of Islamic facism, I wonder, thinking back, how The Inklings would have viewed things. As they met together in the Eagle and Child and discussed the current events of their time (WWII), what would they have said? If presented with the conundrum we face today, how would they respond? It seems to me that Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, Barfield, and the others had a pretty clear vision of right and wrong, good and evil. They weren't confused about this. In their writings, they were responding, in many ways, to the moral and ethical drift and even degeneration they were witnessing in their day and we see this in our day too -- only to an even greater extent, in my opinion. How interesting it would be to hear their thoughts.
Regarding islamism, Lewis might point out that the terrorists are in violation of the "Tao", the universal code he details at the end of the Abolition of Man, known in virtually all cultures. Bernard Lewis in his recent book (Crisis in Islam: holy war and unholy terror) actually says that Islamic law itself does not allow for what the terrorist propose and practice in both suicide bombing and the deliberate targeting of the innocent. He points out, for instance, that the ancient order of the assassins targeted major leaders and killed them close at hand--but while they usually died in the act, they died not at their own hand but at the hands of the leader's defenders). There is a lot of point/counterpoint in Regress as well--Lewis could see both sides of an issue, and that one often cancels the other. Thus, for instance, the hot sensuality and feeling he characterized metaphorically as "southern"; over against which he puts "northern" intellectual humanist aridity. I'm sure he would see islamism as a current fascism; nevertheless he would not see western hedonistic materialism as a viable alternative.
A few offhand thoughts.
--Bryan Zacharias
--Mark Zacharias
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