What C.S. Lewis Would Say About The War on Terror and the TSA's New Procedures

Before I submit the following C. S. Lewis quote (which is remarkably relevant to the issue of Islamic terrorism the world faces today), let me remind you that Lewis lived in a world far more terrifying than the one we inhabit today. The United States suffered a horrifying attack ten years ago and a few intermittent attacks in the following years, such as the Ft. Hood shooting, but consider for a moment, how widespread the devastation of World War II's air raids were on Europe's major cities.

The atomic bomb introduced another horror to the mind of mid-twentieth century man, and in his essay "On Living in an Atomic Age (1948)," C. S. Lewis wrote the following sage admonition:

"If we are going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things -- praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts -- not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They might break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds."

How easily we could apply Lewis' wisdom to terrorism! By simply replacing "atomic bomb" with "terrorism" we can surmise what Lewis might tell us today:

"If we are going to be destroyed by [a terrorist attack], let that [attack] when it comes find us doing sensible and human things -- praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts -- not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about [terrorism, or feeling up nuns and children in airports]. [Terrorists] might break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds."

Wes Messamore,
Editor in Chief, THL
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