My but Mr. Chesterton was all over the map in Chapter Two. I am going to touch on some of the things he wrote about that impacted me. In Chapter Two, Chesterton mentions a pamphlet written by Mr. G. W. Foote in which Mr. Foote said, ‘ a picture of a drunkard’s liver would be more efficacious in the matter of temperance than any prayer of praise.’ Do you remember those living lung displays they would bring into school every year to show us what a diseased smoker’s lung looked like? I do. It worked on me, that is, until the memory of it faded and my friend’s influence took hold. We do have pictures now a days of things that are bad for us, and people protest them and are offended, as usual, by the truth. Posters in subways of the effects of abortion on a woman’s body are considered religious propaganda even though the science is there to back it up.
In Chapter two, Chesterton goes on to write about how some influential writer’s of his time went to great lengths to muddle things and in one example, Ibsen wrote two particular plays that Chesterton mentions. In, The Wild Duck, when the truth is revealed, it destroys the lives of the family that had previously been ‘enjoying’ life living their lie. In, Pillars of Society, it is falsehoods, or telling lies, that brings the family to ruin. Oh,how often we see this in our modern society, where people embrace whatever, ‘truth’, “works for them”.
The truth is not like a litter of puppies, you can’t just walk up to the one that best suits you and take it home and nurture it until it becomes your reality. Sometimes, the truth bites us, that is called conviction.
Finally, Chesterton writes about all the things we do and talk about to avoid talking about what is good. Is it because if we discuss that there is something good then there must also be something bad to balance the good? ‘Good’, has become the new elephant in the room. It has to be since all other dirty laundry has not only been exposed, but hung up to be bowed down to as being normal and laws are being passed to protect abhorrent behavior. Calling, a spade a spade, is now considered, ‘hate speech’. You cannot keep your modesty and propriety without being ‘phobic’. The ‘rights’ of less than 3% of the population have been protected while the other 97% must suffer and have their rights stripped from them, shockingly unprotected by those they placed in office.
Here is a quote from Chesterton’s Heretics, Chapter Two on what is good:
Every one of the popular modern phrases and ideals is a dodge in order to shirk the problem of what is good. We are fond of talking about “liberty”; that, as we talk of it, is a dodge to avoid discussing what is good. We are fond of talking about “progress”; that is a dodge to avoid discussing what is good. We are fond of talking about “education”; that is a dodge to avoid discussing what is good. The modern man says, “Let us leave all these arbitrary standards and embrace liberty.” This is, logically rendered, “Let us not decide what is good, but let it be considered good not to decide it.” He says, “Away with your old moral formulae; I am for progress.” This, logically stated, means, “Let us not settle what is good; but let us settle whether we are getting more of it.” He says, “Neither in religion nor morality, my friend, lie the hopes of the race, but in education.” This, clearly expressed, means, “We cannot decide what is good, but let us give it to our children.”
So, I boldly declare what I know is good.
WHAT IS GOOD: marriage between a man and a woman, respecting men (especially husbands being respected by their wives), getting to know our neighbors, praying, standing up for the rights of Christians, opening our houses up to others, forgiving our enemies, waiting until marriage to have sex, keeping the body clean of drugs and chemicals, looking nice, speaking to others with respect, being polite, using good manners, speaking softly in public, not letting children run crazy in public, driving the speed limit and obeying traffic laws, repenting and turning away from sin, fighting against those who would try and tear down society in favor of fashionable immorality. That is not the end of the list, but I will stop there as I think you get my point. There is good and there is bad. There is right and there is wrong. How could this even be arguable?
Don’t forget Mr. Linky.
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