Since I don't think many people read my blog – and since I rarely add original content – I am going to set proprieties aside for this post.
I have been reading CS Lewis' book Mere Christianity. Admittedly, I am no scholar in this field, but I have developed a few concerns with some of the arguments he has made in this manifesto... namely concerning the (according to Clive) abominable sin of PRIDE. Lewis believes this sin to be at the root of all sin, and the most unrecognized among all sins, especially among non Christians. This idea is nothing new, after all, Pride is one of the Seven Deadly sins; pride has been understood as very destructive to the human spirit; and pride runs directly counter to humility.
What bothers me most about this critique of pride, is that it is almost unavoidable. How does one defeat pride? One defeats pride, by making an effort to do so, and if successful, one cannot help but feel proud of there efforts... but then... fuck.... you're being prideful and you're back at square one. This all follows the same stem of logic in how we can never be purely altruistic, as we cannot avoid all residual sense of satisfaction for what we do or give.
Pride, I believe is a caustic element of human nature. Unfortunately however, all accomplishment is closely followed by pride; and awareness of that pride is self depreciating; and self depreciation is humility's evil twin; and even coming to the point of realizing that... will prompt some residual pride. So, in the end, pride is something we have to live with. It is not something we need to wear on our sleeves, or encourage in our actions; it is something that we should scrutinize, but not defeat.
JW
