We all have our own inner ring. Our families, friends, classmates, all comprise the ring of people we associate ourselves with. As C.S. Lewis says in his lecture The Inner Ring, “You discover gradually, in almost indefinable ways, that it exists and that you are outside it; and then later, perhaps, that you are inside it”. Sometimes you don’t ask to be admitted into a ring, but just happen to become apart of one.
I agree with Lewis when he says, “Of all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.” Who hasn’t, for want of being a part of that one group of kids, gone along with making fun of someone, or playing pranks? We have all succumbed to “wanting” the Inner Ring, and those who say they have not are succumbing to the need to be liked by the ring of people who have.
But I also believe that it should be remembered that it is not the Rings themselves that are evil. It’s easy to think, “Well, I don’t have to be responsible when the Ring that seduced me turned out to be evil, thus tainting my actions to be apart of it.” Being seduced by fame and money, or even the prospect of acceptance does not excuse sin, nor is it a good reason for any personal action. You do not say, “The devil made me brush my teeth” or “The devil made me go to school”. The devil does not control you, nor does he have any sway over your actions unless you let him.
So it is with the Rings. They are good, but like most good things they can also breed Evil in regards to the lengths people will go to be apart of them. They see the ring as their final destination. That being apart of that Ring will bring them everything they ever wanted. They no long see the forest for the trees, focused on that one objective and willing to do anything to complete it. I believe that it is important, as Ring membership is unavoidable, to evaluate your actions by this statement. “Am I joining this Ring as a ‘means’ or as an ‘end’.”
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Means or an end, I like it. I think this would be good question to ask in almost every situation. I like that you mention that people should be responsible for their own actions and not blame it on the "ring".
ReplyDeleteI like it. Except I think there may have been some morning where I said the Devil made me go to school =). But I do like your explanation of non-excusable sin. As a slightly silver tongued individual I am very good at rationalizing my actions and often need to step back and assess the situation.
ReplyDeleteI like your quote about how the inner ring can make good men do very bad things. I think we've all seen this, or experienced it. I know that many of my ex-friends practically sold their souls for entrance into an inner ring. We must strive to be above that. Being in an inner ring is not bad, making the purpose of that inner ring to keep people out of it can lead to evil.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog I have always associated certain rings with evil in and of themselves however you have convinced me otherwise. While it has been my belief that people are responsible for their actions I had not considered these "evil" rings simply as groups of people and that it was the people within them that drove the evil actions. I think that as I learned in psych class there is such thing as group polarization, a phenomenon that occurs when like minded people gather together their opinions grow more extreme. In any event despite this I think that it is still up to the people themselves to decide in the end and we must realize this as you said.
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