Man or Rabbit?

"Man or Rabbit" is an essay in which C.S. Lewis answers the question of whether or not we can still live a good and successful life without being a Christian. Lewis first describes how Christians and non-Christians act differently and how their definitions of good are different. Christians know that individuals are the most important because they are eternal while materialists believe that civilizations and organizations are the most important because they can last much longer than a human will live. This causes materialists to try to do whatever brings the most happiness to the most amount of people. Lewis also says that their definition of happiness is wrong though. They think that happiness is whatever makes you feel best; while Christians believe that the only way to bring people true and lasting happiness is to unite them with God. The real question that is being asked is not whether you can be good without being a Christian but rather, "Need I bother about it? Mayn't I just evade the whole issue, just let sleeping dogs lie, and get on with my being 'good'? Aren't good intentions enough to keep me safe without knocking at that dreadful door and making sure there is or isn't someone inside?" They don't want to bother with it because they are worried that they might find the truth and then that could disturb what they think is a good life. "He is like the man who won't go to the doctor when he first feels a mysterious pain because he is afraid of what the doctor might tell him." "Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying." I like this quote a lot because it is a great picture of what happens to many people. They think they can live a good life without God, and when they finally reach their summit, they are left there by themselves either to freeze, or to go back down right to where they started.