The Problem of Pain – C. S. Lewis (1940)
This, I think is something the whole world needs to heed before it is too late to put things right.
“It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age. But if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door and this dragon is religion.” (Bertrand Russell)
HRH Prince Charles – Thought for the Day (BBC Radio 4 – 23 December 2016)
Talking about the conflict and unrest within the modern world.
All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. I was born in 1948 – just after the end of World War II in which my parents' generation had fought, and died, in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism, and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. That, nearly 70 years later, we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past.
He ended the speech with a beautiful message and an impassioned plea to bear in mind the lessons that we've learned from history.
Normally, at Christmas, we think of the birth of our Lord Jesus Chris. I wonder, though, if this year we might remember how the story of the Nativity unfolds with the fleeing of the Holy Family to escape violent persecution. And we might also remember that when the prophet Muhammed migrated from Mecca to Medina, he did so because he too was seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship. Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same: to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God.”
http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/media/speeches/hrh-the-prince-of-wales-presents-thought-the-day-bbc-radio-4