The gospel according to Sinclair Lewis:
“It is, I think, an error to believe that there is any need of religion to make life seem worth living.”
Some have chosen to keep their heads in the clouds—or in the sand for that matter—rather than think to the logical extent of their own philosophical underpinnings, others have realized the “NAUSEA” of lives lived within a purely secular construct. Its too gritty.
Jean-Paul Sartre wrote with a sense of discomfort to the purely material life.
It was Repulsive.
It was Nauseous.
It was without a grander picture of life, leaving one with a sick sort of feeling in the stomach. The assault of the physical world upon the person—who is more than just bits of matter—results in a sort of existential angst.
There seems to be more.
Though Mr. Sinclair had a decided disadvantage in this respect, Sartre wrote this book about 9 years after his death. Certainly such ideas weren’t invented by the author but merely brought to light in a fresh way. Much of the angst that was experienced by people who believed that religion had died with the Medieval Era was the consequence of reducing life to bits and pieces of existence.
Perhaps Mr. Sinclair is right on the mark.
“It is, I think, an error to believe that there is any need of religion to make life SEEM worth living.”
So it seems that his careful wording offers of way of pursuing the life of worth while not determining what it means to have worth. Perhaps the question ought to be worded with this in mind.
What makes life worth living?
What makes life seem worth living?
Arguably, the first question speaks of a certainty that one often finds within the walls of a church. But let us not forget that church walls are built on belief. This is truth in advertising. Admittedly, the second question has an appearance of the first without any of the certainty. Let us take note when those of a certain creed not found in church documents begin to speak with greater certainty than their foundation can muster. There is some underhanded business going on.
Along with this certainty come a nausea that sickens the soul of man.
This thought can make a man sick.
