Chris Snead - Outside Reading 1

In my explorations of C. S. Lewis' connection to esoteric practice, I have stumbled upon countless websites created by evangelical Christians who denounce Lewis for his association with what they consider Heresy. One such treasure trove can be found at http://harrypotterpower.com/lewis.html , where the author suggests that Lewis is a pawn of Satan who renounced Christianity in his youth, became deeply involved in Occult practice, and then re-integrated into mainstream Christian culture in order to corrupt it. The author(s) denounce Lewis' works, saying “Books like these cause the mind to prefer an unreal world of fantasy. They make it all the more difficult for a person to properly deal with the hard, stern realities of life, and to successfully resist Satan’s temptations—when they are suddenly presented to them.” - It would seem to me that the author of this website is the one who would prefer an unreal world of fantasy. I do not deny that Lewis was at least somewhat initiated into the esoteric arts, but rather the notion that this is somehow a negative thing. In fact, this is one of the reasons I love Lewis so much! His writing inspired me as a child, and helped to stimulate my imagination – and always there was the feeling of greater meaning, even when I was too young to recognize what such meanings could be. It seems far more likely to me that the author of this website has neglected his history, and as such is unfamiliar with the origins of the dogma to which he clings so desperately. Would that he had, he would know that the books most people would recognize as “the Bible” are heavily censored and doctored – by the early Semitic people, by the Romans, and by the British a few times. He would know that dozens of books were left out – including the source texts for many of the quotes attributed to Christ. Perhaps if he has thought his position through, he would have realized how absurd the notion of Religious Exclusivism is when presuming a Loving God. Would this Being – who is absolutely and completely infallible – allow for the vast majority of the world's population for the majority of time (even in the most stringent Creationist view) to be damned to eternal Hell solely because this Loving God had chosen to incarnate into a physical body and go through a torturous process of death and rebirth...in a place that they had no knowledge of, in a time far removed? Does the author believe that every single Aztec or Tibetan Buddhist is being punished for committing the heinous crime of being born in the wrong place, at the wrong time? Unless the author is attempting to make the assertion that everyone who existed in these cultures before the arrival of Christianity is an illusion of Satan, I don't really see where he is going with this line of reasoning.