I spoke just now of fiddling while Rome burns. But to a Christian the true tragedy of Nero must be not that he fiddled while the city was on fire but that he fiddled on the brink of hell. You must forgive me for the crude monosyllable. I know that many wiser and better Christians than I in these days do not like to mention heaven and hell even in the pulpit. I know, too, that nearly all the references to this subject in the New Testament come from a single source. But then that source is Our Lord himself. People will tell you it is St. Paul, but that is untrue. These overwhelming doctrines are dominical. They are not really removable from the teaching of Christ or of His Church. If we do not believe them, our presence in this church is great tomfoolery. If we do, we must overcome our spiritual prudery and mention them.
–C. S. Lewis, “Learning in War-Time”
Americans are so fixated on C. S. Lewis. ಠ_ಠ
But one might note that Brits pioneered bombing of civilians at around this point in history. Eventually the Yanks stopped resisting….
This was evidently written before Bishop Fulton Sheen reminded the world that Heaven and Hell should be capitalized “Because they are places. You know, like Scarsdale.”