Good-Bye to All That

RALPH McINERNY

THINGS were supposed to get better once we rid ourselves of prince and priest, but clearly that has not happened. Half a century ago Jean-Paul Sartre chided his fellow atheists for thinking that everything else would remain the same once God was removed from the picture. If there is no God, what restraints can there be on our freedom? None. Vertiginous, Dostoyevskian thoughts occur. Was it Rousseau who wanted his servants to believe in God lest they walk off with the silver? There is a strong whiff of that sentiment in these two books.

RM

About the Author

Ralph McInerny

RALPH McINERNY

THINGS were supposed to get better once we rid ourselves of prince and priest, but clearly that has not happened. Half a century ago Jean-Paul Sartre chided his fellow atheists for thinking that everything else would remain the same once God was removed from the picture. If there is no God, what restraints can there be on our freedom? None. Vertiginous, Dostoyevskian thoughts occur. Was it Rousseau who wanted his servants to believe in God lest they walk off with the silver? There is a strong whiff of that sentiment in these two books.