About

The trousered ape comes from a book by C.S. Lewis titled The Abolition of Man. The trousered ape, according to Lewis, has been stripped of his intellect by the modern education system and therefore only survives and thrives off of instinct. The counter-part to the ape is the urban blockhead, a person, equally damaged by modern education, who has training but nether education nor knowledge. It is a person who lacks the ability to foster an appreciation for beauty, the arts, nature, or humanity.

I chose the name trousered ape because it is how I imagine that the majority of the world views me, and perhaps themselves. They common view is that humanity is evolved monkey’s and that all things are relative (morals, truth, religion, etc). If we are nothing more than determinism, then we bear no responsibility for our actions and inactions since it is a matter of instinct and not choice. I, on the other hand, contend that this is not the case. I believe that there are absolutes that we are anchored to, that we are free-will creatures with the ability to choose right and wrong. We are responsible for what we do and say because we are more than a product of blind chance, slaves to our evolutionary genes.

I also chose the name because I am not that. I was created in the image of God, as we all were, imbued with the God-given ability to reason, t think logically and critically about issues, to engage in rational and reasonable discussions in a gentle and respectful manner (I hope) while still evaluating and critiquing the ideas they brought to the discussion. The intellectual war should be fought against ideas and not necessarily the people who hold them.

The Apostle Paul wrote,

“For though we live as human beings, we do not wage ware according to human standards, for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NET)

C.S. Lewis echoed this when he said,

“To be ignorant and simple now - not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground - would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.”