by Robin Baker
Quite by accident, I came across a short article by Lewis that he wrote just prior to his death, entitled “We Have No ‘Right to Happiness’” (Saturday Evening Post, December 11, 1963). In it, he writes about an emerging issue in culture and even offers thoughts on the American Declaration of Independence. In this short essay, Lewis takes on a growing concept in the West in the mid-20th century that human beings have a “right to sexual happiness.”
In the essay, Lewis conveys that he is having a discussion with a female friend, Clare, who is convinced that men and women, even though they are married, have a basic right to separate from their spouse if they are no longer experiencing sexual fulfillment in the marriage relationship. Clare argues that they have a moral and legal right to separate to seek out sexual fulfillment in another relationship. According to Clare, all people have a right, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, to the “pursuit of happiness.” Men and women are not “bound” by their marriage vows if they cease to experience happiness; they are free to pursue fulfillment elsewhere.
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