C.S. Lewis was a British professor at Magdalene College in Cambridge University during the 1930’s through the 1960’s. Though he is probably remembered more for his role as an author, than as a professor of English Literature. His major contribution to literature was a series of fantasy books on the magical land of Narnia. He is the author of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” among other classic works of fantasy and children’s literature.
Lewis was an outspoken Christian and all his works, whether allegorical fantasy or apologetics, had a strong Christian message. While most famous for the Narnia related works, he wrote several other fantasies that conveyed a similar Christian message. His works were always rooted in the Christian tradition. One of my favorite Lewis works in a novella called, “The Great Divorce”, which is a tour of the gates of Heaven based on the theology of Augustine. It is an enjoyable read yet filled with deep insight.
Another favorite of mine is a book he called “The Screwtape Letters.” This is supposed to be the transcript of a series of letters between a senior demon, Screwtape, and his nephew, Wormwood, who is just starting out in the business of temptation. This is a brilliant reflection on moral decision making and how we allow our conscience to be subverted by corrupt influences and lazy thinking.
This book came to mind recently as the political rhetoric heated up and crazy people sent out bombs or shot the elderly in a Pittsburgh synagogue. One of Screwtape’s favorite tricks of subversion is to make people think that by doing evil, they are doing good. A couple clear examples of this are the bomber and the synagogue shooter. They seem to have viewed themselves as heroes taking on the forces of evil. The bomber wanted to kill prominent Democrats and others that Trump has labeled as his enemies. The shooter felt it necessary to kill Jews because he saw them as a threat to his sick idea of America. If you want to get someone to do evil, have them think they are doing good. The easy task of the tempter is to give people an excuse, a justification for doing evil.
Most rational people see these two men as examples of mentally ill persons, who have gone off the deep end and are acting on the chaotic and psychotic urges that struggle within their sick minds. While it would be comforting to think of these two individuals as extreme and examples of the far distant end of the spectrum of human thought and behavior, the political rhetoric and tone of the recent election cycle suggests otherwise. The practice of instill fear and then divide seemed to be the basic strategy of most elections both nationally and locally.
There were almost constant political commercials on local television stations for two men who were running for Congress from the district where I live. After several months of commercials, I still don’t know what policies or programs either candidate supported. Their commercials simply vilified their opponent. Sad to say, this was one of the mildest campaigns I witnessed this election cycle. A candidate for Governor talked about stomping on the face of his opponent and has been praised for this by an overweight politician famous for his incendiary remarks at rallies and on Twitter.
Christ instructed us that we can know the good from the evil by their fruit. What are the consequences of the words and actions of people? Only a person who purposely wants to be blind to reality can see any good coming from hate-filled rhetoric. I’m not blaming one political party or another, as both seem to have abandoned reason for anger and both have embraced policies that are morally troubling.
President George H. W. Bush died recently. The tributes to this man in the days after his passing tended to focus on two points. He was a man of outstanding character and he was a gentleman. While politics today seems to be a form of mixed martial arts or mudwrestling, Bush was known for his ability to build consensus among people with very different ideas on policy. He could be a tough politician, but he was never ruthless. He seemed to see politics as a way to be of service to the community, as well as a grave moral responsibility for the one who held office. He felt no need to brag about his accomplishments, leaving history to judge his legacy as president and public servant. He always had a smile and a handshake for everyone. James Baker, Bush’s right-hand man during his presidency, was a lifelong friend and had nothing but praise for the president, especially as he played a central role in helping Baker get through the death of his wife years earlier, when Baker still had four small children for whom he needed to care and raise as a single parent. Everyone agreed that Bush was a man of integrity.
Integrity is a virtue that brings all the parts of a person’s character together and links them into one person. If you can trust someone with integrity in small matters, you can trust them in major matters as well. Why? They are not fragmented but every aspect of their character is linked to and influenced by every other aspect of the person’s character. Such integration allows every aspect of a person’s character to reinforce and strengthen the other aspects. It also reflects a basic core of values and attitudes that are expressed in everything the person does.
The easiest way Screwtape would tempt the righteous person would be to find one weakness and focus on it. He would not attack the person’s strengths. It is easiest to undermine the person’s moral resolve in an area where the person already has doubts, failings and on-going struggles. Little temptations in areas of weakness undermines moral resolve little by little. The goal is to fragment the person’s moral judgment by a slow erosion. The more Screwtape can fragment a person’s thinking, the happier the demon is. A person might be a paragon of moral virtue regarding his sexual behavior but in his attitudes toward race, slander, capital punishment or corruption, he may bs so fragmented that he is easy pickings for Screwtape. Eventually the weak areas will erode away, creating major cracks in the person’s character. These cracks then undermine what the person thought were his strengths, so that before long his moral resolve totally collapses. He lacks integrity. Even in the areas where he once had moral strength, the lack of integrity leaves him defenseless.
It is easy to be manipulated nowadays. Advertisers do it to make money. Politicians do it for power. Screwtape does it to tempt souls to their destruction. We have seen that among the prime tricks of manipulation is to convince people to do evil with the idea they are doing good. The other trick is to undermine their moral resolve by encouraging them to fragment their moral sensibilities. Get them to separate out aspects of their lives into separate categories, where morally questionable behavior is acceptable in some categories but not in others. Screwtape knows that eventually the poison will spread and with some patience on his part, he will have them under his control.
