Mike Johnson reminds me of Tom Nichols' homage to The Screwtape Letters in The Bulwark back in 2019. In part 7, Screwtape advised Wormwood as follows regarding the latter's "patient":
"You take what the man values and defends, and then force him to lie about it in order to protect his sense of himself. In a very short time, you will find …
Mike Johnson reminds me of Tom Nichols' homage to The Screwtape Letters in The Bulwark back in 2019. In part 7, Screwtape advised Wormwood as follows regarding the latter's "patient":
"You take what the man values and defends, and then force him to lie about it in order to protect his sense of himself. In a very short time, you will find that he ends up caring only that he can stay near the continual narcotic of power. Without even realizing it, he will be driven by ego and by a growing fear of being found out for the hypocrite he is. Soon, it will become second nature to him to mobilize his religious beliefs as self-serving protection while the actual voice of the Enemy, if he hears it at all, will be only a dim and muffled annoyance."
Marcus, you're welcome. I hadn't read Screwtape before Tom did his homage, but I've been going through the various chapters of the original one by one. If you're interested, Lewis' letter 7 touches on men who make the world an end and faith the means. My favorite passage in Tom's homage is found in his part 7:
"Convincing humans to do evil in the name of the Enemy is still one of our finest maneuvers, and you will find it highly enjoyable."
And remember that the “Enemy” in the Screwtape Letters is God. It’s amazing how apt for today are CS Lewis’ writing, as well as the quotes from bygone philosophers and leaders that Bill Kristol finds and cites for us.
Mike Johnson reminds me of Tom Nichols' homage to The Screwtape Letters in The Bulwark back in 2019. In part 7, Screwtape advised Wormwood as follows regarding the latter's "patient":
"You take what the man values and defends, and then force him to lie about it in order to protect his sense of himself. In a very short time, you will find that he ends up caring only that he can stay near the continual narcotic of power. Without even realizing it, he will be driven by ego and by a growing fear of being found out for the hypocrite he is. Soon, it will become second nature to him to mobilize his religious beliefs as self-serving protection while the actual voice of the Enemy, if he hears it at all, will be only a dim and muffled annoyance."
Thanks for cluing me in to these. 2019 may have been before I arrived at the Bulwark.
To anyone looking for them, here's the first in the series:
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-screwtape-letters
The others can be found by searching for the title "The Screwtape Letters, Part ___".
Marcus, you're welcome. I hadn't read Screwtape before Tom did his homage, but I've been going through the various chapters of the original one by one. If you're interested, Lewis' letter 7 touches on men who make the world an end and faith the means. My favorite passage in Tom's homage is found in his part 7:
"Convincing humans to do evil in the name of the Enemy is still one of our finest maneuvers, and you will find it highly enjoyable."
And remember that the “Enemy” in the Screwtape Letters is God. It’s amazing how apt for today are CS Lewis’ writing, as well as the quotes from bygone philosophers and leaders that Bill Kristol finds and cites for us.
Tom did a really nice job channeling Lewis and his distrust of men who use their faith as a cloak to conceal their true selves.