My dear Wormwood,
I am filled with pride at your recent successes. You have made such formidable progress in just these few short weeks with both the male and the female patient, though particularly with the female. Congratulations are in order. You have outdone yourself and made Our Father below rejoice over his recent acquisitions. You truly took to heart what I told you long ago about rejecting argument when dealing with these humans, and relying on jargon as your best ally in keeping them in our clutches. Remember how I told you that by “the very act of arguing, you awake the patient’s reason; and once it is awake, who can foresee the result?” Those are words to live by, Wormwood. And your hard work is only just beginning to pay off. You will see your success grow immeasurably, as your two patients take the same methods you have used on them and apply them to the large number of other humans that they address in their speeches, thus becoming your foot soldiers and recruiting untold numbers of other souls to our fold. Bravo, Wormwood. Again, I applaud you.
Your success with the female patient is particularly gratifying, given her outspoken allegiance to the Enemy. She claims to be a Christian, one of those of renewed personal faith, or “born again,” as they are called these days. Though normally we are in the danger zone with any creatures who tie themselves to the Enemy, fortunately for us she is of that particular breed that is filled with the righteous arrogance that sometimes comes to those who are reawakened or converted to the Enemy’s path, the firm and unwavering belief that they know the truth, that they are perpetuating the Enemy’s will, and that they have a mission to spread that “truth” to as many other humans as possible. Arrogance, as we know, is ripe breeding ground for our work, and, when coupled with fierce ambition, as it is in her case, it is a golden opportunity to plant our seeds and watch them grow. Thus she is a specially valuable asset to our cause, as she can do our work while maintaining the charade of belonging to the Enemy’s camp. We know that this works wonders with these humans, there is almost no limit to the atrocities that they can commit without persecution, if it is done in the name of Christianity.
Despite your success, you must not rest on your laurels, dear nephew, as it is Our Father’s great wish that these two patients of yours will win this contest and become the leaders of their people, thus giving them unlimited opportunities to spread our messages to the other human animals of their country, and potentially to those of all the world. Just think of all the souls that we shall welcome below as a result of your efforts! You have worked your way to this trusted position, which is why these two precious subjects were placed in your hands, but you must continue your assault without pause. I am continuously observing the behavior of your patients, and want to point out to you a few crucial moments that are most telling of the strides you have made with them, and, consequentially, with their faithful followers.
This is beautiful work. You have obviously listened when I told you that “some ages are lukewarm and complacent, and then it is our business to soothe them yet faster asleep. Other ages, of which the present is one, are unbalanced and prone to faction, and it is our business to inflame them.” And as we have discussed, what better way to inflame them than to play to their fears, fear of the “other,” the unfamiliar, but especially, as this is a nation of humans that is particularly fearful and has suffered from an attack of terrorism in recent memory, fear of fear. For what is terrorism? It is the use of terror, or fear, as a weapon. An incredibly delicious idea. So a fear of terrorism is in fact a fear of greater fear. Your patient’s extremely skillful inciting of this fear regarding her opponent is an exemplary achievement for you, for it displays her willingness to listen to your influence, to play upon and invigorate the fears of her followers, and to encourage in them their most base emotion: fear of the other. Fortunately for us the opponent in this case can easily be classified by this group of humans as the other, as his skin is dark, which for many of them tends to be reason enough to despise, discredit and fear him.
Another moment I would like to analyze, if you would indulge me, is this telling exchange between the male patient and his listening crowd. Here he is also emphasizing that his opponent is unknown, and therefore scary to those that want the comfort of familiar faces and names in their leaders. You did well to encourage this kind of approach in your subject, as it elicits just the kind of ignorant and angry response from his followers that we are hoping for.
If you will allow me this one criticism, your subject does not seem to be entirely pleased with the shout of “terrorist!” that his appeal to the crowd has drawn, as he visibly grimaces and looks surprised. You must try harder, my nephew, for he must not waver in his attack. Keep up the pressure, and he will be fully in your grasp, like the female patient so clearly is. Remember what I told you, “all mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.” To your credit, your patient did not condemn the human’s outburst, but continued with his rhetoric, which was a beautiful strategy of accusing his opponent of the very acts that both of your patients are in fact guilty of.
Yes, my dear Wormwood, these displays on the part of your patients and their followers are very heartening to me and to Our Father below, especially as they appear to be increasing in frequency, and in vehemence. It has come to my attention that the human animals attending these gatherings held by your patients are becoming increasingly vitriolic, and even calling for violence towards the opponent. You realize if you succeed in bringing about violence between humans as a direct result of your influence, you will undoubtedly be promoted to the next level. If you manage – and I tremble with excitement at the thought – to bring about murder as a result of your work, you will be forever in Our Father’s graces, and there is no telling where he will place you next.
However I must be harsh with you for a moment, for as you grow closer to realizing your goal, I’m afraid that you might get a bit sloppy from your desperate desire to succeed. You see, your two patients, despite your best efforts, are not winning in their contest. They are winning with their followers, but they are losing with the general population of humans, because their tactics are too transparent. Humans in general don’t like to see our methods being carried out before their eyes, and if it is too obvious, they will reject your patients and turn to their opponent, which may mean that they reject us and become vulnerable to the Enemy. You must stop this. You must be more careful in your work with these two, for although I think we are safe in assuming that their souls are ours at this point, as well as many of their followers, we want to keep our eyes on the greater prize, the vast number of souls we can reach if they attain a position of power. I know I told you to keep up the attack, however you must also be more subtle, stop pushing them so hard so fast. Remember, as I told you long ago, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” Bring them along softly, my dear nephew, and we will have not only their souls, but the millions that they bring with them.
Your affectionate uncle,
SCREWTAPE
PS: So as not to leave you too crestfallen or discouraged by my final words, I am including some evidence of the wonderfully wicked ideas and attitudes displayed by some of your patients’ loyal followers. I watch them often, as it warms my heart to know that the ignorance, prejudice, fear and unmasked hatred displayed here are the result of your labors. Fine work, my boy, mighty fine work.
*****************************
The above piece is a reference to The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis. Though it does cite some of his phrases, it is solely and completely written by me, in an attempt to approximate his style.
NC
This is great…you have C.S. Lewis’s style down.
Thank you. I am honored.
A hard pit of fear formed in my stomach after watching those videos. As harsh as the letter at first seemed, it did not seem harsh enough after watching those videos. Nazi Germany comes to mind. That such hatred and ignorance is possible in this country, in this day and age, really scares the shit out of me.
My dear
Thank you very much for the fine Screw and for the two nice snippets of the candidates. Sarah is getting as good at dropping her g’s as Obama is. Perhaps she’s closin’ on him. It was good of you to give John an opportunity to protest the unwillingness of Barack’s supporters to discuss burning issues like his association with Ayres, which some of us, perhaps more afraid for America than others, worry about. The clip itself is brilliant. We watch the falling Dow, and see a crawl of homeless families in Massachusetts, as background.
I was pleased to see that there were many people ready to respond to the taunts of the press and the counter-demonstration. Unfortunately, people can be prodded into the vilest fits of anger. Most of my friends are Liberals, and I have seen two of them explode (in restaurants where I was treating them to dinner), one at my friendly mention of Bush, and the other at my mention of Rumsfeld. The first, a peaceful young gent from New Jersey, merely turned red and started shouting. But the second, an old fraternity brother from Cornell – and I do mean old; I feared for him – turned purple when I told him that I thought Rumsfeld was a wit. He rose up out of his chair, leaned over the table and brought his face close to mine. His eyes were bulging; I didn’t recognize him, as he all but smothered the words trying to come out with such great fury.
I was glad to see that most of these people being prodded by the uninvited did not go so far as to say anything not already known to us all. I especially liked the answer, “everybody dies, don’t they?” to the disgusting question, “Do you think he should die?” My dear, your choice of this video was excellent. But I am sure you do not condone that question. We are getting into dangerous territory, and nobody should be suggesting to anybody, especially on the air, where the suggestion is made to all, that anybody should die. That reporter is potentially inciting to murder.
I appreciated the condemnation of ACORN that was given full press. Although we may applaud their goals, surely none of us can support all of their methods, and we have heard enough from enough sources to know the accusations were correct.
I was sorry to see you, in your perhaps too-good rendering of Screwtape, evoke race, and later, assassination. Even I, an out-spoken fan of Joe Biden, would not introduce the concept of murder in this context. It is irresponsible, especially if you consider the butterfly effect that you mentioned in your first post.
I’m sure there are people who won’t vote for Barack because of his race, but there are more who will vote for him because of it. For most of his supporters, race is an issue. For most of his opponents, it is not. There are far more important things about Barack that concern those who don’t see things his way.
Even the Democrats, in the later primaries, were beginning to reject his candidacy, because in a closed-down corner of the campaign was the fact that he himself listened to, his wife supported, and his daughters were subjected to, a man with the authority of God, degrading and demonizing the very country Barry wants to lead. If the Reverend Wright flap had occurred two months earlier, Hillary would be the Democrat’s candidate.
I wonder… are people really so different, or is that word just an excuse for something else. We are all humans, and our brains should physiologically work in a similar fashion. Maybe some of us are just informed differently, or… misinformed? Certainly, emotions play to the Screwtape’s taste really well, and help this selectivity push us further into the opposing lands of ignorant extremism.
Wow, Hank, thanks for giving us a first hand example of one of the very people that Screwtape is talking about. Sounds like you haven’t just swallowed the right-wing propaganda, you have guzzled it by the barrelful. Your little anecdote mocking your “friends” and their angry reactions to your obvious sympathizing with the architects of a war that has had devastating effects both at home and abroad, is beyond mean and nasty, it is downright shameful.
If goading others into a frothy rage and then pointing at them and laughing is your idea of amusement, then it is no shock that you can call a blogger’s honest mention of the possibility of assassination irresponsible, while condoning the people in a position of power and authority who are in effect encouraging that possibility through their words and actions. More and more people are talking about this, and it has been a concern from the start of Obama’s candidacy, so much so that he received secret service protection earlier than any other presidential candidate in history. So I have to think that you are either completely uninformed, or you have some need to trash this particular blog. Either case, it stinks pretty bad.
Race is not an issue for opponents of Barack? That’s a laugh. Again, you must be living in some cave somewhere, as everyone knows that race is an issue, and you’re the irresponsible one for suggesting that it’s not. Here’s a small example from Al Jazeera tv (so you can’t blame it on CNN or MSNBC, or any of the other regular people out there trying to capture what is really going on with their video cameras):
Not sure what Joe Biden and the butterfly effect (used in a completely different context in the first post) have to do with open and honest discourse about the very real dangers of inciting rage, hatred and fear in underinformed crowds of supporters, but I guess as long as you get your digs in, it’s ok.
Anyway, I think it’s obvious that there is a talk radio line into that cave of yours as you can regurgitate the right-wing talking points on Reverend Wright like a diligent schoolboy. I find it much scarier that there are large numbers of people out there that think the way you do than the fact that Obama and his family attended a church where Reverend Wright spoke. Obama’s ultimate rejection of Wright was a moment that endeared him to a lot more people than not, as it was an obviously painful act on his part. Compare that with the nutcase Kenyan pastor that “laid hands” on Sarah Palin (imagine if that had been Obama in that video?!? he would be finished…. but you’re right, race is not an issue), or her ties to the AIP and “Old Joe” Vogler (who “hated the government of the United States almost as much as he hated wolves and environmentalists”), or with McCain’s clearly political associations and then disassociations with Rev. Parsley.
But, go ahead and mock and spread the lies, Hank. The people aren’t listening, as they are hurting too much over the royal “Screw” of the last eight years. You had your fun, now it’s time to get out of the way and let the grownups come clean up the mess. Thankfully most Americans realize this, and it looks like your dirty tactics won’t work this time. Hallelujah.
Thanks for a great illustration, TJ! That video shows exactly how misinformed can people be, and live happily in that state. Interesting that they are too lazy to dig out the right information, but at the same time not lazy at all when it comes to expressing their hatred. What a pitiful distribution of one’s energy, right?
Pingback: Screwtape Writes Again: A Note on Contemporary Screwtape Letters | A Pilgrim in Narnia