zooplankton77
September 14th, 2005, 04:48 PM
What a senior devil might think about religion and politics
Peter Wehner
Excerpted with permission from "What's God Got to Do With the American Experiment?," edited by E.J. Dionne Jr. and John J. DiIulio Jr. Excerpts from the book will be featured on Beliefnet throughout the convention season.
In 1942 the Christian writer and Oxford don C. S. Lewis wrote one of his most influential books, "The Screwtape Letters," in which a senior devil, Screwtape, instructs a junior devil, Wormwood, in the art of temptation. Lewis's intent was to illuminate matters having to do with faith, life, and human folly by writing about the Christian faith from the perspective of the Devil (thus God is spoken of as "the Enemy"). This chapter contemplates what both Professor Lewis and Screwtape might say about religion and politics in our time.
I am recruiting you to do our work in a target-rich environment: politics. It is true that the Enemy has sometimes used politics to advance what He foolishly cares about--things like "justice" and "human dignity," "righteousness" and "mercy." But the good news for us is that being actively involved in politics without being seduced by it can be difficult--and human folly and egoism strongly work in our favor. As long as your patients remain oblivious to the snares of worldliness, they become unwitting instruments in our cause.
Continued- http://www.beliefnet.com/story/35/story_3552_1.html
Peter Wehner
Excerpted with permission from "What's God Got to Do With the American Experiment?," edited by E.J. Dionne Jr. and John J. DiIulio Jr. Excerpts from the book will be featured on Beliefnet throughout the convention season.
In 1942 the Christian writer and Oxford don C. S. Lewis wrote one of his most influential books, "The Screwtape Letters," in which a senior devil, Screwtape, instructs a junior devil, Wormwood, in the art of temptation. Lewis's intent was to illuminate matters having to do with faith, life, and human folly by writing about the Christian faith from the perspective of the Devil (thus God is spoken of as "the Enemy"). This chapter contemplates what both Professor Lewis and Screwtape might say about religion and politics in our time.
I am recruiting you to do our work in a target-rich environment: politics. It is true that the Enemy has sometimes used politics to advance what He foolishly cares about--things like "justice" and "human dignity," "righteousness" and "mercy." But the good news for us is that being actively involved in politics without being seduced by it can be difficult--and human folly and egoism strongly work in our favor. As long as your patients remain oblivious to the snares of worldliness, they become unwitting instruments in our cause.
Continued- http://www.beliefnet.com/story/35/story_3552_1.html