- 1 -- The Operations
- 2 -- The Veil Technique
- 3 -- The Fog
- 4 -- Hard Hearts
- 5 -- Focus on Feelings
- 6 -- Blinding Indignation
Dear uncle Screwtape,
I have received your recent letter commending our efforts to inflame blind rage among those within and without the church. I must admit some disappointment that the initial fervor, although quite promising at first, has cooled somewhat. Still, I have learned that such passions can be rekindled when one watches the timing with care. We remain alert for the proper moment to fan the embers anew.
I confess, I was momentarily alarmed by an unexpected countercurrent. Attendance swelled in churches the very next Sunday after the incident, and for a dreadful instant I feared our work had backfired. There was, to be sure, a gratifying measure of rage and indignation. But alongside it was also far too much praying, singing, and -- dare I utter it -- what appeared to be repentance. For a time we feared we had sparked a revival rather than a massacre.
Worst of all, the wife of the slain man stood at his funeral and had the insolence to repeat the Enemy’s sickening maxim about "forgiving one’s enemies." To our disgust, the story spread everywhere. True, we succeeded in amplifying the cries for vengeance and were exceedingly proud of the eloquence of many who spoke on our behalf. Yet beneath all the noise, we trembled lest the Enemy should seize upon some lingering spark of faith in the hearts of His followers.
For a dreadful moment, there was a scent of the real gospel in the air. I shuddered to think we might suffer the loss of many souls instead of gaining them.
I hesitate to mention it, but at that moment I did recall a fragment of your teaching -- though, of course, the application of the principle was entirely my own. You once spoke of certain celebrated singers and actors who, for a season, amused themselves with the Enemy’s cause. Having failed to keep them altogether from Him, you allowed them a brief dalliance with faith. And then, through the mediocrity of the church and the luxuriant weeds of their own appetites, you succeeded in reclaiming them for our side once and for all.
After a brief consultation, our department launched what we called "Operation Spiritual Inoculation." I directed the junior tempters to persuade the new “converts” that they had now done all the necessary business with the Enemy. They must be led to believe that a single moment of emotion has secured them a lifetime's exemption from further concern with spiritual matters. The task is delightfully simple among those congregations devoted to the doctrine of "eternal security." We merely assure those who are scarcely converted -- if converted at all -- that they need never again trouble themselves about the state of their souls.
I should never have doubted. Though the crowds did indeed swell that first Sunday, by the third they had returned to their usual proportions. We saw to it that many pulpits proclaimed that splendid mixture of double-mindedness we have so often discussed. In consequence, the newcomers now imagine they are worshiping the Enemy whenever they swell with patriotic fervor. Most will feel no further need to darken His doors -- save, perhaps, at Christmas.
As a final refinement, we encouraged immediate baptism without a shred of instruction. This, we felt, would fix in their minds the pleasant notion that their transaction with the Enemy was concluded. If all proceeds as planned, we will be able to distract them from any further visits and devote their zeal instead to the far more useful cause of politics.
I dare say we are entering a new golden age, one not unlike that most fruitful century following their Civil War. We are laboring diligently to make it so.
Your thriving nephew,
Wormwood
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