Not a day goes by when I don’t think about C.S. Lewis’ little book, “The Screwtape Letters.”
That little book is a collection of letters from the Senior Demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood. The letters are advice on how to tempt humans into Hell.
Why do I like it so much? If you spend your life in politics, any good, thoughtful advice on wrestling with the Devil is welcome.
I mentioned below one of the great insights Screwtape had. It was about the sin of gluttony. Screwtape says Wormwood should keep people believing that gluttony is just eating too much. Screwtape points out that gluttony has nothing to do with how MUCH you eat.
The sin of gluttony, the one that gets people into Hell, is ANY obsession with food. The little old lady who sends an overworked waitress back to the kitchen to get her “Just a LITTLE bit of food” is practicing the kind of gluttony Screwtape wants.
Thinking about that, it occurred to me that you don’t have to have sex all the time to be sinful. If you are obsessed with NOT having sex, that is just as good as being a sex addict.
Screwtape points out the person who thinks he is not being a glutton by eating too much will realize why he is faced with the Pit of Hell. But the person who spends his life making life hard on other people because he is obsessed with just the right amount of food thinks he is being an angel. He will be astonished, too late, when he finds out the truth.
Not only do they come to Hell, says Screwtape, but they are more amusing when they get there.
Recent Comments