Published earlier on Network Norfolk - sharing here too:
Here
is a brilliant passage from C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters that speaks as much
about today as when it was written:
“We direct the fashionable outcry of each
generation against those vices of which it is least in danger and fix its
approval on the virtue nearest to that vice which we are trying to make
endemic. The game is to have them running about with fire extinguishers
whenever there is a flood, and all crowding to that side of the boat which is
already nearly gunwale under. Thus we make it fashionable to expose the dangers
of enthusiasm at the very moment when they are all really becoming worldly and
lukewarm; a century later, when we are really making them all Byronic and drunk
with emotion, the fashionable outcry is directed against the dangers of the
mere “understanding”. Cruel ages are put on their guard against Sentimentality,
feckless and idle ones against Respectability, lecherous ones against
Puritanism; and whenever all men are really hastening to be slaves or tyrants
we make Liberalism the prime bogey." C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Today’s misdirected cultural trends are classic
cases of directing the fashionable outcry of each generation against those
vices of which it is least in danger, especially compared to salvation matters.
Society is awash with top-down manipulations – from the mainstream media,
social media, political parties and large-scale institutions - showing how
priorities can be manipulated away from seeking Christ and desiring a
relationship with Him.
The psychological trickery is all
well-established in the literature – and it’s a heady mix of accidental or
inadvertent spillover effects and deliberately orchestrated manipulation.
Instead of addressing the biggest concerns facing a generation, people are made
to obsess over less relevant or even comparably harmless issues (in the long
run). For example, a society that's grown indifferent and apathetic is warned
against being too passionate or enthusiastic; a culture spiralling into moral
recklessness is warned against being too rigid or judgmental, that sort of
thing. This is why, in encouraging the junior devil to “fix its approval on the
virtue nearest to that vice which we are trying to make endemic”, Lewis points
out the danger of confusing virtue with vice’s adjacent.
There are plenty of these psychological tricks
designed to get people to defend a value that masks a growing problem. Like how
tolerance and inclusivity are being used not to protect genuine diversity, but
to silence moral conviction; like how authenticity and self-expression are
widely championed as virtues, but are often tools for justifying
self-indulgence, pride, or a refusal to take responsibility; like how community
is used as a synonym for exclusive tribalism; and like how scientific and
technological progress often masks prideful secularism.
Lewis exposes this whipsawing effect
brilliantly, "Thus we make it fashionable to expose the dangers of
enthusiasm at the very moment when they are all really becoming worldly and
lukewarm." Each generation’s moral panic is inversely related to its real
failing; when people are emotionally cold, they’re warned about being too
emotional; when people are selfish and hedonistic, they’re warned about being
too strict or puritanical; when people are drifting toward tyranny, freedom and
liberty are painted as dangerous, that sort of thing. This creates a fairground
mirror image of reality, where society chases the wrong demons and ignores the
spiritual antidotes, as the rot sets in.
I believe all this is a subtle form of spiritual
warfare and psychological manipulation employed by the enemy and his
influencers - channelling the energy of conscience away from truth and toward
distraction. Because in many cases, and especially in places where God is not
at the top of the hierarchy of priorities, I believe the greatest danger is not
the vices many are obsessing over - it's the ones being ignored.
I’m glad to hear there may be a Christian
revival on the way, because in many places in today's UK culture, instead of
confronting the deep spiritual need for Christ and the call to live out genuine
Christian responsibility, many are consumed by lesser political, social and
ideological concerns that, while not inherently wrong and are certainly
worthwhile, become idols when they displace the centrality of the gospel.
It must be Christ at the top, then pray He’ll
equip us to help solve problems in the world. By fixating on issues that feel
urgent but are ultimately peripheral, people neglect their deepest need –
relationship or reconciliation with God and the daily obedience that flows from
that relationship.
Just as C.S. Lewis warned, society runs about
with fire extinguishers during a flood, passionately opposing dangers they’re
not actually at risk of, while ignoring the real and present threat of
spiritual apathy and worldliness. This misdirection keeps hearts far from
Christ, all under the illusion of moral seriousness and societal progress – and
this generation should be on guard against this spiritual deception and
psychological cheat. Even the best virtues must be protected against this
idolatry, for as de Rougemont warns us, “Love ceases to be a demon only when he
ceases to be a god.”
