Be Wary of Demonic Politics
What might Screwtape say about the inauguration
What does Hell have to do with Washington D.C.?1 More to the point, what does it look like for someone to practice demonic politics?
Visions of murder and mayhem probably come to mind. While those would certainly qualify, that’s probably not a temptation most face. That doesn’t mean, though, that Satan is not influencing our political perspectives.
We could observe numerous examples of this type of surprisingly demonic politics surrounding the inauguration. Both supporters and opponents of President Trump often appealed to faith to make their points, but many exhibited what C.S. Lewis cast as signs of demonic influence in The Screwtape Letters.
In chapter 7, senior demon Screwtape begins advising his nephew, the junior tempter Wormwood, on which attitude about the war to push their “patient” toward. Would it be better if he became a pacifist or a patriot?
The first lesson for Wormood is that it’s not necessarily important which the man becomes, but that he becomes an extreme version of one. “All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy [God], is to be encouraged,” Screwtape writes.
Screwtape goes through what could be the benefits of either perspective but ends with this admonition for Wormwood.
Whichever he adopts, your main task will be the same. Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part of the “cause” in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments it can produce in favor of the British war-effort or of Pacificism. The attitude which you want to guard against is that in which temporal affairs are treated primarily as material for obedience. Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more “religious” (on those terms) the more securely ours.
How often have you seen politicians, commentators, and everyday people on social media speak of Christianity as an important part of the true goal—electing certain officials, passing specific laws, and changing public policy? Lewis warns that this attitude emanates from hell.
In some of the criticisms and defenses of Trump, people drew on the language of faith, but it served only as a means to deliver a seemingly more important political point. Christianity was merely the cudgel to combat opposing politicians. Prooftexts served as partisan grenades to bring maximum biblical destruction to the other side.
This is not to say the correct path is some nebulous “middle road” or “third way” that never takes a stand on important issues or believes the Bible avoids politics.2 Screwtape notes there are some “lukewarm and complacent” ages where the demons are to “soothe [humans] yet faster asleep.”
To be sure, there are right laws to pass and wrong policies to prevent. But we live in a fallen world where no party perfectly embodies heavenly ethics. Being consistent with biblical ethics will require Christians to critique and confront all politicians and political parties. We must challenge them when they step away from a God-honoring position, even more so when they receive our vote and seek to use faith as a basis for their decisions.
Lewis certainly had his own political positions and persuasions. Based on his experiences and stated beliefs, he would most surely be more aligned with patriots than pacifists. Yet, he did not allow those personal convictions to prevent him from calling everyone to Christlikeness. That was his priority, and he didn’t want politics to interfere with that goal.3
That’s where the Christian must land.4 We don’t take the narrow way or middle road to avoid conflict but instead to engage in it only at the right moments. We refuse to go along with the ever-changing controversies of the day and instead stand firm in unchanging biblical convictions. We call all people to repentance, not allowing our vision to be clouded by smoke from political passions inflamed by hellfire.
Demonic politics is not always obvious. Often, it will come from a cause that seems positive that we allow to become preeminent. According to Screwtape, Satan would gladly allow us to exchange our worship of God for our devotion to the “good.” What’s more important to you—prayers and charity or policies and causes? For Lewis, the answer to that question determines whether our politics has become demonic.
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Depending on your opinion of the government and politicians, you may feel like there is a significant connection between the two.
“Jesus is Lord” is the most political statement possible.
He declined recognition from Winston Churchill even though he felt honored and mostly shared the Prime Minister’s politics because he didn’t want to create a barrier for people of a different political persuasion to read his Christian works.
We will leave aside for this moment those God has called to serve in the political sphere as an elected official.