STL 24

This chapter is probably one of the most sobering chapters I recall reading in this book. The patient has found the perfect women, the exact type of person Screwtape was hoping the patient wouldn't come across. The people the patient is spending time with due to his relationship also seem to be very good in nature. It seems many of the usual tricks Screwtape would recommend do no good with this group, and they know it. The problem this group faces is distinguishing knowledge from judgment. Compared to the many people in the world today, this is the kind of group that really does not need lectures about the difference between good spiritual decisions and bad spiritual decisions, except for the critical judgment detail. They see other people around them behaving in ways they know to be wrong and are a bit too secure about how they are different from these people.

Instead of rushing to judgment a little bit of restraint would be the best route. Just because these people are probably living life by standards lower than one's own does not mean one of the standards is good enough to qualify that person as a judge. There's a reason that in the legal system today sentences handed out vary from letters of apology to the electric chair. In all honesty, if the patient's group of friends were honest about their sins they'd probably think they had committed sins that are getting up there with the electric chair level. But, they certainly do not take this approach to their failures. They give themselves far too much credit than they should and set themselves up for Screwtape's methods. The perfect group is that easily bait for Screwtape, despite the fact they have so much good to begin with. The fact that they are harder bait than others might be just means a bigger hook, better bait, and a bit more strategy are necessary to hook them.