Snakelips #6

Dearest Snakelips,
I need not express to you the great disappointment I had on hearing that your happily nominal 'Christian' patient is now evaluating her faith. You know yourself what awaits you if this is allowed to continue.
Now, how to correct this? Your first tactic must be to distract her from the faith and especially from the Thing the faith is in. This can be done in many ways, and their changeable natures almost does our job for us, though the Enemy will often compensate for their short attention spans when they get on this track. When this happens we are in great danger, but we still have our first and last line of defence. Draw their attention inward. Bring up how clever they are for thinking about the supernatural. Have her ask herself if this will make her a "better person", and then get her caught up in what a "better person" does. The Enemy seems to want all their attention on Himself and none on themselves. Trusting Him in everything even when that means distrusting themselves. This is our greatest opportunity for attack because since the Garden Victory we have been training humankind to trust themselves supremely and indiscriminately. In spite of all the evidence of their wills and instincts being wrong, they continue to make this mistake. O the euphoria of it! The continual disappointment, verging on insanity. Ask her things like, what does she want? Will this make her happy? Will it make her more likeable? Will it change her life too much?
Encourage her to try all by herself to be nicer, call it a "trial run". As she fails over and over in this (it's impossible without the Enemy, and indeed, beside the point) offer the experiment as proof of the Enemy's falsity, or double nature, or betrayal. Slander Him as best you can. The Enemy wants to help her every step of the way, wants to make her a new creature who desires others' good above her own, and doesn't resent it. You must make her think she is alone and struggling uphill. As long as she thinks that, she will be. Point out every failure and mock it. In the end she will be happy to go back to the natural life she was living, and you can use her foray into 'Christianity' to needle her whenever she needs reminding.

Screwtape