C.S. Lewis Quote: WTF?

[BrianParticipant]

Here is a quotation from The Screwtape Letters that I saw on Facebook, posted by my cousin, who is a conservative Mormon. He obviously thought that this was making some sort of pro-religious point, and also that it would speak for itself deprived of the context. I read it and was pretty much like ‘yup, I totally agree’, then proceeded to be completely dumbfounded by the fact of who posted it. Besides the fact that it is attributed to someone called the ‘devil uncle’, I can find nothing wrong with the statement itself. Can anyone explain what he thinks this means, and what C.S. Lewis probably meant by it?

“Certainly we do not want men to allow their Christianity to flow over into their political life, for the establishment of anything like a really just society would be a major disaster.”
-The devil Uncle Screwtape, the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis.

[Simon MathewsParticipant]

My impression of it is that Lewis is being facetious, as if without Christianity there is no possibility of a just society. I guess Uncle Screwtape is Devil’s Advocate.

[SteveInCOParticipant]

Brian, look again at the second half. It reads that the establishment of a just society would be a disaster.

In other words, the whole thing is sarcastic, and premised on the idea that Christians would establish a just society.

[.Spectator]

From my own memory of the Screwtape Letters, you really need the context in which it was said to fully understand the scene. That book is full of mind twists and turns….so I’m not really sure just reading the quote on its own is necessarily going to convey the full message CS lewis wanted to get across. It’s also important to know who said it, etc….that book is not straighforward by any stretch of the imagination.

[Author]

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