Fixated On Politics' Is Not by C.S. Lewis

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Screwtape's ‘fixated on politics’ quote, is not by C.S.

Lewis | by Joshua Dance | Medium 27/11/2023, 17:44

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You may have seen this quote floating around the internet:

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Unfortunately this is not by C.S. Lewis. It is written in the style of the


Screwtape Letters but it was written by someone else. And even though I
agree with the thoughts presented in the quote, we have to be careful.

Another writer pointed out that one of the dangers is, because we like C.S.
Lewis, so we like to think that he would have said what we want him to say. If
we circulating false quotes, we might be trying to remake him and his ideas
into something that agrees with our own.

You can test if this quote is in the Screwtape Letters using Google Books. Go
to the Screwtape Letters page and search for ‘fixated on politics’ inside the
book. Unfortunately, if you just search Google Books in general for ‘fixated
on politics’ the Screwtape Letters is the first result, not because that quote is
in the book, but because the algorithm has learned that this is the result
everyone is looking for when they search for that phrase. facepalm
https://joshdance.medium.com/screwtapes-fixated-on-politics-quote-is-not-by-c-s-lewis-78b62c6e5e61 Page 1 of 5
Screwtape's ‘fixated on politics’ quote, is not by C.S. Lewis | by Joshua Dance | Medium 27/11/2023, 17:44

everyone is looking for when they search for that phrase. facepalm

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C.S. Lewis did talk about politics in the Screwtape Letters another article
rounded up a few of the best quotes. I thought this one was interesting:

“About the general connection between Christianity and politics, our position is
more delicate. 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. On the other hand we do want, and want very
much, to make men treat Christianity as a means; preferably, of course, as a means
to their own advancement, but, failing that, as a means to anything — even to
social justice.”

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My Mom taught me something around the dinner table, that I value to this
day. I would tell some fact or story I had heard at school, and she would
always ask me “What is the source?”. If I didn’t know it, she would teach me
that I shouldn’t share something as fact, when I don’t know where it came
from. ‘What is the source?’ is a question I use daily. Thanks Mom.

And of course, I don’t take this too seriously. My feelings can be expressed
with this comic by xkcd.

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https://joshdance.medium.com/screwtapes-fixated-on-politics-quote-is-not-by-c-s-lewis-78b62c6e5e61 Page 2 of 5

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