Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Matchless (10/24/24)
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TITLE: How to Win Friends and Corrupt People | Previous Challenge Entry
By Corinne Smelker
10/31/24 -
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Oh my goodness, have you joined Twitter/X yet? I had heard rumblings from Meriham (remember him – responsible for the plague in the Middle Ages) that since that meddling Musk took it over, we had lost a lot of our footing. He is so right. It’s a mess over there. But I think getting your charge to start tweeting (what do they call it now?) might be the best thing to handle the sticky wicket you find yourself in.
Your recent endeavors and subsequent failure to tempt your human with the illusion of matchlessness caught my attention. You know Our Father Below has taken a personal interest in us since we missed all the signs of The Enemy making huge inroads with college students on campuses…
So, let’s consider how humans seek to be matchless in their spiritual journeys. All humans want to believe that their path to the Enemy is uniquely theirs, a personal quest so singular that it requires no community, no church, no tradition. Get your mortal to focus on being unrivaled in his faith, so much so that he doesn’t notice the uniformity of his spiritual desires, which are subtly shaped by the currents of our influence. It's like watching them try to paint a masterpiece with a toothbrush; it's messy but oh, so entertaining.
Humans also naturally seek connection with the divine, but we can twist this into a competition. Encourage your human to compare his matchless spiritual lives with others. This breeds spiritual envy, a sin we hold dear, and it will distance him from the Enemy’s call for humility and community.
Consider also the phenomenon of “spiritual influencers” in society (I use the term spiritual loosely. Our Father Below was a genius when he conflated spiritual with religious, and now everyone who believes in anything remotely other-worldly is considered spiritual.) These individuals are the most conformist, following trends we set through subtle whispers in the ears of trendsetters. Let your patient idolize these figures, aspiring to be as peerless as them, only to find that true uniqueness lies in the quiet, unnoticed acts of kindness or faith, which, of course, we must divert them from.
Remember, Strumpet, the beauty of our work is the illusion of spiritual choice. Humans believe they are crafting their matchless spiritual identity, but with every decision, they're weaving a web of our design. The more they strive to be matchless, the more they become predictable.
Lastly, use his fear of being ‘just like everyone else’ against him. Let him chase after the latest spiritual trends, the newest philosophies, the most 'innovative' ways to express his faith, only to find that true uniqueness, the kind the Enemy cherishes, lies in simplicity, in the quiet moments of reflection, in acts of selfless love. Keep him distracted, Strumpet, with the noise of being matchless in a world where true individuality is often found in silence.
Your task is to make your creature feel matchless in his despair, loneliness, and pride. Let him believe he is uniquely suffering, uniquely successful, or uniquely anything, but never let him see the common thread of humanity that the Enemy loves so dearly.
I hope this helps. These organisms are so tiresome. It’s always something with them, and everything in the world is changing so fast. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but it would be nice to be included in the email thread from Forneus when she decides to make earth-shattering changes that affect us temptation demons.
Yours forever in hell,
Diabolica
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In honor of C.S. Lewis and "The Screwtape Letters"
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