In the foreword to his famous “Screwtape Letters,” C.S. Lewis wrote: “People make two, equally serious, mistakes about the devil. The first is they disbelieve in his existence; the second, that they give him too much credence.”
It’s a fine line to walk sometimes.
One of the songs playing at Donald Trump’s recent rally announcing Sarah Palin’s endorsement of his campaign (in part to help broaden his appeal to evangelicals) seemed, at best, a curious choice. As I listened in stunned wonder, the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” was played, the lyrics of which include:
“Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year, laid many a man’s soul to waste. And I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain, made damn sure Pilate washed his hands and sealed his fate. Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name, but what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game.”
Why would a Christian (or any thoughtful, religiously committed) politician choose or allow that song to play at a campaign rally on his/her behalf?
“Nationwide, I’m doing really well with evangelicals,” Trump would claim at that same rally. What a strange parallel that assertion is, what with that opening song to his rally.
The devil, we are told, is a subtle, clever creature. I believe that Trump, who is probably a generous man at heart, may not know how clever.
Paul Baribault, Lewiston
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