C.S. Lewis on the Dangers of the Religious
Reflections on the Psalms (Harvest Books, 1964), p.146-7.
It seems that there is a general rule in the moral universe which may
be formulated "The higher, the more in danger". The "average sensual
man" who is sometimes unfaithful to his wife, sometimes tipsy, always a
little selfish, now and then (within the law) a trip sharp in his
deals, is certainly, by ordinary standards, a "lower" type than the man
whose soul is filled with some great Cause, to which he will
subordinate his appetites, his fortune, and even his safety. But it is
out of the second man that something really fiendish can be made; an
Inquisitor. "It is great men, potential saints, not little men, who
become those who are readiest to kill for it". For the supernatural,
entering a human soul, opens to it new possibilities both of good and
evil. From that point the road branches: one way to sanctity, love,
humility, the other to spiritual pride, self-righteousness, persecuting
zeal. And no way back to the mere humdrum virtues and vices of the
unawakened soul. If the Divine call doe not make us better, it will
make us very much worse. Of all bad men religious bad men are the
worst.
Sin, Evil, Inhumanity

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