Dear Nephew,
You say your patient is waking up to the anti-nomian culture surrounding him. Keep him fixated on the details of how wrong this culture is. Give him a favorite sin upon which to focus, preferably one he does not struggle with himself. One where he has no understanding of the nuances of the temptation. Steer his attention away from the Real Solution, and keep him fixated on which rules are being broken, and which rules should be followed – not in his own life, mind you. We don’t want him empathizing with the others, or worse, turning to the Enemy. Encourage a distant smug feeling that assures him if he were in the other person’s circumstance, of course, he would do right thing.
If he opens the Enemy’s Book, provoke in him a strong urge to find proof texts to clarify and prove how wrong the others are. If you can keep his mind focused on this long enough, he may even convince himself that many verses concern his own topic, even if they do not. This will not only embolden his own sense of righteousness, but it can have the added effect of causing conflict with his Christian brothers. The aroma of such conflict is sweet.
Make use of fear. Let him see all the horrible things that could happen and do happen if people break these rules. We want this fear to cause him to build wider and wider fences around those sins, so that even things that aren’t sins in themseselves are distasteful. Blur the line between his own wisdom mandates and the Enemy’s laws. If he fears homosexuality or transgenderism, let him see a man in a pink polo or a little girl playing with a wrench and feel a slight disgust as such things.
Encourage such a deep shame at his real follies, that he is unable to acknowledge them. Direct him to find comfort and salve in meditating on the much “worse” faults of the other. By all means necessary, distract him from the Enemy’s insistence on forgiving. If you cannot distract him from this, help him abstract forgiveness. Romanticize it. What a broken sinner he is! Not many repent as truly as he does! Never allow his mind to focus on real, concrete sins. At least not the besetting ones. I’ve noticed your patient sometimes finds himself driving a few miles above the limit. Distract him with this whenever he feels a twinge of guilt over gossiping or selfishness. Keep him running in circles swatting at sins the size of gnats. Or better yet, gnats that are not sins at all.
Encourage your patient to see the Enemy’s Proverbs and laws as promises. If he uses his money wisely, he will be wealthy. If he does loving things for his wife and children or friends, he should be rewarded with love and respect. This paradigm will not only cause him to become disallusioned with the Enemy when he does not follow through with His part of the trade, but he will also become impatient with his friends and family when they do not reach the ideal he feels he has earned. When the others do not reciprocate, comfort your patient with the verses he has found that speak to how evil the others are to in comparison to himself.
If you play your hand correctly, you’ll find he can become an asset to our camp – using the Enemy’s very own words to bring others firmly into our grasp.
Sarah Laughing 