Understanding Obama's 2008 campaign

In The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Uncle Screwtape, who works for his "father below," urges his nephew to understand how to elevate humans' "horror of the same old thing" into a philosophy, "so that nonsense in the intellect may reinforce corruption in the will." Screwtape tells his nephew that the "horror of the same old thing is one of the most valuable passions we have produced in the human heart." He points out to Wormwood that the enemy (God) does not want humans to make change an end in itself, so he has balanced in them the love of change with the love of permanence.

Screwtape says that the duty of those who work for "our father below" is to pick out and exaggerate this natural enjoyment of change, and twist it into a demand for absolute novelty. That way the pleasure of change can be diminished, while increasing the desire for it. The desire for novelty eats up the innocent sources of pleasure. "The game is to have them all running about with fire extinguishers when there is a flood!" "For the descriptive adjective "unchanged," we have substituted the emotional adjective "stagnant."

The enemy (God) wants humans to ask very simple questions, such as is it prudent, is it righteous, is it possible? On the other hand, Screwtape urges the development of fashions, vogues. He wants humans to ask "Is it in accordance with the general movement of our time?" (multiculturalism, diversity, all forms of political correctness). Then, Screwtape writes, they will neglect the relevant questions. The use of fashions in thought is to distract the attentions of men from the real dangers. "While their minds are abuzz in this vaccuum, we have the better chance to slide them into the action we have decided on! They do not know the future. We have trained them to think of the future as a promised land which favored heroes attain."