For there are two things inside me competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worst of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig, who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither. – C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
As a psychiatrist who integrated spirituality in my practice for 41 years and an author of a book on conscience in 2009 (which received a blessing from Pope Francis), I was very impressed when my attention focused on the above quote and I have used it and the ideas connected with it in my new book, Conscience, Spirituality, and Religion.
The above quote is at the end of the chapter on Sexual Morality in his book Mere Christianity. In his book, Lewis pointed out how people usually imply that the other person in an argument or quarrel is breaking some standard of behavior. Lewis’ point is the common view of the existence of a standard of behavior. This is a natural phenomenon, and he calls it the Law of Human Nature. It is also called the Rule of Decent Behavior. In the past it was called the Law of Nature as people thought that everyone knew it by nature. Lewis gave so much importance to the Law of Human Nature that he titled Book One of Mere Christianity, “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe”. He pointed out that even when somebody is doing wrong, the person has a sense of deviating from what he or she ought to be following, and that the Law of Human Nature is some kind of Rule of fair play. Lewis asserted that people all over the world have an idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, by the Law of Human Nature or the Law of Decent Behavior. At the same time, people also tend to break this law.
By the Law of Human Nature, Lewis was obviously referring to Conscience. In fact, he used the Golden Rule as part of the Law of Human Nature. Regarding social morality, he stated: “The Golden Rule of the New Testament (Do as you would be done by) is a summing up of what everyone, at bottom, had always known to be right.” I have not seen anybody else express the Golden Rule in this way. In applying the Golden Rule, one has to utilize reason, respect for truth, and moderation. I have pointed out that conscience uses reason, the Golden Rule, moderation, and respect for truth. Also, I have shown that besides conscience, we have another inner guide which I call the inner parrot, parroting powerful social influence on the person, misguiding the individual by deviating from conscience. The inner parrot is the “superego” Sigmund Freud talked about. It is the Diabolical Self in the quotation from Lewis. Much of its power is because it is intimately connected with an external power. Look at the power of racism at its peak: Nazis and KKK members show the destructive power of hate promoted by wrong ideology.
Various addictions are examples of the animal self that Lewis described. People may be addicted to pleasure or power or some other human need, evading or going against conscience. And utilizing conscience plays a crucial role in the 12-step therapeutic approaches which address the person’s defect of character. There is a great deal of suffering in the human race because of the distorted ideologies and addictive behaviors both neglecting conscience.
The psychological insight and spiritual wisdom shown by C.S. Lewis regarding conscience deserves to be our guiding light. So much of what St. Paul listed as works of the flesh—sexual immoralities, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, etcetera—afflicting our country and many parts of the world is caused by people who are sadly not using their consciences properly.
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