Fellowship & Fairydust

Part of an ongoing web serial perhaps inspired by The Screwtape Letters. Unless otherwise noted, “the Ex-CEO” refers to God, “the opposition” to the side of the angels, and so on.

Read the previous installment here.

To: Indignation, Overseer of Ekron Initiative (American Evangelical Division)

Date: [Exact Date Redacted, Circa 2000]

From: Malice, VP of 8th Circle of Hell (Global Initiatives Branch)

Subject: Congratulations on Appointment

Indignation,

Nothing is so difficult or poignant as addressing the new manager. The last boss’s successes are still fresh, staff are still getting used to their new roles – all in all, it’s a tumultuous time.

This particularly holds true for you, the new head and initiator of all that follows. Truly, you have much to live up to. I did not nominate you for this position, and I don’t mind saying that your past record leaves a bit to be desired.

Looking through your file sent over from the 5th Circle,¹ I see a few ventures in Midwestern America church squabbles, all moderately well done but rather conventional. The rest of your portfolio is filled with unconnected work for our colleagues on the European Continent (Bavarian and Burgundian Divisions), and assisting with some fiscal mismanagement scandals in Rome circa 1978. I have been unable to get further details from the archives about any of these cases.

However, far be it from me to begrudge a fiend for his spotty resume. We have been brought together by orders from above, across standard departmental divisions. It was decided that even though passing this subject along to you would require me stepping outside my usual duties within the 8th Circle, it was better for all concerned to maintain continuity with the project’s past. I believe with time and a steady partnership, you and I can work well together.

You already have in your possession my messages to your predecessor detailing Phase 1 of the Ekron Initiative. At the time, our focus was evangelicals, in any station of life that could be influenced to create a stifling, crippling environment for artists to work in.

Years pass and a new century has arrived. Today our focus is the children (and sometimes grandchildren) of those original targets. We have done well, and it’s in your interest to continue that legacy. We have created a culture where these young, supple, susceptible prey feel they must either smother their creative instincts or leave their churches. The subculture they live in – the private religious schools they attend, the religious media they use, and the conversations they hear from other followers – surrounds them with shallow ideas about “good Christian art.” The organization which is supposed to lead them closer to their master seems like “a Christian ghetto,”² where true artistic flourishing can never happen.

These young targets are angry. They have discovered just how fickle the Ex-CEO’s Company can be. Your job is to convince them not only to reject the Company but also its manager and his core philosophy.

My next messages will detail how you can perform this task. Be prepared for new developments.

Infernal Regards,

Malice

Vice President of the 8th Circle of Hell

(Global Initiatives Branch)

Editor’s Notes:

 

1. In Dante’s Inferno, the fifth circle is for anger, the eighth circle for fraud.

2. This term has been common among Christian artists. See chapter 6 of You Lost Me by David Kinnaman and Aly Hawkins or chapter 2 of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman. 

Cover Photo by Craig Whitehead on Unsplash