1. The article got cut off.

  2. Now days cyber warfare and psychological warfare seem to be combining a bit. Like, now and then there’s rumors of people from other nations basically poking at the online hornet’s nest of our politics to spread discord. Like them posing as SJWs or something and saying cruddy things on Facebook, Tumblr, etc, or posting outlandish things that they know will start arguments. Of course those waging cyber psychological warfare aren’t going to be the only ones saying ridiculous things or poking the hornet’s nest, but it sounds like there are people waging war in that way. Maybe later I can dig up one of the posts I saw mentioning it.

    I’m pretty interested in the psychological aspects of things, so I certainly agree that people should definitely work with that aspect of fiction, especially with spiritual warfare. With novels that can often be a wiser choice, actually. Depicting long hand to hand combat scenes is often done better in visual mediums, whereas text based novels(as opposed to graphic novels) are way better for delving into the ins and outs of someone’s thought process. Obviously either medium can do either thing, but they still tend to excel more in certain areas.

    Spiritual warfare seems to play better into emotional and mental aspects, so putting it mainly in a hand to hand combat context tends to seem bizarre to me, unless the book does a good job of depicting it as a mere representation of the real fight.

    Something the devil in my Faust story does is sow chaos and pain throughout the universe and even individual people’s lives. There’s a variety of reasons for that, like entertainment and spite, but there’s also strategic and personal goal reasons for it. The pain in a being’s life can easily distract or turn them away from God, so that’s a major aspect of his tactics. Especially since it makes him more able to ‘sell’ beings on things that they think will make them happy or alleviate pain.

    The importance of psychology is one reason I believe in writing lots of deep chars from a variety of viewpoints. One reason things are the way they are is because people really don’t understand key aspects of each other. Christians would probably get further if they realized this and did a better job understanding others’ psychology. So complex character driven stories even about people we don’t agree with can help from that standpoint. But it’s good to have a full cast of multiple perspectives even in that scenario, that way they can balance each other. Though of course not every story needs to be intensely character driven.

  3. Colleen K Snyder says:

    The Screwtape Letters was an excellent example of Satan using IO. No “physical warfare” in any sense, but a continual attack on morals, thoughts, beliefs… done by a master demonic force. For those that haven’t read it… do so! If you haven’t read it in a few years… revisit it. You’ll be amazed how “relevant” it is (especially Satan’s desire to fill the universe with noise.)

    • Travis Perry says:

      Yes, true! I thought of using examples from the Screwtape Letters, but in my case, for this article, I thought it was better to draw from my personal experience as a Civil Affairs officer and my detailed historical study of the Cold War than from Lewis.

      But thank you for pointing out how well Lewis understood the value of propaganda in spiritual warfare. I should have mentioned that!

  4. notleia says:

    Update: I did try to read Paradise Lost, but I crashed and burned before I got more than half a dozen pages in. I don’t have the bandwidth for it at this point in time.

  5. Larry Paris says:

    I like your analysis, however we must remember that in addition to being a liar Satan is also a murderer. His purpose is not only to deceive but to end human life either before they can be saved or before they can be used in the salvation of others. Info Ops is his forte because it achieves his goals most effectively but his war on a more basic level is a war against God. This is a war he has lost and he knows it. So he present overall strategy is a scorched earth policy. Deny to his enemy, God, anything that is useful or desirable.

    On another note. my WIP shows the spiritual info war through a demonic character called the Chuchoteur, the whisperer. This character speaks thoughts into the mind of the MC in order to end his effectiveness as a servant of the KIng.

    • Travis Perry says:

      Yeah I agree the Bible says the Devil is a murderer, though the primary kind of killing he seems interested in (based on what the Bible warns about) is the “eternal separation from God kind”– which is actually achieved through control of information, by keeping people away from the Gospel or making it seem irrelevant and other related means.

      I mentioned in my previous article and referred to the idea here that Satan will physically kill as a backup plan to deceiving and keeping people separate from God. As has recently happened in Burkina Faso.

      Your Chuchoteur character reminds me of Grima Wormtongue from LOTR. 🙂

What do you think?