[Laura] Turner\u2019s article shows Lewis decrying the dangers of patriotism becoming a demon when it becomes a god. But Lewis has even more pointed wisdom to offer. His devil Screwtape urges the making of \u201can extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist,\u201d\u009d exhorting us that \u201c[a]ll extremes except extreme devotion to [God], are to be encouraged.\u201d\u009d We turn blind eyes to this crisis of the extreme to our own peril.<\/p>\n
From a life devoted to literature spanning centuries, Lewis offers an alternative to the trap of extremity. \u201cThe man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison,\u201d\u009d Lewis says. \u201cMy own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others.\u201d\u009d He claims that generous exposure to other voices \u201cheals the wound, without undermining the privilege, of individuality.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Inspired by her long study of Lewis\u2019s circle of friends, Diana Pavlac Glyer calls for such selfless exploration in her talk \u201cIntellectual Hospitality.\u201d\u009d Drawing from the Inklings\u2019 practices, Glyer argues that \u201cthe impulse to gather, and the impulse to maintain a healthy space\u201d\u009d suggest a discourse of distinction wherein we speak with grace even while maintaining very deliberate differences. We must hear voices other than our own.<\/p>\n