The first and fatal charm of national repentance," writes I C.S. Lewis, "is the encouragement it gives us to turn from the bitter task of repenting our own sins to the congenial one of bewailing—but, first, of denouncing—the conduct of others." The trap, he explains, is that the collective confession contains a dangerous figure of speech that permits a confusion of "we" and "they." One says "we sinned" and means "they sinned": the military-industrial complex, liberals, capitalist-readers.
The collective confession can turn false. It can serve as convenient camouflage for bitter accusation. But Lewis is too pessimistic. There are authentic expressions of...
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