My Dear Quetzel

My Dear Quetzel,

I am dismayed to learn that your patient has found a new friend at his place of employment. And a Christian one at that. Don’t panic just yet; let us open up with our main attack, which seldom fails. When this new fool displays kindness and other virtues, remind your patient that this is a person from the same lot of the one who touched him when he was a small boy. If that does not turn him completely off to the idea of a friendship, (which it most probably will) remind him that he is a ‘realist’ (I do so love that term, don’t you?) and his new friend does not have a higher education than he. The more we can equate his atheism to intellectual supremacy, the easier it will be for him to dismiss such trivial virtues and associate them with a lack of knowledge and a naivety of the world around him.
Keep him focused on the visual problems with this newcomer, such as physical appearance. This way he'll pay less attention to what his new friend has to say and more attention to the crookedness of the fellow’s teeth. If you can achieve this, it will most likely cause their new ‘friendship’ to be nothing more than a sort of dull tolerance. You can then effectively encourage him to pat himself on the back for his kindness and understanding of the beliefs of others. Once he begins to feel good about himself, it will make it that much harder for the Enemy to reveal his flaws. Pride, after all, is one of the greatest characteristics of Our Father Below. The more we make them like Him, the more likely they’ll end up safely in our clutches in the end.

Your ‘Realist’,
Amethyst
Chief of Human Affairs
The Third Circle

P.S. Why not introduce your patient to that naturalist fellow you told me about? His advisor, Muckroot, is a personal acquaintance of mine, and a truly skilled one. I think I shall write to him and tell him of your troubles. Perhaps we can arrange a meeting between the patients?