Human Evil

[ourlongroad]

The evil hide their motives with lies.
Evil people want to appear to be good.
When confronted by evil, the wisest and most secure adult will usually experience confusion.
Evil seeks to discourage others to think for themselves (fosters dependency).
To oppose evil we must have an ongoing dedication to reality at all cost.


People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil
by M. Scott Peck
http://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597

[InterestedParticipant]

People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil
by M. Scott Peck
http://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597

From the reviews....


http://www.amazon.com/review/R1OG4RP0OKL0AS/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Dr. Peck says there are profound reasons to suspect that traditional value-free science is no longer serving the needs of mankind. "The major threat to our survival no longer stem from nature without but from our own human nature within. It is our carelessness, our hostilities, our selfishness and pride and willful ignorance that endanger the world."


The term and title "People Of The Lie" refers to the cover-up, pretense and lie of those who refuse to acknowledge their own imperfections, those who flee the light of self-exposure and the voice of their own conscience. Those who instead practice scapegoating, attacking and blaming others, projection, lack of empathy, and judging others, hoping their own flaws will seem less noticeable. In other words, people of the lie deceive and lie to themselves to avoid their true selves, which in turn deceives others. They point their finger at others first so that none can suspect them of a wrong-doing or weakness, believing an offensive attitude, in the guise of respectability, will prevent the need for defense.


I think that Peck draws a very useful distinction between sociopaths/psychopaths and "everyday evil." I thought that his reasoning was very clear, and very useful ... the sociopath is a moral vacuum, and everyday evil exists when people repeatedly make the choice to ignore conscience/morality and remain unconscious or self-serving.


the biggest point that Peck makes is that the truly evil ARE SUBTLE. They do not conform to the "Now a normal people would define "evil people" as people who do evil things" theory - they are the people who try to keep the appearance of goodness while killing the spirit of the people they know are weaker than they.


Most of the time when we are initially confronted with evil (in other people), we just "feel" that things are remiss. I agree with Peck, that in time, repulsion serves as a natural reaction to those who are evil. I also concur that the study of evil can be dangerous, as a certain faction of the population can employ measures of ostracism to justify their own concepts of what is repulsive. Perhaps, this is what Peck meant by "...the end does not justify the means. If we kill those who are evil, we will become evil ourselves. If we attempt to deal with evil by destroying it, we will also end up destroying ourselves, spiritually, if not physically." As Peck describes, the latter premise is a Strangelovian (Peck's favorite word, by the way), nihilistic vacuum, from which one, who not only wishes to recognize and understand, but also eradicate evil, can never escape. Beyond hope and faith, only love can truly serve to annihilate evil, and keep it at bay. At first bite, this tastes very Christian (1 Corinthians 13), which may seem offputting to non-Christian readers. Yet, most leaders of great religions have admonished the same. My personal conviction is that when enough people speak in cacophony, in order to hone in on that which is true, one should find where the harmonies occur. Therein, the divine will be found.