Reddit reviews People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil

> I understand that it's a difficult time for that man, but don't forget that this is on the edge of humble bragging. He's making himself the most important person alive in that household.

He's also covering/hiding all of the DYSFUNCTIONAL SHITFEST that has been occurring within his family up to this point.

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The whole "Christmas shopping/everyone was in good mood" etc -- is a FICTIONAL (and highly superficial) construct -- it's the outward LIE that this family has engaged in for YEARS.

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Note that the "daughter was diagnosed as bipolar" (as if that is the SOLE reason, and it's just something that "happened" i.e. immerito or ex nihilo) -- and then the attempt to shift blame ("but the doctors had decided against medication" i.e. it's all THEIR fault) -- is in and of itself enough to note that everything was NOT "idyllic" in this family prior to the daughter's suicide.

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There is in fact a whole lot MORE to this story -- to this family's history -- than is being presented in this little paragraph.

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(Cf M. Scott Peck's circa 1983 book "People of the Lie")

"Bravo Two Zero" or "Immediate Action" by Andy McNab.

"Supernature" by Lyall Watson. An old, but interesting and thought-provoking book.

"Hyperspace" by Michio Kaku.

"Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen.

"People of the Lie" by M. Scott Peck.

Edit: I was going to suggest "The Hot Zone" as well, but Amberkisses got there ahead of me, so I upvoted him/her instead.

For me it wasn't the past so much per se, but rather the disparity between the church's version of the history, and the real actual documented history. When I discovered that the church had been lying to me my entire life, then I quickly had to ask myself what else were they lying about.

My so-called shelf crash was more a loss of confidence in anything they had to say. I found out they were People Of The Lie and could no longer be trusted to EVER tell the truth.

r/raisedbynarcissists

r/LifeAfterNarcissism

"People of the Lie" by M. Scott Peck: https://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597

"Toxic Parents - Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life" by Susan Forward: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Parents-Overcoming-Hurtful-Reclaiming/dp/0553381407

My Nmom and other N's I know can, at times, be very pleasant when they're going about their manipulation and attempting to get what they want. They put on an act, a play, the great drama wherein they are center stage and at times they can really seem to be perfectly normal people. It's only when their behavior is scrutinized over a period of time that one can then see the devious intentions beneath the facade, the intentions for malice that I have come to call evil.

M. Scott Peck in his book People of the Lie, while a bit steeped in the author's grappling with Christianity, paints an interesting picture on evil as a psychiatric disorder, not a moral failing. Here are a few quotes from the book directly related to narcissism.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is among a set of personality disorders classified by the American Psychiatric Association as mental illnesses since 1969.

So yes, I do agree that someone with true narcissistic personality disorder could accurately be described as 'evil'. I don't know about the 'inherent' part because I don't really believe people are born like this. I think everyone uses, to a degree, the traits and methods that narcissists end up grossly exploiting. This is described as 'healthy narcissism'. I just think that people with the full-blown disorder had either some kind of traumatic event and a failure to cope afterward, or for some reason they never learned how to deal with their own emotions, and so developed these pathological responses in lieu of healthy coping mechanisms.

He wrote a book about it called People of the Lie.

Recommended reading: People of the Lie by Scott Peck. Btw, wow!

+1 on "The Gift of Fear"

Toxic Parents by Susan Forward

For Your Own Good by Dr. Alice Miller, especially the Afterword

People of the Lie by M. Scott Peck. (This one not as much as the first ones, but still helpful)

Link to the PDF file on the CIA’s website, does not even have the second page of the newspaper article. It totally leaves you hanging... I wonder if they did that on purpose when they released/declassified this.

Interested in finding a copy of this book. It can be found pretty easily it looks like:

https://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597

1. Yes, but the real question is which came first? Did the spiritual effect the mental or is it the other way? The truth is that the mind and spirit are closely connected. So I would always advise a person to seek the aid of a professional before considering the possibility of possession.
   
   
2. I say yes, but only in exceptionally rare cases. By rare I mean I'd only think that the particularly strong believers would be at risk. Sort of like Job from the Old Testament.
   
   
3. That also is going to vary on a person to person basis, because if the person was holding on to his or her demons it would diminish the Holy Spirit by the possessed's own free-will. There are many things that could contribute to this, but I would say that it is the person's choice truly.(e.g. if they associate something positive with that part of their psyche, or haven't realized that there is something that has invaded the mind and soul.)
   
   
4. I have very little, mostly just reading. Have been asked to "get a feel for" suspected things in some people's houses. I have never encountered one. I'd recommend the book, People Of The Lie which has lots of good thought on the psychology of evil and helped me learn to discern the difference between a demon and a psychological issues.
   
   Hope this helps you in your search.

https://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597

People of the Lie

Some other good works to read about "the banality of evil" are Eichmann in My Hands, People of the Lie and Nuremberg Diary.