Book Report: “People of the Lie” by M. Scott Peck

The Hope for Healing Human Evil

In seminary I took a class on “Evil and Suffering.” We studied the age-old problem of evil: How could a good and all-powerful God allow suffering to exist? We also discussed how we, as future pastors and church leaders, could help folks deal with the reality of evil all around us.

As part of the class, my professor passed out an excerpt from M. Scott Peck’s book, “People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil.” Peck, who died in 2005, was the author of the widely popular “The Road Less Traveled” and was also a practicing psychologist for many decades. In the short section from his book that my professor handed us, Dr. Peck recounts several experiences with clients whom he earnestly believes were possessed. He was invited to work with a team of caregivers, priests, and psychologists to basically perform exorcisms on these oppressed people. As a scientist he is keenly aware that his assessment of these patients as “possessed” is somewhat speculative and likely to earn him a not-so-hidden eyeroll from his professional colleagues. However, the encounters were so unique and beyond what he had previously experienced, and so consistent with other accounts of possession (as well as his own Christian faith), that he felt the language of “possession” accurate.

Anyway, I remember reading this excerpt way back in school, and noting to myself that eventually I’d like to read the whole book.

17 years later, I finally got to. “People of the Lie” is Peck’s attempt to understand human evil from a clinical perspective. As he explains, “evil” is not a term that mental health professionals care to use. It’s too judgmental. Who’s going to respond well to a diagnosis of, “I have some bad news for you: You’re evil.” Also, it’s too fuzzy. What exactly makes someone “evil”? How would a psychologist even make that diagnosis? What’s the precise brain pattern for evil behavior?

But after years of interacting with a slew of clients, the author could not escape the observation that some of them are fundamentally committed to the destruction of the lives of those around them in a way that goes beyond normal human misbehavior. (To over-simplify, “evil” is that which is opposed to human life and flourishing. “Evil” is “live” backwards.) Dr. Peck builds a psychology of evil, noting its unique characteristics as a mental condition. In so doing he shares the fascinating stories of truly disturbed people who seem bent on manipulating and destroying their so-called loved ones. These narcissistic people operate without a conscience and are fundamentally committed to the lies they believe about themselves and the world around them. (They are “people of the lie.”) They also take particular advantage of their children. Indeed, many of Peck’s observations are made by watching children struggle under the controlling influence of their mom and dad. As a reader I was gripped by the stories of “Bobby” and “Roger.” I leapt for joy when Bobby was able to escape his parents’ evil influence and winced when Roger couldn’t.

Chapter 5 (“On Possession and Exorcism”) is only one chapter in the book. Peck knows it’s just one component of the larger topic. Despite our fascination with the topic of possession, he does not want to distract from the overall discussion. And to be sure, while the possessed are certainly oppressed by evil forces beyond our perception, not all evil people are so possessed. As a societal example of this, he addresses the topic of group evil in chapter 6: How can entire communities become bent on the immoral destruction of others? The Nazis feature prominently here, but so does the American military (and America herself) in the blind eye we cast towards the massacre of Mylai during the Vietnam war, and other atrocities.

“People of the Lie” was written 36 years ago, in 1983. Peck criticizes the state of his professional field and his fellow psychologists’ reluctance to really confront human evil. Since then, I am sure that the psychological academy has changed. Peck pleads for a more scientific approach to psychological evil, and with advances in brain science I’m sure the field has shifted. (Because this is not my field, I would be interested in learning more if anybody has any expertise here. To you who know: What’s the academy’s general opinion of Peck and his work?) Also, as humanity’s atrocities have piled up in the spread of global terror, we seem more willing to call evil “evil.” What other word would we use to describe men flying planes into buildings or priests raping children and bishops covering it up?

The goal here, however, is healing. (Hence the subtitle: “The Hope for Healing Human Evil.”) According to the author, shrinks of various sorts are more or less powerless to help the oppressed unless they know what they’re dealing with, and prepared to face it. In his experience, once a diagnosis of evil is made the caregiver must gird her loins and be prepared to address it forcefully. Battling evil is more often than not a battle of power and will. Insightfully, Peck notes the comparison he sees in Jesus’ battles—and they were battles—with demonically oppressed persons in the gospels. Jesus didn’t try talk therapy with these people. Using his authority—which the demons somehow recognized—he lovingly but forcefully ordered them freed.

Again, Peck is careful to note that the vast number of people we caregivers are called to help are not possessed. Speaking for myself, I can probably count on a couple fingers the number of folks I’ve counseled over the years who seemed under the control of some evil presence beyond themselves. (On this, Peck makes an interesting point: truly evil people generally do not come seeking help. This is one of the reasons they are difficult to study.) For the most part, the rest are just ordinary people struggling to get by.

And yet the proclivity towards evil lies inside all of us. Under the right conditions, we are all susceptible to its psychological forces. Even the Apostle Paul warns against giving the devil “a foothold” and allowing the forces of chaos and destruction to take over our lives and relationships, bit by bit (Eph. 4:27). Oftentimes, by the time someone oppressed by evil seeks help—which is rare in and of itself—it’s often too late and the caregiver is just spinning her wheels. But there still might just be hope for those who want it. The author’s description of the exorcisms in which he partook offer a good example of what it takes for people to be freed of evil. In the end, it was not the dozens of professionals who “cast out” the demons from the patient’s minds. It was the patients themselves who had the courage to take a stand against the evil inside them, risking personal harm and terrible anguish for the sake of mental, physical, and spiritual health. They had “had enough,” and were willing to risk their lives in order to be free.

I have found that to be true, as well—both as a caregiver and as a person. As a Christian pastor, the people I have been able to help over the years received very little from me, in comparison to their own efforts. Sure, I listened to their complaints and empathized with their struggles, giving them honest feedback on what I think they’re up against, and encouragement along the way. That’s not insignificant, but it’s not what matters most. Similarly, in my own personal struggle with temptation and evil of various kinds, it’s not the many helpers I’ve had who have helped me the most. As grateful as I am for their guidance, it was rather my condition as one who had “had enough.” It was my personal decision to take a stand, drawing on the inner resources of God’s Spirit and my own God-given will to make a change.

Ultimately, while pastors, psychologists, and caregivers can give us courage to face our demons, we still must face them ourselves. While others may hand us the sword of truth, the battle is our own. In “People of the Lie,” M. Scott Peck shows us one way to wage it.

By MRH (6/14/2019)