In researching my novel, I had occasion to study the late-twentieth century phenomenon of the serial killer–something almost unknown, according to Robert K. Ressler, the FBI agent and psychologist who helped to introduce “profiling” to the world of law enforcement, in previous eras, but which exploded in terms of numbers of cases beginning in the Sixties.

Ressler’s book is in many ways a study of the criminal socipathic mind, one feature of which is an almost complete lack of internally based moral norms; another feature is an almost intractable habit of deceit—this latter because the sociopath, while subject to no moral norms himself, is keenly aware that most other people are and would condemn him if they knew his secret actions; also because (to boot) he wants to be “special” and rather enjoys “putting one over” on the gullible others who restrict their own freedoms by adherence to a moral code he rejects.

Another book I came across in my research is M. Scott Peck’s classic People of the Lie. In it, Peck, a Christian psychotherapist, focuses more on the personality of “narcissists“—individuals who do have consciences, who know better, and yet who are similarly caught up in a web of deceit; self-deceit first and foremost. The problem for society, and for groups led by narcissists, is that the maintenance of this pattern of self-deceit requires the deceit of others; others who the narcissist loves to control and from whom he wishes to receive admiration, even adulation.

Here’s a quote from Peck:

The words “image,” “appearance,” and “outwardly” are crucial to understanding the morality of the evil. While they seem to lack any motivation to be good, they intensely desire to appear good. Their “goodness” is all on a level of pretense. It is, in effect, a lie. This is why they are the “people of the lie.”

Whether explained by the personality disorders of Sociopathy or Narcissism, or something else, the fact that Fr. Maciel was able to perpetrate a fraud of holiness on thousands of people who viewed him as their special mediator of grace and vocation, necessitates the consideration that his web of deceit spread further than just his own conscience. There must have been, as there always is when someone like this attains great fame and a reputation for holiness, a level of complicity or at least spiritual blindness on the part of at least some at the upper levels of leadership.

It goes a long way to explaining some of the most controversial aspects of the LC/RC “methodology”, discussed on such websites as ReGain network and Life After RC. Similar techniques of control, limiting dissent and maintaining a public persona of seamless unity are familiar to survivors of many a toxic organization. In particular one sees the vilification, impugning of motives, and shunning of people who are brave (or desperate) enough to suggest that there is something rotten or at least imbalanced at the heart of the formation they are receiving. These are all, of course, forms of scapegoating.

Another excerpt from Peck, who identifies scapegoating as one of the primary signs of evil:

A predominant characteristic, however, of the behavior of those I call evil is scapegoating. Because in their hearts they consider themselves above reproach, they must lash out at anyone who does reproach them. They sacrifice others to preserve their self-image of perfection…

Scapegoating works through a mechanism psychiatrists call projection. Since the evil, deep down, feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when the are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault. Since they must deny their own badness, they must perceive others as bad. They project their own evil onto the world. They never think of themselves as evil, on the other hand, they consequently see much evil in others…

Evil, then, is most often committed in order to scapegoat, and the people I label as evil are chronic scapegoaters. In The Road Less Traveled I defined evil “as the exercise of political power—that is, the imposition of one’s will upon others by overt or covert coercion—in order to avoid…spiritual growth.” In other words, the evil attack others instead of facing their own failures. Spiritual growth requires the acknowledgment of one’s need to grow. If we cannot make that acknowledgment, we have no option except to attempt to eradicate the evidence of our imperfection.

Strangely enough, evil people are often destructive because they are attempting to destroy evil. The problem is that they displace the locus of the evil. Instead of destroying others they should be destroying the sickness within themselves.

Next, a glance at some of the most commonly employed techniques of overt/covert “coercion” used to maintain the appearance of holiness on the part of leaders and groups.