värvääminen

Evil in Disguise
There is another category of people who willingly participate. They suffer from an acute type of insanity that could be described as evil or psychopathic. These people do it because they simply enjoy watching others suffer. They're not criminals. They pay their taxes on time, they pay their bills, and they go to church. They're members of your local community center. They're soccer moms and little league baseball dads. They're well groomed. They appear to be model citizens.

"They live down the street - on any street," says Dr. Peck. "They may be rich or poor, educated or uneducated. There is little that is dramatic about them. They are not designated criminals. More often than not they will be 'solid citizens' - Sunday school teachers, policemen, or bankers, and active in the PTA." He adds, "They dress well, go to work on time, pay their taxes, and outwardly seem to live lives that are above reproach." Dr. Peck reveals that these people can't be categorized by any existing "psychiatric pigeonholes," not because, "the evil are healthy," but "simply because we have not yet developed a definition for their disease."

He asks, "How can this be?" "How can they be evil and not designated as criminals? The key lies in the word 'designated.' They are criminals in that they commit 'crimes' against life and liveliness." "But" he says, "except in rare instances... their 'crimes' are so subtle and covert that they cannot clearly be designated as crimes." It's usually not the size or illegality of their acts, but the consistency with which they commit them. He adds, "While usually subtle, their destructiveness is remarkably consistent." This pattern of consistent destruction, which Dr. Peck describes, seems to fit the people and organizations mentioned in Volume I perfectly.

Appearance is extremely important to these people. This is for concealment. They're petrified of someone finding out what they are. "Utterly dedicated to preserving their self-image of perfection, they are unceasingly engaged in the effort to maintain the appearance of moral purity," wrote Dr. Peck. "They worry about this a great deal. They are acutely sensitive to social norms and what others might think of them."

So according to Dr. Peck, it's as if evil people have something like a checklist of tasks, that they think "good" people do, and they go through the motions of performing these deeds so they can outwardly appear decent. They go through these motions not to be good, but to pretend that they are. "The words 'image,' 'appearance' and outwardly,'" states Dr. Peck, "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 [fakeness]... It is, in effect, a lie."

Interestingly, one task that these fake good people usually engage in, as part of their cover, is destroying evil. "Strangely enough," stated Dr. Peck, "evil people are often destructive because they are attempting to destroy evil." "Instead of destroying others," however, "they should be destroying the sickness within themselves." He observed that they are often "busily engaged in hating and destroying... usually in the name of righteousness." Therefore, the Hidden Evil, with its Neighborhood Watch groups and silent electromagnetic torture, is the perfect expression for their sickness. The liars - the fakes - can harm while appearing to help. They can hide within it, because the program itself - is a lie.