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Question Title Posted By Question Date
different types of evil stacey Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Question:

Over the years through various jobs I've had I've run into all types of people. Right now I work at a mental health facility once a week and have also worked with work-release inmates in the past. Alot of these people that I've met have done some very bad things in their life and some have even committed some evil acts.

Despite the things that many of these individuals have done I've always been able to sense a sort of battle going on the inside of many. I know we can't diagnose anyones spiritual condition but it seems that alot of these people are battling oppression and deep down they are miserable and don't want to be the way they are.

 What really puzzles me however are the handful of people I've known who willfully and maliciously do evil and seem to enjoy it. Most of these folks you don't find in prison and sad enough some of the most evil and deceptive people I've ever met were in church. I've even heard some of them say they do what they do because that is who they are and they enjoy it. You don't sense any "battle" going on on the inside. Their personalities seem to be consistent and their will set.

I worked with a woman a few years ago who would mount "campaigns" to get people fired. She was even bold enough to tell people about it and got away with it for so long because she had charmed so many in the company. She was beautiful, well educated, raised in a Catholic home, and had a lot of charm and charisma. She caused 3 people to lose their jobs and did untold damage to the company before she left. She did this because she thought it was "fun." She would actually tell people this. Why do some people choose to go down this road?

I've heard the term "perfectly possessed" and wonder if this a possible explanation. Alot of people are in bondage and oppression and don't want to be the way they are-they're truly miserable. Why would someone choose to do evil and like it?

Some famous examples of what I'm talking about are people like Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Josef Mengele, and others of the same ilk. A friend of mine from church says that anyone who does evil is possessed by a demon. I disagree. I think some human beings are quite capable of doing great evil on their own. My question is why would someone willfully choose to go down that road and fully embrace it? Maybe we'll never completely understand it.



Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Stacey:

You are correct that we are fully capable of doing evil on our own.  In fact most evil is done on our own. To say "the devil made me do it" is a cop out.

The type of people you are talking about who seem to find pleasure in evil are usually mentally ill or have serious personality disorders. Some may be demonized, but people are capable of this without the devil's help.

A sociopath is a person who has no conscience and especially combined with narcissistic tendencies may take pleasure in causing evil upon others.

There are many psychodynamics that may be involved with such people. We cannot presume a demonic element automatically.

A demonic element may indeed by present in many of these people, but not necessarily as the primary cause of their behavior. Oftentimes, perhaps most of the time, demons like to "hitchhike" on problems that already exist to make them worse than they have to be. Thus, many of these people may have already had personality defects that demons then exploited.

There is one demonic spirit called Jezebel. This is a spirit of contention, division, and dogged harassment. There seems to be at least one Jezebel (usually a woman) in every parish.

As to why people chose such behavior? Well, some of it can be explained from their psychological history perhaps, sometimes there are brain disorders that cause this, but beyond that we do not necessarily know the cause of behaviors like this with many people.

The human capacity for evil is great without the help of the devil. With the help of the devil the human capacity for evil is virtually limitless.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

 


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