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#RevThread #103
Four Quadrants

1/ In 1964, the great psychologist and Holocaust survivor Erich Fromm, after a lifetime of considering the sources of human evil and evil’s relationship to mental disorder, proposed a new diagnosis: “Malignant Narcissism.”
2/ cf. Scott Dworkin’s podcast interview with Dr. John Gartner, the psychiatrist from Johns Hopkins, who leads the “Duty to Warn” movement.
3/ Probably because the diagnosis of malignant narcissism involves the moral judgment of linking a disease to evil, “Malignant Narcissism” remains outside of medical listings of diseases. Still --
4/ --It is possible to be both morally depraved and mentally ill. Mobsters famously need shrinks
5/ Erich Fromm was on to really important truth. He thought about his own experience of Hitler’s evil, and about other monsters of 20th century life: Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, Mao.
6/ What’s messed up in their soul? Think today of Putin, Xi, Un, and Trump -- each with total control of nuclear bombs. We need to hurry up and understand. Let me trace out the four quadrants of this bleak terrain:
7/ #1: Narcissism (the inability to care about others except as they reflect me back to myself); #2: Sadism (the joy taken from making others suffer); #3: Paranoia (deep, stubborn, constant insecurity fueled by the sense of persecution); #4: Absence of empathy.
8/ Let’s see. #1: Whose focus in all things is never the common good but only his personal advantage? #2: Who authorized tearing babies and children away from their mothers? #3: Who is pathologically insecure? #4: Who could not comfort a young widow?
9/ Fromm’s study of this mental disorder led him to this prognosis: people suffering from it do not recover; they always get worse, especially when invested with great power, which enhances their delusional grandiosity.
10/ Malignant Narcissists become monstrous human beings.
11/ What happens when someone with this disorder starts suffering cognitive decline?
12/ I’m Trump’s age. I’m neither as quick nor as coherent as I used to be. Neither is Trump -- by a long shot. As his amygdala shrinks, he will lose more and more control over his destructive desires. This won’t do.
13/ I honor Fromm’s work because his was a wisdom wrung from prolonged, undeserved suffering at the hands of a dictator. Fromm thought clearly about what caused despotic behavior, saw autocracy as a human disorder, yet he did not want it reduced to a disease.
14/ What does God have to do with all this? Here’s a recurring Old Testament phrase which we now can understand more fully: “King (so and so) also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”
15/ There are plenty of malignant narcissists on view in the Scriptures. When Judas went out to betray Jesus, John notes simply “Satan entered him.” John adds, “And it was night.”
16/ Scripture posits not only God’s existence but Satan’s. And if you consider Fromm’s four quadrants of malignant narcissism, you recognize the Biblical portrait of Satan’s personality.
17/ An apocalyptic moment comes when a nation chooses as leader a malignant narcissist and gets captivated by his ersatz version of freedom. (Freedom= taking whatever you want however you can.) Whole swaths of the population get infected by his disorder. Catastrophe ensues.
18/ Are we there yet? No, but we’re closer than I want to be, closer than we were last year.
19/ What to do?
20/ Scripture commends four quadrants of virtue to cultivate and spread:
21/#1.The opposite of narcissism is “loving your neighbor as yourself”. S/he is not your rival who must be defeated. S/he is a bearer of the image of God. Start with your real, “house-next-door” neighbor. Learn their name, pray for their well-being and see where that takes you.
22/ Vote for people who cherish and honor Mexico and Canada (our neighbors). Study this guy, our authority on neighbor:
23/ #2. The opposite of sadism is what Scripture calls “charity” -- tenderness, the giving of comfort. Who needs your kindness? In your family? In your town? Among your friends?
24/ #3. The opposite of paranoia is courage. Let’s march! Let’s address our congress people. Let’s vote and help others to vote. And let us dismiss our fear of this preposterous president.
25/ #4. The opposite of detachment from the pain of others is compassion--the capacity to be moved. For God's sake, for our sake, and for the sake of these little ones, help build up #Resistance:
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