Andrew Lobaczewski - Political Ponerology - A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

ious dictates as a specific basis for overcoming this great his-

torical disease. Religion is neither a specific serum nor an ae-

tiotropically active antibiotic with regard to the phenomenon of

pathocracy. Although it constitutes a regenerative factor for the

spiritual strength of individuals and societies, religious truth

does not contain the specific naturalistic knowledge which is

essential for understanding the pathology of the phenomenon,

and which is simultaneously a curative and a resistance gener-

ating factor for human personalities. Rather, religious faith and

the phenomenon of pathocracy are in fact at different levels of

reality , the latter being more earthy. That also explains why

there can be no true collision between religion and the pone-

rological knowledge about the macrosocial pathological phe-

nomenon.

If we based our societal defense and treatment with regard

to destructive influences of pathocracy only upon the truest

religious values, this would be reminiscent of curing an insuffi-

ciently comprehended disease exclusively by measures which

strengthen body and soul. Such general therapy may furnish

satisfactory results in many cases, but it will prove insufficient

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in others . This macrosocial disease belongs to the latter cate-

gory.

The fact that this pathocratic phenomenon, which has

spread to the most wide-ranging scale in human history, dem-

onstrates hostility to any and all religion does not imply the

conclusion that it is the opposite of religion. This dependence

would be structured differently under other historical and con-

temporary conditions. In the light of historical data, it appears

obvious that religious systems have also succumbed to ponero-

genic processes and manifested the symptoms of a similar dis-

ease.117

The specific basis for healing our sick world, which is also a

curative factor for restoring full reasoning capabilities to the

human personality, must therefore be the kind of science which

renders the essence of the phenomenon evident and describes it

in sufficiently objective language. Resistance to the acceptance

of such knowledge is often justified by religious motivation; it

is largely caused by the egotism of the natural world view in its

traditional overrating of its values and fear of disintegration,

and it must be constructively overcome.

~~~

The pathocratic phenomenon has appeared many times in

history, feeding parasitically upon various social movements,

deforming their structures and ideologies in a characteristic

fashion. It must therefore have met with various religious sys-

tems and with a variety of historical and cultural backgrounds.

Two basic possibilities for a relationship between this phe-

nomenon and a religious system can thus be adduced. The first

occurs when the religious association itself succumbs to infec-

tion and the ponerogenic process, which leads to development

of the above-mentioned phenomena within it. The second pos-

sibility emerges if a pathocracy develops as a parasite upon

some social movement whose character is secular and political,

which must inevitably lead to collision with religious organiza-

tions.

117 Not to mention the fact that currently, the neocon-Bush administration is

using Christianity as the ideology by which they mask pathocracy. [Editor’s

note.]

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

271

In the first case, the religious association succumbs to de-

struction from within, its organism becomes subordinated to

goals completely different from the original idea, and its the-

osophic and moral values fall prey to characteristic deforma-

tion, thereupon serving as a disguise for domination by patho-

logical individuals. The religious idea then becomes both a

justification for using force and sadism against nonbelievers,

heretics, and sorcerers, and a conscience drug for people who

put such inspirations into effect.118

Anyone criticizing such a state of affairs is condemned with

paramoral indignation , allegedly in the name of the original

idea and faith in God, but actually because he feels and thinks

within the categories of normal people. Such a system retains

the name of the original religion and many other specific

names, swearing on the prophet’s beard while using this for its

doubletalk. Something which was to be originally an aid in the

comprehension of God’s truth now scourges nations with the

sword of imperialism.

When such phenomena are long-lasting, those people who

have retained their faith in religious values will condemn such

a state of affairs, thereby indicating that it diverges widely from

the truth. They will unfortunately do so without understanding

the nature and causes of the pathological phenomenon, i.e. in

moral categories, thus committing the malignant error with

which we are already familiar. They shall take advantage of

some amenable geopolitical situation in protesting such a state

of affairs, breaking away from the original system and creating

various sects and denominations.

This kind of breakdown can be considered a characteristic

consequence of any movement’s infection by this disease, be it

religious or secular. Religious conflict thereupon assumes the

character of political partitions, giving rise to warfare among

various believers in the same God.

As we know, this state evolves into the dissimulative phase

once human rancor starts to become exhausted; however, this

form will be much more long-lasting than a pathocracy feeding

on a secular movement. Human individuals cannot easily con-

tain the entire process within their frame of reference, since

118 As is the case in the United States and Israel today. [Editor’s note.]

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PATHOCRACY AND RELIGION

such a state spans many generations; their criticism will thus be

limited to the questions they are immediately familiar with.

However, this gives rise to a gradual but uncoordinated pres-

sure front of reasonable people, thereby instigating some kind

of evolution within any group thus engendered. Such evolution

will aim at reactivating the original religious values or at

overcoming the deformations.

Whether this process achieves its definitive goals depends

upon two conditions: If the original idea was contaminated by

some pathological factor from the outset, the goal is unreach-

able. If it is attainable, our asymptomatic approximation will

place us in a position wherein the definitive elimination of the

effects of the surmounted illness requires an objective view of

its essence and history . Otherwise it is impossible to eliminate

the leftover pathological deformations which would survive as

a factor opening the door to renewed contamination.

Some religious groups may have been started by persons

who were carriers of certain psychological anomalies. Particu-

lar attention should be focused upon largely paranoidal charac-

teropathies and their above-discussed role in instigating new

phases of ponerogenesis. For such people, the world of normal

human experience (including religious experience) succumbs

to deformation; spellbinding of self and others easily follows,