Myth of Evil: Demonizing the Enemy Book

Cole takes a unique approach to dealing with the problem of evil by coming at it from a purely secular perspective. What results is a radical demythologization of evil for the sake of placing blame where blame, for Cole, is actually due--in us, not in a metaphysical source. Cole sees this move as crucial in healing the world of its various "evils." The most enlightening section of his book, and the most prophetic, is the chapter entitled, "Communities of Fear," where he demonstrates how the fear and demonization of "the other" is used to buttress political identity. History, Cole chronicles, is a recurrent recital of such political tactics, from the witch craze and vampire epidemics of previous centuries to the Jews and "Islamicist" terrorists of our own. As Cole states, "Political communities are constituted by an irrational horror of imaginary monsters. In this process, those who seek to hold or gain power do not only create the threatening figure, they also create the community itself, or a particular form of it, with themselves at its center." What results is a narrative of fiction (based upon fact in certain instances), a myth, which becomes a source of intense fear and panic, "which can be exploited in the pursuit of political power." As can be seen, Cole's book straddles political philosophy and religious psychology, but, unfortunately, dismisses or ignores metaphysical and spiritual considerations. People of faith also have serious concerns of the use of the myth of evil in scapegoating "the other." I wish Cole would have made them more of a conversation partner.