The problem

cott Peck was a rare man. Author of the greatest-selling personal growth book of all time – “The Road Less Traveled” – he followed that course with exceptional courage.

A psychiatrist by training and practice, he was dissatisfied with shoveling symptom relieving pills on mental health problems founded mostly in an absence of skills. It was in that last word he found his thrill and laid a hand of grace on an increasingly crazy world.  

In later years, Dr. Peck turned his magnified insight toward the subject of evil. He undertook that responsibility with the healthy skepticism of a trained social scientist. Of equal importance, he simultaneously addressed his subject as a man of faith. In a united march, those dedications created an extraordinary voice for truth.

His landing place? Evil exists in many forms and it’s reaching for every one of us every minute of every day.

Here’s some of Dr. Peck’s parapharased wisdom on how to fight back.

Life is hard

Scott Peck was a rare agent of change more dedicated to reality than painting a happy face on darkness. Everything he shared was thoroughly soaked in a solid truism – life is hard.

In contrast to the majority of politicians, activists, educators, screern writers, and even ministers, Dr. Peck refused to con his audience with a softer vision.

An example? His recognition that when people buy into the fantasy of something for nothing, they tend to become needy, selfish and angry.

Why? Because in relinquishing the power of personal accountability, we transfer hope into the hands of others and inevitably develop a hostile-dependency relationship. That’s one of the reasons you rarely meet welfare cheats, addicts, professional victims or Democrats who are also happy.

Peck’s positive take was though life is hard, it can be rewarding - when you face the challenges head and hands on.  

Watch out for people selling a different script.

Truth is body armor

In the ‘80s.s Peck wrote a pivotal book called “People of the Lie.” Therein he made a bold declaration – America was busy producing a generation of liars who would one day take the soul out of our country.

We’re there.

As always, when illuminating a negative, Peck counter-punched with an antidote. The best way to resist today’s tide of dishonesty is refuse to participate.

Honesty is body armor against deception that works like armor against a bullet. You’ll take some hits, but the bruises won’t kill you.

Anger is evil’s billboard

Have you noticed Asheville’s becoming an angrier place?

Witness the rage on our roadways, amidst our protests, and in our letters to the editor. Through cultural validation or self-license, denigrating or destroying that which we resent has become a popular sport.  

That’s a problem for many reasons, but anger’s unbreakable marriage to negativity, reactivity, stupidity and depression are standouts.  

Note how much of the world’s misery and mayhem is reliably linked to some form of anger.  Anger is thus useful. It serves as a blinking yellow light warning of evil ahead.

Love is evil’s nemesis

The road less traveled doesn’t find us alone. That’s especially true if one makes the conscious choice to counter the darkness with love – the brightest source of light.

Loving other people does so many good things it’s easy to see why the world – evil’s playground – is constantly trying to get us to stop.

Don’t.

Love is a skill and the more you practice the better you will get. The better you get, the more you will function as an antagonist to evil.

Curious about how to tell the difference in real versus imagined evil? If you’re angry, depressed, self-righteous, judgmental, entitled, selfish or greedy, there’s a good chance you’re working for the wrong side.

Fear and worry play for the wrong team 

For the most part, the Bible doesn’t rank sins. Dishonerable passions, theivery, adultry, and dishonesty all come out of a box broadly labeled – “Against God’s Will.”

Curiously, if one considers frequency an indication of priority, fear and worry merit attention. These are the two most referenced sins in the Bible. As backdoor evils, they slip into our lives quietly.

Fear and worry are negative skills, and like all skills, grow with practice. A heart and brain thus kidnapped are vulnerable to other evils. In the search for relief, we’ll embrace drugs and other addictions that take us away from the touch of misery and into the clutches of dissaster.  

Defeating our tendency toward fear and worry is a skill unto itself. Fear and worry come naturally – the antidotes – take work.

Yes, that’s hard.

Faith is a necessary shield in a tough world

Peck had a prescription for facing life’s hardness – girding oneself with a functional belief system that explains how we got here; what we should be doing while we are here; and where we are going when we leave here.

His informed choice was Christianity. He, like many others, found more reason and sincerity in a leap of faith toward a higher spiritual power than toward humanistic science grounded in simplistic notions like “the big bang.”

In Peck’s mind the affirming touch on his Christian faith came from a simple question. If life is hard, shouldn’t our navigational roadmap provide us guidance that helps us face it as such?

He recognized that the limitation too often found in science, politics and so many other human endeavors is that they almost universally promise something for nothing.

In a hard world, something for nothing doesn’t exist – and those who pretend it does reveal their insincerity.

Easy isn’t really easy

Were he still here, Peck would suggest a final reason most of us avoid the road less traveled. It goes uphill. In contrast, evil reliably beckons us to the ease of the downhill run.

That lands us on a final Peck truism. If it’s easy – it’s probably not so good, and if it’s hard – it’s probably not so bad.

Looking for light and hope? Start climbing - it’s hard, but it’s good….

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 Carl Mumpower, a psychologist and former elected official, is chairman of the Buncombe County Republican Party. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .