Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site umcp-cs.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!amd!vecpyr!lll-crg!gymble!umcp-cs!mangoe From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) Newsgroups: net.singles Subject: Dr. M. Scott Peck Message-ID: <1278@umcp-cs.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 20:23:56 EDT Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.1278 Posted: Fri Aug 16 20:23:56 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 03:52:37 EDT References: <3109@nsc.UUCP> Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD Lines: 29 In article <3109@nsc.UUCP> Laurie Sefton writes: >Upon checking out the local bookstore, I found 180 titles found under the >section titled "psychology". 12 titles were written by such people as >Freud, Skinner, Jung, and Rogers. The rest were titles such as "Nice Girls >Do!", "Psycho-Cybernetics and Your Life", various TA books, one on EST, and >two by Dr Peck, who appears to be attempting to combine demonology and >psychology, a viewpoint not seen since about 200 years ago (evil is *such* >a nice precise psychological term). >The moral? One could have a vast library from this "psychology" section, >and the content would be nil. If you are *that* interested in psychology, >why don't you wander off to your local university, and *take a few courses >in it!!* Believe me (I've been there), there are enough different bodies >of thought within a psychology dept. to satisfy anyone's viewpoint. As >long as you come in with a reasonably open mind.... I agree with this in general, but I think you're doing Peck an injustice. The first of two is, I think, quite valuable, as long as you stop after "Religion" ("Grace" is fairly heavy going even for someone with some experience in theology). The "Evil" book is especially maligned. Peck's first point is that evil should be EXPLORED as a diagnostic category; he is fairly frank about the dangers involved. As for the exorcism section, I think it's clear that it is unimportant to the the previous chapters. C Wingate