Fear

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From Bastard Out of Carolina (1992)

  There was mud on her calves and knees, plainly visible where her yellow flower-print dress was pulled up. A strip of the hem on her white cotton slip hung down behind her knees. The sleeves of her faded blue sweater were rolled back, and it was all covered with dried mud like the dress. Her hands were as dirty as the rest of her, stained dark, her nails broken and the cuticles torn. Blood, I realized. That was blood among the mud stains all over Aunt Alma’s hands, dress, sweater, calves, and face. Her hair was matted with it. A chill went through me, and the skin on top of my head went tingly and hot. Aunt Alma’s fingers were knotted together in her lap. Her face pointed straight ahead, but her eyes were completely unfocused, looking inside not out. She opened her hands slowly and brought them up to her face, the torn, raw fingers sliding past her cheekbones to push her hair back, spreading fresh blood on her temples. There were cuts on her forearms, one on her left cheek, and another on her neck, below her chin. My mouth hung open. I turned my head. There was glass everywhere, shattered, scattered, gleaming in the sun. I was standing barefoot in a yard of broken glass. “He’ll be back soon,” Aunt Alma was saying. “Back any minute now, I know. I’m ready for him.” She turned and looked Mama full in the face. “I’m ready for him,” she said again, her voice as calm and familiar as Mama’s. “I’m ready for him.” “Yes,” Mama said. “I see, honey. You are. We both are. We’ll just sit here a while and wait for him.” She kept her face pressed close, not looking away from Aunt Alma’s eyes, as if only her presence was keeping Alma attached to the earth. One of the girls started whimpering over by the garden. I looked back, unable to resist the notion that everyone had gone crazy. Women all over Greenville County were going to smash stuff and then sit down to wait for Armageddon or sunrise or something. It sounded like a good idea to me. “Bone, get away from there.” It was Uncle Earle’s whisper. He was standing well back over near the stand of pines where the drive turned, his black hair gleaming in the sunlight and an expression on his face of almost comical nervousness. “Come on, girl. Get back in the car and let your mama handle this.” His hands were flat on his thighs, and his jaw was set. He looked scared, deathly scared. “I’m gonna cut his throat,” Aunt Alma said in the most reasonable voice imaginable. “I got the knife for it.” “Where is that?” Mama asked her. “In my pocket.”

• From Bastard Out of Carolina (1992)

  He kept fiddling with his shirt and looking over at me. After a while I began to feel more and more like a child, a girl, hurt and alone. By the time Sheriff Cole came in, walking stiffly as if his big wide belt weighted him down and hurt his back, I felt so small I didn’t know if I could talk. “Ruth Anne.” He greeted me by name. He pulled a stool over beside the hip-high table I was propped up on, grunted as he shifted his butt onto the stool, then rolled his head so that his neck made a loud cracking noise. At the sound he grinned and put both hands flat on his thighs. “You want to talk to me? Tell me what happened?” I swallowed. Olive complexion, big nose, bigger ears, strong chin, and thin gray hair combed straight back off his face—Sheriff Cole didn’t look like anybody else I knew. People said he came from Maryland and that he would never have made sheriff if he hadn’t been such a churchgoing Baptist, a deacon, and well-off even before he married a Greenville girl. He looked more like a frycook than a sheriff, big-bellied, greasy, and soft. I looked up into his wide, dark eyes. His voice was soft, almost lazy, his tone both polite and respectful. He made me wish I could talk, tell him what had happened, what I thought had happened. But it all seemed so complicated in my head, so long and difficult. How could I begin? Where would I begin? With Aunt Alma going crazy? With the moment Daddy Glen grabbed me and tore my shirt? I thought of that moment in the parking lot so long ago, waiting to find out about Mama and his son. “You’re not hurt too bad,” he told me. “Doctor says you’ll be fine.” I lifted my head, knowing fear showed in my face. “No concussion, the doctor says.” He took the little notebook out of his pocket, opened it. “You’re a little shocky, need to be careful for a while. Some of your people are out there. I got the doctor talking to them.” “Mama?” My voice was a hoarse croak. “I an’t talked to your mama yet. Your aunts are here, though. We’ll let you see them soon.” He flipped pages, took out a pen, and looked at me. “Now, we need to know what happened, Ruth Anne. I know you’re not feeling too good, but I want you to try to talk to me.” His mouth softened, as if he were trying to look comforting. “You tell me what happened and we can work on getting you home soon.” He put the point of the pen to the paper. I closed my eyes.

• From Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out (2014)

  Before beginning the intervention, we held a preparation meeting, which included the husband’s sister, his wife, and his children at my hotel room. We spoke at length for hours about the complexities of the intervention process and about how each person must fulfill his or her role. This talk included the usual warnings about boundaries and undue criticism at inappropriate moments. The intervention would require their full support, cooperation, and assistance for me to fulfill my role and facilitate this effort. We decided during the preparation process that the best approach for the intervention would be a friendly visit from the sister at the family home. This was planned in advance, and the children would be there. We would begin on a weekend. The sister and I would come to the house, and she would introduce me. We arrived in the morning. The wife greeted us at the door and let us in. It wasn’t long before the husband and I were engaged in a friendly conversation about his home improvement projects, art collection, and hobbies. We chatted about his interest in art history and architecture for some time before he finally asked, “Why are you here?” My answer was candid and to the point, explaining that his family had serious concerns about his plans for the future. It seems that he had decided to postpone those plans, though there was still some palpable fear among his family members. We agreed to have a deeper conversation about their fears. Were all these apprehensions misplaced, or were there legitimate reasons for concern? Our conversation soon moved to the subject of Scientology. The husband explained that he had been a member of the organization for almost three decades. He added that his wife and children had neither opposed nor fully embraced Scientology and that historically there had been no real arguments or serious disagreements about his commitment to the controversial organization. Instead, at times his wife and children had agreed to take Scientology courses and had been passive or generally agreeable to his ongoing involvement. At this point his wife entered the conversation, explaining that her relative passivity in the past regarding Scientology didn’t mean she had no concerns about it. The husband’s sister explained that after learning about the proposed divorce and his plans to abruptly change his living arrangements, she became seriously concerned. Both of the adult children likewise expressed fears about Scientology’s influence in the current situation. They wanted to know why their father had decided to leave their mother and move in to Scientology group housing. His explanation was that after years of taking courses and moving through Scientology training as a public member, he wanted to make Scientology his total focus and mission in life. The husband felt that the only way he could do this effectively was to become a full-time staff member of Scientology. Since his children were both adults now, they no longer needed a full-time father.

• From Lit: A Memoir (2009)

  The night ends with a black smudge, and come dawn, I stand in a cloud of shower steam, the former night’s conviction to quit solid, though it’s daunting to face unmedicated whatever’s beyond the plastic curtain I’m scared to draw aside. By afternoon I can’t abide Mr. Rogers asking me to be my neighbor without a cocktail.

• From Trash (1988)

  I curled my fists under the sheets until I fell asleep. When she took me shopping, Mama bought me things she said I needed. She made me go to Jordan Marsh to buy Estée Lauder skin potions. “It’s time,” she said. Her tone implied it was the last possible day I could put off buying moisturizer. I submitted. It was easier to let her tell me what to buy than to argue, and kind of fun to let her boss around the salesladies. I even found myself telling an insistent young woman that, no, we would not try the Clinique, we were there for Estée Lauder. Afterward, we went upstairs to do what we both enjoyed the most—rummage through the sale bins. “I need new underwear,” Mama said. “Briefs. Let’s find me some briefs. No bikinis, can’t wear those anymore. They irritate my scar.” She gestured to her belly, not specifying if she meant the old zipper from her navel to pubis, or the more recent horizontal patches to either side. I sorted the more garish patterns out of the way, turning up a few baby-blue briefs in size seven. “Five now,” Mama muttered. “Find me some fives, and none of those all-cotton ones. I want the nylon. Nylon hugs me right, and I hate the way cotton looks after a while. Dirty, you know?” Sevens and eights and sixes. I kept digging. “Excuse me.” The two women at Mama’s sleeve looked familiar. “Mam,” the first one said, pushing into the bin. “Excuse me.” She reached around Mama’s elbow to snag a pair of blue-green briefs. “Excuse me,” she said again. The accent was even more familiar than her flat grayish features and tight blond cap of hair. Her drawl was more pronounced than Mama’s, more honeyed than the usual Orlando matrons. It was a Carolina accent, and a Carolina polite hesitation, too. The other woman reached for a pair of yellow cotton panties, size seven. Mama moved aside. “So I told him what he was going to have to do,” the first woman said to her friend, continuing what was obviously an ongoing conversation. “No standing between me and the Lord, I told him. We’ve all got a role in God’s plan. You know?” Her friend nodded. Mama looked to the side, her eyes drifting over the woman’s figure, the pale white hands sorting underwear, the dull gold jewelry and the loose shirtwaist dress. That old glint appeared in Mama’s eyes and a little electrical shock went up my neck. I moved around the corner of the bin to get between them, but Mama had already turned to the woman. “I know what you mean.” Mama’s tone was pleasant, her face open and friendly.

• From The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25-Year Landmark Study (2000)

  The real children in this study did not remain silent about the system’s unfairness. They complained that they were being bullied by the courts or by a parent backed by the court. They cajoled, conspired, and cried—but no one listened. They begged to be consulted about visiting because they, and not their parents, knew what the visiting was like. They wanted to be consulted about dual residence because there, too, they—not their parents—knew what it was like. They wanted to feel safe and yet they were afraid to travel unaccompanied. They worried themselves sick when they had to fly in airplanes alone. What if the plane crashes? They worried all through the journey, what if no one is there to meet me? Do adults really believe that the thousands of children, some as young as five years old, who fly alone across country each week are pleased with a visiting plan that makes them do this? Do people think these children feel loved and protected and are sure that there will be a joyful parent waiting at the gate to toss them into the air and catch them happily? Many of these children are deeply frightened and remember their fear and confusion for many years. One woman, who from the age of six shuttled back and forth between Denver and San Francisco, recently told me, “I felt like a piece of garbage being put on the plane.” “Did you complain?” I asked. “Yes, all the time,” she replied. “I said to my mother, ‘How can you do this to me?’ I remember her telling me, ‘This is what the experts think is good for you.’”

• From Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out (2014)

  The SLA declared Hearst was a “prisoner of war,” who was taken to avenge the crimes of her wealthy parents.246 She was terrorized, physically abused, and held confined in a closet for weeks.247 Subjected to a combination of nonstop indoctrination and coercion, Hearst eventually collapsed psychologically and emotionally, embracing a new name and group identity. She became Tania, the name of a woman who had died fighting with Che Guevara in Bolivia. Hearst, an unlikely revolutionary, even posed for photos as her new persona while holding a machine gun. The heiress wore a beret cocked on her head, emulating the original Tania. Hearst was also photographed during a bank robbery with the SLA. In May 1974 DeFreeze and five SLA members died in a final shootout with police. Hearst was finally found in September 1975 and arrested. Patty Hearst‘s defense at her trial for bank robbery was that she had been brainwashed. But despite her abduction and abuse by the SLA, Hearst was found guilty. After serving almost two years in federal prison, President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence. President Bill Clinton later pardoned her in 2001. “The pardon represents an act of ultimate understanding for which she is thankful,” her lawyer said.248 Patty Hearst married her bodyguard, a San Francisco police officer, in 1979. The couple raised two children. Looking back during an interview in 2002, Hearst said, “It’s something that affects you so deeply that in a way you can never really trust people again. You know that you have to and you know that not everybody is like this, but it changes your perception of people for the rest of your life. And in a way it’s sad to lose that kind of innocence, but in another way, you get a strength from it. And you can help other people.”249 A key component in Hearst’s recovery was the counseling psychologist Margaret Singer provided. Hearst said, “I had a psychologist who was incredibly good [Margaret Singer]…but you realize on your own that you don’t have to [think] the things that they’ve been telling you to think. You don’t have to participate in the disciplining of your mind.”250 1985—MOVE and the John Africa Standoff Vincent Leaphart, known to his followers as “John Africa,” led the Philadelphia-based group known as MOVE. MOVE was based on the teachings of John Africa as set down in a book titled The Guidelines , which became the group’s bible. 251 Africa preached against technology and for equality with animals. In 1978, when a policeman went to evict the communal group from its residence, he was killed. Nine MOVE members were later convicted of murder.252 MOVE members adopted the same surname as their leader, Africa, and adhered to a diet of raw food. But their relationship with the community around them was often strained.

• From Augustine: Philosopher and Saint (2005)

  58 Lecture 12: The City of God Some Questions about Augustine’s Overall Project Does the Resurrection of the Body matter to Augustine as much as it should? He believes in it, to be sure, but does it make any real difference to his understanding of ¿ nal blessedness, which seems to be ultimately a matter of the state of our souls? Does history matter more than Augustine realizes? Consider two episodes of biblical history about which Augustine has surprisingly little to say in the City of God: • When God rescues Israel from Egypt, the Bible seems to regard this as a revelation of who he is—not just a foreshadowing of future eternal happiness. • When Christ is cruci¿ ed and then raised from the dead, the Bible again seems to regard this as a revelation of who God is. This is something that happens outside us, in the literal À esh of Christ—not something we ¿ nd by turning inward! The frightening thing about Augustine’s doctrine of grace is the inscruta- bility of God’s choices (see conclusion of Lecture 8). What would have to change in Augustine’s thought for him to welcome God’s choices as good news, not an inscrutable depth but as a revelation of who God is in all his goodness? My suggestion is that Augustine needs a deeper appreciation of external things—of the biblical claim that God entered the human story, speaks human words, and bears human À esh. The biblical God, unlike the Platonist First Principle, is someone who makes choices—because he is someone who is present in human history. Ŷ Augustine, City of God, book 19. Markus, Saeculum, chapters 3 and 4. Essential Reading Supplementary Reading 59 O’Donnell, Augustine, chapter 3. 1. Assuming Augustine is right about the inward nature of religion, how would you describe the religion of your heart? 2. How good a guide do you think Augustine is to the meaning of the Christian faith? Questions to Consider Timeline 60 Timeline 358 B.C. .......................................... d. Plato. 43 B.C. ............................................ d. Cicero. A.D. 30? .......................................... d. Christ. c. 100 ............................................... New Testament completed. 270................................................... d. Plotinus. 277................................................... d. Mani in Persia. 296................................................... Manichaeanism begins to spread in the Roman Empire. 312................................................... Constantine consolidates his position as Roman emperor, becomes a Christian, and over the course of the next twenty- ¿ ve years makes Christianity a tolerated religion within the Empire. 325................................................... Council of Nicaea teaches that Christ is “of one essence with the Father.” 354................................................... Augustine born in Thagaste in the Roman province of Africa. 371................................................... Augustine goes to Carthage to pursue education in rhetoric. There he encounters Cicero’s Hortensius and later joins the Manichaeans.

• From Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out (2014)

  Local rancher Lynn Meador, sixty-two, said, “Those people came under false pretenses to our area…I think people deep down were afraid this thing would end up like Waco. We were all just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”180 The anticipated corresponding response finally came during April 2008. Authorities descended on the polygamist compound in a massive, well-planned, and carefully coordinated raid, the largest law enforcement action concerning polygamists since the Arizona raid of Short Creek in 1953. Hundreds of agents, including the FBI, the Texas Rangers, and the San Angelo police, highway patrol, and sheriff’s department, converged on the YFZ ranch. Authorities used an armored vehicle for personnel, K9 dog units, and multiple ambulances. After six long days of searching the compound, agents walked away with a collection of computers, photographs, and various records, all of which would prove to be pivotal evidence in coming criminal prosecutions.181 Authorities removed more than four hundred children from the polygamist compound. This move included children ranging in age from infants to teenage mothers. “In my opinion, this is the largest endeavor we’ve ever been involved with in the state of Texas… This is about children who are at imminent risk of harm, children we believe have been abused or neglected,” Child Protective Services (CPS) spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner explained.182 But in June a judge in San Angelo, Texas, ordered CPS to return all the children. Judge Barbara Walther stated in her order that Texas officials had exceeded their authority by removing the children from the compound.183 The raid and ongoing expenses regarding the children’s care and related litigation had cost the state of Texas more than $14 million. Questions were raised about this expense to taxpayers and the net results of the action. Krista Piferrer, deputy press secretary to the governor, responded, “Any action taken to protect children is never misguided.”184 The raid did lead to the prosecution of polygamist leaders. Authorities seized almost a thousand boxes of evidence and six terabytes of digital files, which provided overwhelming evidence in the subsequent criminal cases. All eleven men arrested at the YFZ were convicted of child sex and bigamy charges, and all received prison sentences.185 During the sentencing phase of the Texas trial of Warren Jeffs, the jury heard testimony from Jeffs’ nephew that his uncle had raped him when he was five. The little boy had been told the rape was “God’s will.” Jeffs also had sex with twelve- and fifteen-year-old girls he took as his so-called celestial wives.186 Warren Jeffs was sentenced to a term of life plus twenty years in prison. The Texas Third District Court of Appeals later denied his appeal in 2012. Many FLDS members have disavowed Jeffs due to his criminal convictions.187 Warren Jeffs, however, remains the official leader of the FLDS and, acting from prison, has ordered FLDS members excommunicated and exiled.

• From Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out (2014)

  The supernatural images are God and Satan, or the devil, and the two corresponding claims are heaven and hell. Whatever the leader or group dictates is what God wants. Therefore, obedience to the group or leader is seen as obedience to God. Anyone or anything else, most especially whoever or whatever opposes the group or leader, is apt to be labeled as the devil and thus be discredited. Lifton recognized this truth in his description of “loaded language,” one of eight criteria he used to define thought reform, which is characterized by “‘god terms’ representative of ultimate good; or ‘devil terms’ representative of the ultimate evil.”770 Correspondingly there is the promise of heaven as the reward for obedience to “God,” as expressed by the group, and the threat of extermination or hell as the punishment for disobedience. Ted Patrick talked about the imagery of doomsday cults. “They give [cult members] the same thing over and over again, day in and day out…saying everything outside that door is Satan, that the world is going to end within seven years, and that if you’re not in their [group] you’re going to burn in hell.” A cult member may feel palpable fear regarding the prospect of life outside the perceived protection the box provides. Patrick concludes, “If he goes outside in that bad, evil, world,” he “is terrified of what will happen to him out there.” 771 The floor of the box created by Bible-based cults, what can be seen as its functional and operational foundation, is the group leader’s idiosyncratic interpretation of the Bible. Specifically, the Bible, as the group interprets it, becomes absolute biblical truth, and anything else is therefore unbiblical and false. Typically, this preferred interpretation of the Bible the group and its leader uses is self-serving and systematically engenders dependence on the group and reliance on it for a sense of safety and security. The Bible, as some groups use it, becomes a tool for manipulation and control. Caught between these walls, the cult member becomes confined by the group’s interpretation of the Bible within the box. The cult member cannot effectively question authority or reflect or reason independently. In this context any alternate perspective is simply seen as striving against the biblical God or aligning with the devil. As Patrick notes, destructive cults frequently devalue critical thinking itself. He says, “It’s very painful, because they’ve been told that the mind is Satan and thinking is the machinery of the Devil.”772 The cult member thus becomes walled in and isolated. Confined in this space, he or she might have the will to intellectually try scaling a wall, but the box is tightly shut with a lid. This final sealing of the box is accomplished through the call to surrender. In cultic groups members are routinely encouraged to surrender their egos and critical thinking to a higher power.

• From Augustine: Philosopher and Saint (2005)

  58 doG fo ytiC ehT :21 erutceL Some Questions about Augustine’s Overall Project Does the Resurrection of the Body matter to Augustine as much as it should? He believes in it, to be sure, but does it make any real difference to his understanding of (cid:191) nal blessedness, which seems to be ultimately a matter of the state of our souls? Does history matter more than Augustine realizes? Consider two episodes of biblical history about which Augustine has surprisingly little to say in the City of God: • When God rescues Israel from Egypt, the Bible seems to regard this as a revelation of who he is—not just a foreshadowing of future eternal happiness. • When Christ is cruci(cid:191) ed and then raised from the dead, the Bible again seems to regard this as a revelation of who God is. This is something that happens outside us, in the literal (cid:192) esh of Christ—not something we (cid:191) nd by turning inward! The frightening thing about Augustine’s doctrine of grace is the inscruta- bility of God’s choices (see conclusion of Lecture 8). What would have to change in Augustine’s thought for him to welcome God’s choices as good news, not an inscrutable depth but as a revelation of who God is in all his goodness? My suggestion is that Augustine needs a deeper appreciation of external things—of the biblical claim that God entered the human story, speaks human words, and bears human (cid:192) esh. The biblical God, unlike the Platonist First Principle, is someone who makes choices—because he is someone who is present in human history. (cid:374) Essential Reading Augustine, City of God, book 19. Supplementary Reading Markus, Saeculum, chapters 3 and 4. O’Donnell, Augustine, chapter 3. Questions to Consider 1. Assuming Augustine is right about the inward nature of religion, how would you describe the religion of your heart? 2. How good a guide do you think Augustine is to the meaning of the Christian faith? 59 enilemiT Timeline 358 B.C. ..........................................d. Plato. 43 B.C. ............................................d. Cicero. A.D. 30? ..........................................d. Christ. c. 100 ...............................................New Testament completed. 270...................................................d. Plotinus. 277...................................................d. Mani in Persia. 296................................................... Manichaeanism begins to spread in the Roman Empire. 312................................................... Constantine consolidates his position as Roman emperor, becomes a Christian, and over the course of the next twenty- (cid:191) ve years makes Christianity a tolerated religion within the Empire. 325................................................... Council of Nicaea teaches that Christ is “of one essence with the Father.” 354................................................... Augustine born in Thagaste in the Roman province of Africa. 371................................................... Augustine goes to Carthage to pursue education in rhetoric. There he encounters Cicero’s Hortensius and later joins the Manichaeans. 60

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  AMBROSE. Or the heretics are compared to wolves. For wolves are beasts who lay in wait near the sheep folds, and prowl about the shepherds’ cottages. They dare not enter the abodes of men, they pry out sleeping dogs, absent or slothful shepherds; they seize the sheep by the throat, that they may quickly strangle them; ravenous beasts, with bodies so stiff that they cannot easily turn themselves, but are carried along by their own impetus, and so are often deceived. If they are the first to see a man, it is said, they by a certain natural impulse, tear out his voice; but if a man first sees them, they quake with fear. In like manner the heretics lurk about Christ’s sheep folds, howl near the cottages at night time. For night is the time for the treacherous who obscure the light of Christ with the mists of false interpretation. The inns of Christ, however, they dare not enter, and therefore are not healed, as he was in an inn who fell among thieves. They look out for the shepherds’ absence, for they can not attack the sheep when the shepherds are by. Owing also to the inflexibility of a hard and obstinate mind, they seldom if ever turn from their error, while Christ the true interpreter of Scripture mocks them, so that they vent forth their violence in vain, and are not able to hurt; and if they overtake any one by the subtle trickery of their disputations, they make him dumb. For he is dumb who confesses not the word of God with the glory which belongs to it. Beware then lest the heretic deprive you of your voice, and lest you detect him not first. For he is creeping on while his treachery is disguised. But if you have discovered his unholy desires, you can not fear the loss of a holy voice. They attack the throat, they wound the vitals while they seek the soul. If also you hear any one called a priest, and you know his robberies, outwardly he is a sheep, inwardly a wolf, who is longing to gratify his rage with the insatiable cruelty of human murder.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 41. ut sup.) But it is said, upon you, that He might draw them to Him; as if He said, If prosperity comes to you, why do you despise your good things? AMBROSE. At the same time He shews that it is a regal power which the Holy Spirit possesses, in whom is the kingdom of God, and that we in whom the Spirit dwells are a royal house. TITUS BOSTRENSIS. (in Matt.) Or He says, The kingdom of God is come upon you, signifying, “is come against you, not for you.” For dreadful is the second coming of Christ to faithless Christians. 11:21–2321. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. 23. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. As it was necessary for many reasons to refute the cavils of His opponents, our Lord now makes use of a very plain example, by which He proves to those who will consider it that He overcomes the power of the world, by a power inherent in Himself, saying, When a strong man armed keepeth his palace. CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 41. in Matt.) He calls the devil a strong man, not because he is naturally so, but referring to his ancient dominion, of which our weakness was the cause. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. For he used before the coming of the Saviour to seize with great violence upon the flocks of another, that is, God, and carry them as it were to his own fold. THEOPHYLACT. The Devil’s arms are all kinds of sins, trusting in which he prevailed against men. BEDE. But the world he calls his palace, which lieth in wickedness, (1 John 5:19.) wherein up to our Saviour’s coming he enjoyed supreme power, because he rested in the hearts of unbelievers without any opposition. But with a stronger and mightier power Christ has conquered, and by delivering all men has cast him out. Hence it is added, But if a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome, &c. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. For as soon as the Word of the Most High God, the Giver of all strength, and the Lord of Hosts, was made man, He attacked him, and took away his arms. BEDE. His arms then are the craft and the wiles of spiritual wickedness, but his spoils are the men themselves, who have been deceived by him. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. For the Jews who had been a long time entrapped by him into ignorance of God and sin, have been called out by the holy Apostles to the knowledge of the truth, and presented to God the Father, through faith in the Son.

• From Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out (2014)

  Albert Johnson observed that his former client “underwent the very same brutal ordeal as Elizabeth Smart.”303 Elizabeth Smart was one of six children within a wealthy, tightly knit Mormon family. Her father, Ed Smart, was in the midst of remodeling the family home when he hired a drifter named Brian Mitchell as a handyman. Mitchell, an excommunicated Mormon and self-proclaimed “prophet,” called himself Emmanuel. Mitchell became fixated on Elizabeth Smart as his next “wife.” Already enthralled with the erratic homeless man was the woman who would become Smart’s surrogate mother, Wanda Barzee.304 After Brian Mitchell abducted her, Elizabeth Smart was held captive in isolation. Mitchell threatened the girl’s life and the lives of the Smart family; he also raped her.305 At the end of this reign of terror, a strange metamorphosis occurred. Smart, like Patty Hearst, took on a new identity and completely submitted to Brian Mitchell. At first when police confronted Smart, she repeatedly denied her identity and said her name was “Augustine.” She also told officers that the two adults with her were her parents. When police insisted that she was Elizabeth Smart, the girl responded eerily in stilted, seemingly biblical verbiage. “Thou sayest,” she said, apparently denying her own name.306 Robert W. Butterworth, a California psychologist, said, “They were well along in stripping away her identity. She was dressing differently, hearing nothing but their pseudo-religious talk. It was very much like the Taliban in Afghanistan.”307 In the months before her rescue, various witnesses saw Elizabeth Smart, veiled and in a white robe resembling a hospital gown, with Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee at a party. A photographer named Dan Groeder took pictures of the odd trio. He said, “She could have just walked away or said something. She definitely had the opportunity to walk away.”308 On numerous occasions Mitchell, Barzee, and Smart were seen walking together in public, eating together at a restaurant, and entering stores. They also stayed at the apartment of a Mitchell acquaintance for a week. At no time did Smart make any effort to get help. One witness told the press, “He must have really done a job on her, because all she would have had to do was to say her name.”309 After his daughter’s rescue, Ed Smart concluded, “I can just tell that he did an absolute brainwashing job on her.”310 Her grandfather, Charles Smart, a retired surgeon, explained, “She had no ability to control her life” and “was completely controlled by Emmanuel [Mitchell].”311 After the rescue of Elizabeth Smart, Patty Hearst commented in an interview that she could easily empathize with the teenager. Hearst said, “You come to a point where you believe any lie your abductor has told you. You don’t feel safe. You think that either you will be killed if you reach out to get help. You believe that your family will be killed. You’re not even thinking about trying to get help anymore. You’ve, in a way, given up.

• From Fragments (7)

  And now my eyes with tears are swelling, Because dread Tartarus I fear; 95 Lyric Songs of the Greeks For terrible is Hades' dwelling, The journey downward sad and drear; For up no more his way he wends, Who once beneath the earth descends. A SPRINKLING OF GRAY (49) When with white my dark-brown hair Will be sprinkled here and there. PATRIOTIC AND MARTIAL TO ARISTOCLIDES (50) Aristoclides, sadly I lament Thee first of all, my brave and precious friend. Of all the brave who their young lives have spent, To save from slavery our fatherland. WAR OF FACTIONS (51) Throughout our island men of factions join in fray. And o'er our sacred city, Megistes, hold their sway. RETURN TO THE FATHERLAND (52) Land of my fathers, suffering grievously, Fulfilled will be my hope thee again to see. 96 Ar. THE RUINED CITY-WALL (53) And now the city's circling wall In utter ruin low did fall. A WARRIOR (54) The tearful spear To him was dear. ARES' FRIENDS (55) He who in battle steadfast stands The esteem of impetuous Ares commands. ON A CHARIOT (56) On a chariot by white horses drawn Thou art whirling on and on. CARIAN SHIELDS (57) Each through the holder of a shield By Carians made his one hand held. 97 Lyric Songs of the Greeks THE COURSE OF THE SPEAR (58) Through the midst of the neck went the spear And the beautiful mantle did tear. ANACREON IN SATIRE EURYPYLE AND ARTEMON (59) Eurypyle the yellow-haired For ill-famed Artetnon has cared. ARTEMON (60) In ragged dress attired before, A wretched covering bound tight, Wood ear-rings in his ears he wore. Around his sides a worn ox-hide, An unwashed cover of a shield. Nor did the wretched Artemon, A livelihood forlorn to yield, The baker-women and harlots shun. The stocks did often hold his neck, And oft he on the wheel appeared. 98 Ai A leather whip oft scourged his back, And then they plucked his hair and beard. And now the son of Cyce he, On chariots rides, gold ear-rings wears ; A parasol of ivory Like women in his hand he bears. STRATTIS (6i) Strattis I asked, the maker of perfumes rare, Whether he now would leave unshorn his hair. ALEXIS (62) -^ Alexis bald of head Now again would wed. THE HEN-PECKED HUSBAND (63) This is the chamber, not in which he wed. But into wedlock let himself be led. GASTRODORA (64) Don't babble like an Ocean wave, Nor, drinking always without measure. Drain thou the hearth-gods' cup for thine And chattering Gastrodora's pleasure. 99 Lyric Sonffs of the Greeks A BARBAROUS VOICE (65) Mayest thou to silence choose That barbarous voice, O Zeus. THE MILESIANS (66) 'Tis very, very long ago Milesians did some daring showr. STORMY DECEMBER (67) December now himself doth show: The clouds are weighted down with rain; Now wintry storm-blasts fiercely blow, And creak and roar with might and main. THE FRIGHTENED FAWN (68)

• From Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out (2014)

  It may even be more intense than participation in a group cult since all the attention and abuse is focused on one person, often with more damaging consequences.1083 Like the leaders of destructive cults, the majority of abusive, controlling partners, according to some observers, are apparently men.1084 Some of the warning signs to watch for include pushing the relationship too fast, demanding undivided attention, determining to “be in charge,” and insisting on always winning. There are repeated broken promises. He cannot handle criticism and won’t accept responsibility for his behavior or actions. He also often blames others to avoid taking responsibility. He is extremely jealous and unpredictable, and he has anger issues. He appears to lack respect for the opinions of others. You feel you can never be good enough. His love seems to be highly conditional, and the relationship makes you feel increasingly uneasy.1085 Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that many abusive and controlling partners are grossly insensitive, extremely ego-driven personalities given to self-indulgent behavior and obsessed with their own importance. Such abusive partners also appear to have little, if any, meaningful empathy or sympathy for the feelings of others. These characteristics could potentially place some abusive or controlling partners in the narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) general profile that typically defines a narcissistic personality. “Prevalence of lifetime NPD was 6.2%, with rates greater for men (7.7%) than for women (4.8%).”1086 The following characteristics are common among those diagnosed with NPD:1087 He or she has a grandiose sense of self-importance. For example, the person exaggerates achievements and talents and expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements.He or she is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.He or she believes he or she is “special” and unique and can be understood only by associating with other special or high-status people (or institutions).He or she requires excessive admiration.He or she has a sense of entitlement; in other words, he or she has unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations.He or she is interpersonally exploitative; in other words, he or she takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends.He or she lacks empathy and is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.He or she is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her.He or she shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.A pervasive pattern of grandiosity, coupled with an insistent need for admiration and a lack of empathy, along with five or more of the warning signs above, is a strong indication of NPD.1088 This can be a daunting realization for someone suffering in an abusive, controlling relationship. This is because someone with a narcissistic personality is unlikely to recognize he or she has a problem and therefore sees any reason to change.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  AMBROSE. Our Lord has introduced a most forcible argument for preserving simplicity, and being zealous for the faith, that we should not after the manner of faithless Jews put one thing in practice, while in words we pretend another, namely, that at the last day the hidden thoughts accusing or else excusing one another, shall be seen to reveal the secrets of our mind. Whence it is added, There is nothing hid which shall not be revealed. ORIGEN. He either then says this concerning that time when God shall judge the secrets of men, or He says it because however much a man may endeavour to hide the good deeds of another by discredit, good of its own nature cannot be concealed. CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 34. in Matt.) As if He says to His disciples, Although now some call you deceivers and wizards, time shall reveal all things and convict them of calumny, while it makes known your virtue. Therefore whatsoever things I have spoken to you in the small corner of Palestine, these boldly and with open brow, casting away all fear, proclaim to the whole world. And therefore He adds, Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in light. BEDE. Or He says this, because all the things which the Apostles of old spoke and suffered amid the darkness of oppression and the gloom of the prison, arc now that the Church is made known through the world and their acts are read, publicly proclaimed. The words, shall be proclaimed on the housetops, are spoken according to the manner of the country of Palestine, where they are accustomed to live on the housetops. For their roofs were not after our way raised to a point, but flat shaped, and level at the top. Therefore He says, proclaimed on the housetops; that is, spoken openly in the hearing of all men. THEOPHYLACT. Or this is addressed to the Pharisees; as if He said, O Pharisees, what you have spoken in darkness, that is, all your endeavours to tempt me in the secrets of your hearts, shall be heard in the light, for I am the light, and in My light shall be known whatsoever your darkness devises. And what you have spoken in the ear and in closets, that is, whatsoever in whispers you have poured into one another’s ears, shall be proclaimed on the housetops, that is, was as audible to me as if it had been cried aloud on the housetops. Herein also you may understand that the light is the Gospel, but the housetop the lofty souls of the Apostles. But whatever things the Pharisees plotted together, were afterwards divulged and heard in the light of the Gospel, the great Herald, the Holy Spirit, presiding over the souls of the Apostles. 12:4–74. And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  AMBROSE. Or else; A good sparrow is one which nature has furnished with the power of flying; for nature has given us the grace of flying, pleasure has taken it away, which loads with meats the soul of the wicked, and moulds it towards the nature of a fleshly mass. The five senses of the body then, if they seek the food of earthly alloy, cannot fly back to the fruits of higher actions. A bad sparrow therefore is one which has lost its habit of flying through the fault of earthly grovelling; such are those sparrows which are sold for two farthings, namely, at the price of worldly luxury. For the enemy sets up his, as it were, captive slaves, at the very lowest price. But the Lord, being the fit judge of His own work, has redeemed at a great price us, His noble servants, whom He hath made in His own image. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. It is His care then diligently to know the life of the saints. Whence it follows, But the hairs of your heads are all numbered; by which He means, that of all things which relate to them He has most accurate knowledge, for the numbering manifests the minuteness of the care exercised. AMBROSE. Lastly, the numbering of the hairs is not to be taken with reference to the act of reckoning, but to the capability of knowing. Yet they are well said to be numbered, because those things which we wish to preserve we number. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. Now mystically, indeed, the head of a man is his understanding, but his hairs the thoughts, which are open to the eye of God. THEOPHYLACT. Or, by the head of each of the faithful, you must understand a conversation meet for Christ, but by his hair, the works of bodily mortification which are numbered by God, and are worthy of the Divine regard. AMBROSE. If then such is the majesty of God, that a single sparrow or the number of our hair is not beside His knowledge, how unworthy is it to suppose that the Lord is either ignorant of the hearts of the faithful, or despises them so as to account them of less value. Hence He proceeds to conclude, Fear not then, ye are of more value than many sparrows. BEDE. We must not read, Ye are more, which relates to the comparison of number, but ye are of more value, that is, of greater estimation in the sight of God. ATHANASIUS. (pluris estis) Now I ask the Arians, if God, as if disdaining to make all other things, made only His Son, but deputed all things to His Son; how is it that He extends His providence even to such trifling things as our hair, and the sparrows? For upon whatever things He exercises His providence, of these is He the Creator by His own word.

• From Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out (2014)

  I became a walking zombie.” The process Steinberg used to break Nussbaum down and turn her into a “zombie” was at first subtle and slow, unlike the rapid and radical transformation of Patty Hearst by the SLA. It is somewhat reminiscent, though, of “the game” played at Synanon. He began by confronting Nussbaum with criticism, such as offering an ongoing critique of her social skills. Steinberg in effect became Nussbaum’s “therapist” and boyfriend. He also isolated her, explaining that her family was “evil.” Steinberg convinced Nussbaum that she had done “horrible sexual things” but that he would be her “savior.” Three years passed before the physical abuse began.1097 Hedda Nussbaum tried to run away five times, but she never told anyone the truth about her relationship with Steinberg.1098 It wasn’t until after her daughter’s death that she finally regained her independence, largely due to separation the authorities imposed on the couple. That separation broke Steinberg’s control over Nussbaum and allowed the battered woman to think independently. Years later Hedda Nussbaum became a speaker on the subject of domestic violence. In an interview connected to a college lecture, she said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t see. I’m sorry it’s too late to see. But we can help others.” Joel Steinberg was released from prison in 2004 after serving two-thirds of his sentence. Despite his conviction the disbarred lawyer never took responsibility for his daughter’s death. In an interview shortly after leaving prison, Steinberg called himself a “good father.”1099 When asked for her reaction to Steinberg’s release, Hedda Nussbaum said, “I’m not his puppet any longer and I’m taking precautions against him finding me.”1100 2002—Lee Boyd Malvo, John Muhammad, and the “D.C. Sniper” Murders For three weeks during October 2002, a reign of terror took place in the area known as the Washington, DC, Beltway. The so-called D.C. sniper created panic in the city and its surrounding suburbs. During this period ten people were shot and killed, and three were injured. A police investigation would eventually lead to the arrest of John Allen Williams, a forty-two-year-old Gulf War veteran with ten years of military service. Williams had taken the name John Muhammad after joining the Nation of Islam.1101 Also arrested was his accomplice, a seventeen-year-old named Lee Boyd Malvo.1102 The image that emerged through their criminal trials was that of a deeply close overlapping relationship between the middle-aged Muhammad and teenage Malvo. A psychiatrist testified that Malvo “displayed a pathological loyalty” and that the teenager had effectively “merged with Muhammad.” Defense lawyers argued that Malvo had been “brainwashed”1103 and that the process of molding the boy’s mindset had taken place over a period of years. Muhammad taught Malvo that emotions were his enemy and that right and wrong were merely artificial constructions.1104 Lee Boyd Malvo grew up in poverty in Kingston, Jamaica. His parents separated when he was five, and his mother raised him.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  CHRYSOSTOM. (Concio. 2. de Lazar.) They shall require of thee, for perhaps certain dread powers were sent to require it, since if when going from city to city we want a guide, much more will the soul when released from the body, and passing to a future life, need direction. On this account many times the soul rises and sinks into the deep again, when it ought to depart from the body. For the consciousness of our sins is ever pricking us, but most of all when we are going to be dragged before the awful tribunal. For when the whole accumulation of crimes is brought up again, and placed before the eyes, it astounds the mind. And as prisoners are always indeed sorrowful, but particularly at the time when they are going to be brought before the judge; so also the soul at this time is greatly tormented by sin and afflicted, but much more after it has been removed. GREGORY. (ubi sup.) But in the night the soul was taken away which had gone forth in the darkness of its heart, being unwilling to have the light of consideration, so as to foresee what it might suffer. But He adds, Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 23. in Gen.) For here shalt thou leave those things, and not only reap no advantage from them, but carry a load of sins upon thy own shoulders. And these things which thou hast laid up will for the most part come into the hands of enemies, but of thee shall an account of them be required. It follows, So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. BEDE. For such a one is a fool, and will be taken off in the night. He then who wishes to be rich toward God, will not lay up treasures for himself, but distribute his possessions to the poor. AMBROSE. For in vain he amasses wealth who knows not how to use it. Neither are these things ours which we cannot take away with us. Virtue alone is the companion of the dead, mercy alone follows us, which gains for the dead an everlasting habitation. 12:22–2322. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat: neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.