Robert S. Robins and Jerrold M. Post, Political Paranoia: The Psychopolitics of Hatred

Yale University Press, 1997, 366 pgs.

Summary: A consideration of the psychological and political causes of paranoia within the public square. The book was written by Robert S. Robins, professor of political science, and Jerrold M. Post, M.D. “professor of psychiatry, political psychology, and international affairs.”

The book lists out seven elements of paranoia: extreme suspiciousness—“things are not what they seem to be” (8). Centrality—“the belief that the paranoid himself is the target of malevolent intent” (9). Grandiosity—“he knows the truth and conveys a sense of contempt for those so foolish as to differ” (10). Hostility—“generally hostile attitude toward the world” (10). Fear of loss of autonomy—“constantly wary of attempts by a superior force or by outside individuals to impose their will upon him, and he manifests an exaggerated independence” (11). Projection—“to presume that internal states or changes are due to external causes. . .the paranoid projector is concerned not with the observable obvious but with the hidden motives of others that are behind the observable. The projection is a compromise with reality. . .” (12). Delusional thinking—“false beliefs held in the presence of strong contradictory evidence” (12).

These individual characteristics are incorporated into the wider political arena: Simply put politics is the self-affirming, reinforcing mental and social landscape where paranoia plays best:

Paranoia, the most interpersonal of mental illnesses, is also the most political in the broad sense of centering on power relationships. Paranoids need their enemies, after all, and what richer source of enemies can be found than the world of politics (17)?

Religion, particularly monotheistic variants, are shown to be problematic in regard to paranoia:

This “edge is made even keener by the other characteristic of the People of the Book: their insistence that there is only one God—a jealous, watchful, personal God who permits no compromise with his will. . . Ardent practitioners of these faiths, committed to the literal word of god, are able to find ample justification in their texts for militant defense of their beliefs (143).

Faith—which requires the rejection of all earthly evidence contrary to belief—is as the center of this psychological system. Girded by faith, the spiritual belligerent is impervious to reason. Faith in its passive form requires rejecting or ignoring conflicting evidence. Faith in its active form requires defeating or destroying the proponents of conflicting evidence. Destruction of the challenger will not produce guilt; it will bring psychological comfort (144).

C. S. Lewis is found to describe “an aspect of Christianity—one that he believed in—that was paranoid” (170). Lewis was paranoid because he believed in the existence of Satan. There is then an obligatory attempt to relativize all forms of terrorism to commonality with Lewis’ Screwtape Letters and the hymn Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.

There are also a list of incredibly helpful case studies considering Pol Pot, the benighted Joseph McCarthy, Hitler, Lyndon LaRouche, Stalin, Idi Amin, David Duke, the John Birch Society, and so forth. The charismatic bond between people groups and their leaders is also discussed.

Benefits/Detriments: A book that can describe the behavior of both C. S. Lewis and Idi Amin as paranoid proves too much.  And the Lewis/Amin issue also exposes the underlying problem of the epistemology of the book; the authors of the book make no attempt to explain why they themselves are not political paranoids attacking “normal” people like poor tail-gunner Joe (McCarthy) and Malcolm X.

The working definition of faith as that “which requires the rejection of all earthly evidence contrary to belief” is a shockingly biased statement, because the definition of delusional thinking is “false beliefs held in the presence of strong contradictory evidence” then requires people of faith to be delusional.

It is also not clear to me that Adolf Hitler perpetrated a world war and the Holocaust because of an “‘identity crisis’. . . when [he] was rejected at the art academy” (279) or that Idi Amin’s persecution of academics was caused “by the wish to eliminate these psychological threats”—“the painful reminder to Amin of his own [intellectual] inadequacies” (262).

Having said this, there is a common sense and observational truth to much of the book that should be helpful for pastors. Pastors need to be wary of the rhetorical habits listed in subheadings like “Paranoid Director of Hatred” (281), “The Paranoid as Teacher” (295), “The Paranoid as Charismatic Moral Leader” (296). The book will also be helpful in assisting pastors in counseling.

Recommended for pastors and folks who are not obeying Isaiah 8:12.