Why We Can't Face Evil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to Charlotte Gordon's NYTBR review, Michael Knox Beran's Murder by Candlelight \u201casks us to consider our own hearts of darkness, why\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why We Can't Face Evil\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to Charlotte Gordon's NYTBR review, Michael Knox Beran's Murder by Candlelight \u201casks us to consider our own hearts of darkness, why\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leithart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-03T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PLeithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/\",\"name\":\"Why We Can't Face Evil\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-03T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-03T00:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\"},\"description\":\"According to Charlotte Gordon's NYTBR review, Michael Knox Beran's Murder by Candlelight \u201casks us to consider our own hearts of darkness, why\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why We Can’t Face Evil\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\",\"name\":\"Leithart\",\"description\":\"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\",\"name\":\"Peter Leithart\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Peter Leithart\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why We Can't Face Evil","description":"According to Charlotte Gordon's NYTBR review, Michael Knox Beran's Murder by Candlelight \u201casks us to consider our own hearts of darkness, why","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why We Can't Face Evil","og_description":"According to Charlotte Gordon's NYTBR review, Michael Knox Beran's Murder by Candlelight \u201casks us to consider our own hearts of darkness, why","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/","og_site_name":"Leithart","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","article_published_time":"2015-09-03T00:00:00+00:00","author":"Peter Leithart","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PLeithart","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter Leithart","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/","name":"Why We Can't Face Evil","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-09-03T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-03T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d"},"description":"According to Charlotte Gordon's NYTBR review, Michael Knox Beran's Murder by Candlelight \u201casks us to consider our own hearts of darkness, why","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why We Can’t Face Evil"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/","name":"Leithart","description":"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d","name":"Peter Leithart","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Peter Leithart"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3021"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":17531,"date":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=2354"},"modified":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","slug":"why-we-cant-face-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/why-we-cant-face-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Can’t Face Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

According to Charlotte Gordon\u2019s NYTBR\u00a0<\/em>review, Michael Knox Beran\u2019s\u00a0Murder by Candlelight<\/a> \u201casks us to consider our own hearts of darkness, why we\u2019re obsessed with murder stories, why this obsession matters, and what it suggests about us as a culture and a species.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beran reaches back into the nineteenth century to find really profound investigations of evil: \u201cTo understand why murderers murder, we need to consult the great 19th-century authors, using the likes of Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Carlyle and Sir Walter Scott as our guides. These Romantic prose artists wrote about killings that occurred during what Beran terms the golden age of murder, the period between 1811 and 1837. \u2018It is less the quality of the crimes,\u2019 Beran writes, with characteristic perspicacity, \u2018than the attitude of the age which determines the gruesomeness of its murders.\u2019 On a mission \u2018to understand the nature of evil and to reinstate it in all its dark majesty\u2019 as a fact of human nature, the Romantics were fascinated by \u2018the horror that moves the soul.\u2019 De Quincey argued that only through \u2018sympathy\u2019 can we see, as Beran puts it, \u2018how certain killers, craving an intoxication they could experience in no other way, murdered over and over again precisely in order to intensify an existence which would otherwise have seemed to them insipid.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

These writers \u201care extraordinary because they aren\u2019t afraid to enter the terrible inner world of the killer. They tap into our unconscious capacity for cruelty by employing the Romantic tools of empathy and imagery, \u2018the language of the poets.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have adequate tools for the task: \u201cmurder has been \u2018antiseptically reduced to a problem of social science.\u2019\u201d More deeply, we don\u2019t have enough confidence in good to look at evil without flinching. As Gordon puts it, in an almost theological vein, \u201cWithout the hope of what he terms an \u2018arch-goodness,\u2019 it\u2019s almost impossible to tolerate the idea of absolute evil, and this points to the ultimate shallowness of modern conceptions of murder. . . . By turning murder into a puzzle to be solved or a socioeconomic issue that can be fixed, we have trivialized and defanged our understanding of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"