DEMONS AND ANGELS


Andrew Greeley (1974). The devil you say! Man and his personal                                                devils and angels.


Andrew Greeley was a Catholic priest, and prolific sociologist and story writer (novels of G's crazy love for people). In this book, Greeley eloquently describes our personal demons, and their counterparts as angels who assist us in coping with/managing the devils/demons. 

According to Greeley, it doesn't matter if the "devil" is a personage or idea, what matters is that demons are in all of us, and that we need to understand them in our daily life struggles, and we need to invoke the assistance of angels (who are also in us) that represent our better selves. 

For every devil there is an angel counterpart:

envy devil--angel of generosity

gnostic--wisdom

righteous--humility

scapegoat--personal responsibility

shame--goodness

ethnocentric--pluralistic

ideology--pragmatism

pride--self-respect

fear--hope (i would add love)


As one pragmatic practice, we can counteract the workings of the devil of shame by recognizing and affirming our goodness, likeability, attractiveness...more broadly to let our best selves be known and loved.






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