“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

I said before that no man acts out of the desire to be evil, but has always justified to himself his actions precisely by his own “good” intent. If envy is felt it is not acknowledged. The religious area in general, from time immemorial, has dealt intensely and sometimes one-mindedly with “the good ideal.” That ideal, however, different in one area than in another, was usually self-righteously applied with a vengeance and fanatical zest, so that all things outside it were seen as evil.

Topside, those people see themselves as a tiny group crying in the wilderness, unrecognized, unheeded, prophets to whom no one will listen. To some extent the murderer in whom they are so interested (Son of Sam) sees himself in the same light. These are pseudo-intellectuals all, murderer included—people with some abilities, however, but pretenders to crowns. They are seeking for a positive cause to rally about, but their beliefs and self-deceptions make this impossible.

The entire question brings out, however, those more important issues of self-righteousness, for in its name crimes are perpetrated that the self-confessed “sinner” would never attempt.