In order to achieve its genocidal ambitions, totalitarianism constantly strives to strip us of our humanity. Yet, it is easy to lose our compassion, worn down by repeated harassment: I might even wish that the next blows would fall on someone else rather than me. Augustine urges us to do the same: above all, we must not become desensitized. Christ lived through his trials with his full sensitivity.

Before denouncing totalitarianism in general, have we made sure that it does not reside within ourselves? To find out, we must pay attention to certain processes that take place within groups as well as within individuals. Here is a first glimpse.

One of the most formidable weapons of the harassing powers is slander, that is to say the defamatory and mendacious attack ad personam against the messenger, so that his message is discredited, or even, so that he is designated as the person to be brought down, or "the bad person" whose message should absolutely not be listened to.