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Quote by: Athena Prehaps we should not consider if and how a God controls us, without also considering if and how Satan controls us. Pat Robertson is really into the teaching the power of Saint.
Christianity is just as much about the power of God and it is about the power of Satan. Should we be beating the devil out of children? What steps should we take to protect ourselves from Satan and his demons? Should we be carrying silver crosses and do rituals to protect ourselves and families from Satan and his demons?
Satan has power on earth these days. What should we do about it? How do we rescue souls? Should we be focused on rescuing souls? Should we fill our hospitals and prisons to pray for those tormented by Satan and his demons? Like what will Satan do our country if we don't over come him? |
Interesting counter post. I must admit while I'm a theist with agnostic tendencies, I'm not much of a believer in Satan. I know the automatic response from some is you can't believe in one without believing in the other. Why? Says who? If you've read past posts you know I don't believe in pure evil or good. From our perspectives some things, beings, or people may seem pure one or the other, but that's more a vehicle of convenience than reality. Our brains are kind of wired to work with absolutes in a universe that may not be so.
Could God have an evil side? Perhaps this duality we're are faced with is Sybil in nature? If we are to accept biblical Christianity as many more literal faiths do then it's obvious that God can either change his/her/its mind, considering the Old Testament vs the New, or suffers from a personality disorder. See, there I go, using absolutes! Our brains are wired to think that way. The truth is probably, like it often is, somewhere in between.
I do think that sometimes Satan is a construct built to explain just how screwed up our wiring may be: the Stalins, the Jeff Dahmers... It's a way to keep from looking at the "evil" within. Something good happens? Claim we are blessed/saved by God, while our neighbor who is as faithful as we are drowned in fece drenched waters of NO. (I know, then that was God's plan... otherwise known as circular reasoning.) Claim it's the doing of Satan and thus minimize the fact that we can be a violent, nasty. vile species on both an individual basis and as a group. That last sentence should work for the atheist, agnostic and theist. Some blame the evil within as what we sometimes we do because of faith, some say because of lack of faith, and some might say that evolution and random combining of DNA pretty much dictates, even to the best parents, "evil" may be born. While all sides busily point fingers that easily slip into their own viewpoint we spend too little time trying to identify and limit the deeds done by such people and groups. We spend too little time attempting to either rehabilitate such people, if possible, or take them out of the equation one way or another so no one has to suffer at their hands again.
I find that "Satan" is a concept that almost automatically takes God down many, many notches. Any all powerful being would not be loving or benevolent if he or she allowed such a miserable creature to have any power or continue their miserable existence. Any God who is so powerless against his own creation has some pretty serious issues. If you believe in Satan then an all powerful, all knowing and compassionate God is pretty much a contradiction in terms. Sounds like we're little more than puzzle pieces or chess pieces in such a case.