The devil.

Author: secularmerlin

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Do you believe in the devil?

If so who or what is the devil?

What effects does this being have on our world?

What makes this being objectively evil, if indeed it is inherently evil?

Would this being mind, do you think, if we call it Stan for the purposes of this discussion?
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@secularmerlin
Do you believe in the devil?

If so who or what is the devil?

What effects does this being have on our world?

What makes this being objectively evil, if indeed it is inherently evil?

Would this being mind, do you think, if we call it Stan for the purposes of this discussion?

Yes
A demon
He works with people same as other spiritual beings. 
No
Not sure what being disrespectful is going to accomplish.

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@Polytheist-Witch
No disrespect meant.

Out of curiosity would you say that Loki or Hel is more analogous to the Satan of Christian doctrine or is there even an analogous figure in Norse myth?
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@secularmerlin
"Do you believe in the devil?"

 No.

"If so who or what is the devil?"

The Devil is a malevolent spiritual entity described in the Abrahamic Religions but especially Christianity. In Christianity, the Devil is an archangel of God who rebelled against his Creator, and in the process incited other angels to join his rebellion. He was motivated to rebel chiefly by pride. Either he wanted to directly usurp the glory and power due to God or he thought himself as wise as God and took issue with the way that God was running things. Either directly or indirectly he appeared to the woman in the Garden of Eden and incited mankind to join his rebellion against God.
The decision by the first human couple to disobey God's command meant either that they introduced sin into the world and caused their own offspring to be born sinful and in need of a Savior OR they rebelled because man was sinful from the onset. It can be assumed that Satan desires for humans to go to Hell because either he hates them for being created in the image of God (and perhaps is jealous of such a privileged position that humans enjoy), or because he knows that doing so serves to break God's heart, or because he's headed there and wants company, or because he doesn't want humans glorifying God, or perhaps all of the above.

"What effects does this being have on our world?"

As described above, but to elaborate further: Satan according to Christianity is active in the world today, either directly or indirectly, with the purposes of swaying the behavior of the masses and the governments of the world for the purpose of stifling the spread of Christianity and eroding it wherever it exists presently. While he has already been described in the Bible as the Prince of this World, in the end of days he shall assume total control over human civilization and direct all of its resources towards the eradication of the Church, but the return of Jesus shall put an end to his reign of terror and he shall be cast into Hell.

"Would this being mind, do you think, if we call it Stan for the purposes of this discussion?"

Were such a being to exist, I suspect he would be delighted that you treat all of this as one big joke.
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@Swagnarok
That was a concise rehash of one of the most popular Satan myths. Thank you.
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@secularmerlin
Satan is a very naughty angel.
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@secularmerlin
Out of curiosity would you say that Loki or Hel is more analogous to the Satan of Christian doctrine or is there even an analogous figure in Norse myth?

I don't think either really covers what he represents but if I had to pick one Loki. Lucifer does not care for the dead or rule an underworld like Hel does but he is representative of submitting to ones whims. Loki is playful and chaotic. My impression is Lucifer is very serious. Personally I don't think Lucifer is a fallen angel. I think he represents paganism and living for selfish desire. I do think demons are a race of beings and he is one but it's not like the Bible portrays them as they interfere with a believer gong to God for the things they might do for a person. Some claim he is the consort of Diana and the Father if her daughter who is Queen of Witches. Which is why he works with them so readily.
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@Polytheist-Witch
That is fascinating. You don't have a link to a site or article about Stan's possible marriage to Diana do you?
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@secularmerlin


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@Polytheist-Witch
Thank you.
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@secularmerlin
Thank you.

Your welcome. None of them are scholarly. It's more folk tales. I don't think many do any research outside Biblical lore. 
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@Polytheist-Witch
That's ok it's still a good story.

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When I hear people speak of the Devil, I often think of the story of Emmitt Till...

Emmitt Till was a 14yr old Black kid in Chicago in the early 1950's. His mother sent him to stay with extended family in Mississippi.  While there, he allegedly whistled at a White woman which two nights later got him beaten, shot and killed and dumped into the bottom of a local pond by two grown White Men.

His mother had his funeral with an open casket so that the World could see "what they had done to her baby".
His death became a rallying cry for the Civil Rights Movement. (two weeks later Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and said she was thinking of Emmitt when she refused)

Now the heinous murder created by the two men who killed Till would be considered evil by any logical person.
Yet that murder, spawned the Civil Rights Movement that made Black/White unity possible today.

Did God use evil to create ultimate good?
Did the Devil unintentionally create good?
Did God use the Devil to create good?

I'm not a Christian (as I understand the definition) but it is certainly something to think about.

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@secularmerlin
The Devil is actually the same entity as the being we call entropy.

The Devil is the alien demigod missing in Hinduism. He is the polar opposite to Vishnu and is something even God is terrified of.

Yes, he is male in nature and God is female. The other three top ranking alien demigods are all male too.
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@ravensjt
Your posts are always so thought provoking. You are right that even something that seems evil might result in something that seems good. Of course it would have been even better if we could just treat each other as equals without anybody having to die to make it happen.
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@RationalMadman
And how have you determined this?
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@secularmerlin
I will not reveal the details of my religion here as I may want to monetise it or get credit as the prophet etc.

What I will do is type only as much as I'm happy to be copyrighted on (the stuff I say always intentionally sounds perfectly in between insane and sensible because it only makes sense when you put all the pieces together in a way you can't do with the pieces I hide).

In short, it's by pure logic as well as direct contact with alien demigods.

You may think I am mentally ill but nope.
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@RationalMadman
I am not qualified to diagnose mental illness. The only thing I think you are is unconvincing.
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@secularmerlin
My religion, similar to Buddhism and Sikhism, is one of those 'don't convert others, it's theirs to seek as the journey is their and theirs alone'.

I am entitled to fully explain it some day (not now) but it is DEFINITELY NOT my duty or even my right to convince you away from the lies that someone as intelligent as me has tricked you with.
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@secularmerlin
I agree Bro, but there is something to be said about martyrdom too though isn't there?

Dying as a martyr seems to resonate and make a message even more powerful from Christ to Ghandi to Till to MLK etc.....
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@RationalMadman
Well I appreciate you not trying to convert me.
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@ravensjt
Perhaps but the last thing I want to be is a martyr so my empathy leads me to believe that martyrs in general would be better off without martyrdom.
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@secularmerlin
I'm sure that martyrdom means something different for everyone however imo if someone is going to die anyways (like we all are) then why not have your death be symbolic of change?

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@ravensjt
I suppose but I certainly wouldn't mind dying in my bed quite old even if it means not necessarily changing anything with my death or having it mean anything.
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@secularmerlin
If you first accept God I can then explain why the Devil is the alpha destabilising force and is entropy's mastermind (and is entropy itself throughout reality).
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@RationalMadman
Why would I accept anything without sufficient evidence?


We can have a hypothetical discussion but that isn't quite the same thing.
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@secularmerlin
Because God is ten dimensional and we can only physically perceive three-dimensional beings.
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@RationalMadman
And how have you determined that?
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@secularmerlin
Do you want to know or do you want to explain why I'm wrong?
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@RationalMadman
I'm just curious how you have verified something that cannot be perceived or measured.