The great age of Satan

[struggle4progress]

Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 12:17 pm
Updated: 1:54 pm, Tue May 13, 2014.
By Ryan McLaren Special to the Coast Report

... I am a secularist and I don’t believe in the supernatural, but Satan certainly exists as a metaphysical concept, as a force that works in people’s lives. Satan is the embodiment of the “Selfish I” ...

Unlike Christians, it is not sex, drugs and alcohol that I feel are rotting this country, or a lack of faith in a supreme deity. It is our worship of the idea of prosperity at all costs, of intense, unencumbered capitalism that makes us ill.

We all have a God, money and selfishness to rule us. Even economists, our so-called stewards of what is true in our gospel, personify our religion as the market and it’s Lord the great “invisible hand.”

I look around and see and hear people who are quite willing to hurt others to prosper. To manipulate, lie, steal and cheat to get ahead. This is Satan in action ...

http://www.coastreportonline.com/views/article_36d5cb62-dad3-11e3-bbf6-0019bb2963f4.html

[trotsky]

1. That is an interesting interpretation that is certainly not held by the majority of Christians.

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris_Poll_2009_12_15.pdf

[struggle4progress]

2. The poll you link contains no information regarding "interpretation." But the 2009 Barna poll did:

... Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan ... A majority of Christians believe that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces, such as demons or evil spirits. Two out of three Christians agreed that such influence is real (39% agreed strongly, 25% agreed somewhat), while just three out of ten rejected the influence of supernatural forces (18% disagreed strongly, 10% disagreed somewhat). The remaining 8% were undecided on this matter ... Christians were asked if they believed that a person must either side with God or with the devil – that there is no in-between position. A large majority strongly agreed with the notion (61%) while an additional 15% agreed somewhat. Just one out of ten adults disagreed somewhat (10%) and a similar proportion (11%) disagreed strongly. Surprisingly few adults (3%) did not have an opinion on this matter ... About half (47%) of the Christians who believed that Satan is merely a symbol of evil nevertheless agreed that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces such as demons ...
Most American Christians Do Not Believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit Exist
April 2009

[trotsky]

3. Thank you for posting more numbers to support my assertion.

40% reject the notion that Satan is a living being (as you do) - meaning that 60% accept it, to some extent or another.

In other words, a majority, as I said.

Want to go look for another survey to try and prove me wrong?

Oh, and on edit: thanks for the snip showing that you were wrong about ideas of exorcism and demonic possession too. Yup, a majority believe in that.

[struggle4progress]

4. I have no idea what you're trying to say

[trotsky]

5. OK, take care!

[Brettongarcia]

6. In my experience, teenagers who are first leaving religion often flirt with the "Devil" first.

Last edited Sat May 17, 2014, 08:13 AM - Edit history (1)

When people from a religious background are tired of "God," they often see only the "Devil" as the alternative. Because that's the only alternative that many preachers mentioned. But it's just a preliminary step.

Ironically God and the Devil of course, are really in the same frame of reference; both are elements of Christianity. Those who turn from "God" to "The Devil" therefore, have not quite left the turf of Christianity. They are still in the preachers' frame of reference. "Satan" is still in the Bible, and is an element of religion. It was only preachers who saw the world schizophrenically as either 1) God, or 2) the Devil.

Eventually however, most who are really leaving traditional religion entirely, decide to leave both behind. To something else entirely. Neither God, nor the Devil.

The embrace of "The Devil" therefore is basically a little adolescent, and compromised. There are much better alternatives.