If I were the Devil - from 1965

[athenken]

Basically, yes I am. Which might be the whole disconnect here: the idea of two purely good/evil beings opposing each their, and having all cases of their specific alignment justified by themselves just doesn't jive with me here. I'll admit that, if it did then one would have an easier time seeing the devil as a strengthener of faith. But that's the whole point, the devil only does his literary job when one takes on faith that objective good and evil are indeed things. To an outsider like myself it just seems like a convenient scapegoat for any doubt one may have.

Have you ever dealt with the concept of a scapegoat? Politicians do it all the time?

 

[Wayte]

Have you ever dealt with the concept of a scapegoat? Politicians do it all the time?

Of course politicians do it all the time. And I really don't get the first question; I'd say everybody has experienced it at some point. Anytime somebody has to be punished when something goes wrong, regardless of the actual blame on that person, anytime a group tries to pin the blame of problems it created on another gorup, are all examples. And I'm certain we've all seen it, even if we've never personally been the scapegoat.

 

[SmellsLikeCurlyFries]

Sure, if you accept the idea of pure beings. But the idea of a being that is pure, whether pure good or pure evil, seems a little iffy. I suppose looking at it one way it does reaffirm it; one cannot exist without the other, so the devil does reaffirm the god. Of course, just how perfect a foil the devil is to god seems a bit suspect to me. Like I said, he's the sort of thing I'd concoct if I wanted control over people. Nothing like a clear "bad guy" to blame everything bad on, after all.

One of the big reasons I like the show Supernatural is because it deals with that in a much more realistic way. God appears to be on vacation during the Apocalypse, the angels are in the middle of a power struggle to see who is in charge when he gets back AND still trying to make sure the Apocalypse happens the way it's supposed to, whatever the cost, Lucifer is still an angel, just more deceptive, and the demons are just lovably insane and naughty (but not purely evil)