Why is satan the bad guy?

[TheStraightener]

The same voices are telling me to clean up the kitchen.. but I will resist

 

[Strathos]

Don't you have a reality filter?

If my best friend told me he had a dog in his garage I would probably believe him. Sure, he might be lying but Hes making a realistic statement. Dogs exist, garages exist, people keep dogs. Sounds reasonable to me and would probably believe it without evidence... Because it's an ordinary claim.

However if my best friend said he had a fire breathing Dragon in his garage then I would reject it instantly. I wouldn't choose not to believe him... I would just automatically reject his claim without consideration. The only way I could believe him is if he provided evidence, because this is not an ordinary claim.
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I think you would choose not to believe him. Otherwise you're claiming that you have no conscious control over your own mind.

 

[Skavau]

I think you would choose not to believe him. Otherwise you're claiming that you have no conscious control over your own mind.

What we believe in are motivated by many factors. No-one can just choose to believe that a proposition is true. You have to be genuinely convinced that it is true. Now what constitutes someone being genuinely convinced obviously varies individual to individual and is determined by bias & knowledge held by the person but nonetheless it is not a conscious choice.

 

[nlphypno80]

Satan really isn't much of a bad guy. We have the world to prove that and that is of course assuming that he is even remotely real like Christians tell us he is.

 

[Strathos]

What we believe in are motivated by many factors. No-one can just choose to believe that a proposition is true.

Of course you can. It's called having faith... some people don't seem to understand how it works.

 

[Skavau]

Of course you can. It's called having faith... some people don't seem to understand how it works.

No, you can't. "Faith" is a psychological state. People who have faith are convinced that it is true. Those who motive 'faith' as a deciding factor, or a reason really want their belief(s) to be true.

Faith is conviction, and it is a specific kind of conviction that proclaims that evidence is irrelevant and that pure desire for the idea to be true empowers it.

No-one can just decide to get faith.

 

[Blessedj01]

Are you suggesting that there is a gene for "Satan's spiritual thinking?"

No idea. It's a spiritual condition but creation was affected, do it's possible that's part of it.

 

[Blessedj01]

Replying 6 minutes later, obviously shows he didn't watch the video or only watched a small portion. I have posted that video before myself, because it sums up so well, how I feel the Christian belief system is immoral and Harris nailed the reasons why. If you want even more fun, watch the entire debate between Harris and Craig and you will see, Craig had no response to Harris' points, because they were indeed an accurate description of Craig's position. At the end of that debate, Harris had Notre Dame students cheering for him because of the points he made and the fact, that Craig refused to answer a very pointed question from one of the students, because it didn't relate directly to the debate topic.

I make no apologies for not watching the silly video. It was described as about a man who "gets what he wants" and is practically God's gift to disproving himself, so why would I give it that the time of day? What makes you think I'd want to take a youtube video over the Bible? Are you seriously that impressed by it that you think my mind would have been swayed? I've personally experienced God's goodness yet you think some guy called Sam is going to make me want to turn my back on Him?

 

[Blessedj01]

What evidence do you have to support this claim?

It's a biblical notion. Check out the entire thread.

 

[bhsmte]

It's a biblical notion. Check out the entire thread.

Biblical, that is what I thought.

 

[Blessedj01]

Biblical, that is what I thought.

The Bible is where we get our concept of Satan from.

I'm not sure what you expect.

 

[poolerboy0077]

Of course you can. It's called having faith... some people don't seem to understand how it works.

Suppose we discover that believing Santa is real cures you of cancer. Further suppose you have stage 4 cancer. Now, it isn't important as to whether Santa exists or not to relieve yourself of cancer. All that matters is that you believe in Santa. How would you go about doing this, though? For you to believe Santa is real, it isn't enough to entertain for argument's sake, playing Devil's advocate so to speak. One must be convinced that Santa is real, and becoming convinced of something isn't done by simply flipping on an internal light switch of sorts. Being convinced is something that happens to you. To become convinced or unconvinced of something will depend on whether or not you stumble upon compelling reasons that you feel confident approach the truth.

 

[rockytopva]

All in it because of the Holy Spirit. He is a well of living waters to the soul. It is an energy (E) and a light (c2) that enlightens and warms the spiritual man and directs the mentality into the correct paths.

RW Schambach - What is a Man of God? - YouTube

 

[Gottservant]

Satan is the bad guy, because as much as people would believe and be motivated by, he denigrates and pulls down.

His objective is to show he is strong proxy an unsubstantiated fear of the maximum potential (because if you don't believe you have potential he can accuse you of being weak).

What he does not realize is that God can strengthen even the weakest belief, if we will only believe.