Well, in Judaism the G-d/Devil daicotomy is more like light/darkness or fullness/emptyness rather than man/woman. In Eastern philosophy/theology it is called yin/yang or like in computers 0/1... off/on. In this theogical sphere, the devil-hell concept is more the absence of or distance from G-d. Christianity has more of a Greco-Roman slant to the entire faith including heaven/hell vs G-d/Devil daicotomy.

The devil in Christian thought actively seeks to cleave the faithful through temptation and doubt and later guilt from their faith in G-d. So, absolutely in Christian thinking the Devil thrives off any action or thought that goes against G-d.

Yes! You are right that the fact that the devil punishes the sinners is logically contradictory. This idea of the devil and hell have 3 sources that I know of, Judaism, Greco-Roman faith/mythology, and Dante's Inferno from the book "The Divine Comedy".

Yes! You read it right! First, the opaque Jewish view got coupled with the Greco-Roman view where there is an actual physical cave thought to be the entrance into Hades. Then Dante, an Italian novelist wrote such a vivid story that it was absorbed into to the faith by the imagination of the believers of the faith. The positive and negative reinforcement is absolutely true about how this construct works but there is another element to the concept of hell which is justice and retribution.

Dante actually wrote that his mentor who he apprenticed for as a child was in the 7th ring of hell, if I remember correctly... for sexually abusing him. Yeah!

Then the heaven/hell concept also works to relieve people of the thought of a loved one being happy, healthy and cared for in heaven. So this daicotomy is much more than just positive/negative reinforcement. In the justice-retribution cinario the devil actually punishing the wicked makes more sense, emotionally but still not logically.

We should remember that the cultural construct of any afterlife serves the needs of the living to deal with the struggles of life and the fear of death. All religion is, is a cultural construct designed to organize society and of course individuals.

Free will is incompatible with an all powerful, all knowing god, who created you to do exactly what he knows you will do

I think the devil and hell are simple constructs to keep the herds at bay. That's the negative enforcement. Positive enforcement is god loves you and heaven await. And yes, I agree with your statement about the devil. My personal quote: "All organized religion are the antithesis of the tomes from which they are derived."

We don’t all agree religion is absurd. Literalism is absurd, but not all religious people are literalists. Some people understand the value of metaphor, art, and culture.

If Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny had a fight, who would win?

Why should I care?

The Bible never says that the Devil punishes people or is running hell. That's just some popular myth, and comes mostly from Milton's (political message) poem, "Paradise Lost."

The red suit, horns and tail are also from myth and never mentioned in the Bible. In the Bible, "Lucifer" was the highest angel of the type called a Cherub..angels described as having four faces and four wings.

He was in charge of the worship of the angels but one day decided the praise should go to him instead of god, so was thrown out of heaven and down to the earth, taking a third of the angels with him. He got revenge by persuading Eve to disobey god and eat a fruit (not an apple) that god told them not to eat.

The Sumerian texts version of the story is better, though.

The religious never claimed logic. It’s a good thing, too!