Religion is a towering mountain of lies and crapola: god, devil, demons, angels, heaven, hell, afterlife, etc... so if you're going to believe in any of it, you have to believe in all of it.

It helps not to think about it to any real degree.

I guess sometimes it’s easier to believe fairy tales than to live in a world with so many complexities.

Simplicity has a lot of bonuses, even if it’s messed up ideology with an expert that only talks about the bits of religious texts that suits their purpose, not the perversities that would make it an obvious no go for most.

Getting angry over this is a waste. Be thankful that you have the intelligence to see beyond such short sighted belief. They believe in heaven and hell. Don't let them invite you into either of them. "Misery Loves Company"

As a fictional creation the Devil is a far more interesting character than god or Jesus. In a literary sense his is the young underdog who stood up against his all powerful boss and not only survived, but remained unbroken
"Better to rule in Hell than be a slave in Heaven"
He refuses to capitulate, he refuses to surrender, he fights the odds and overcomes, he has the courage of his own convictions and charismatically leads an army of 33% of the angels who agree with him on a quest for freedom from the unfair and cruel rules of YHWH. The god that grants free will to beings and then forbid them to use it, that demands love by force, that enforces respect by fear, who kills on a genocidal level.
He even offers Jesus a way out of the insane scapegoating sacrifice of god sacrificing himself, to himself, to appease himself, 3 times and is turned down.

In short he is a far more believable and enticing character than either the maniac god of the OT or the wishy washy bastard of the NT.

No wonder he is more popular and has appeared in more film and literature than his old boss.

The Devil is a way for peopel to shrug off responsibility for their actions They can canvince themselves that it wasnt' them whoi had such evil thoughts, but the Devil put the idea into theri head. So thney rationalize that they are not really a bad person.

The concept of church forgiveness also goes along with this. You can always get forgiving for you sins, which means you can justify that all the wrongs you did in the past doesn't mean you are a bad person, because god has forgiven you. So, again they rationalize that they are not really a bad person.

The Devil was re-invented in order to explain evil.

Once the biblical god made the move from being a tribal deity to a personal, all good, all loving, god people had to have some way of explaining all the evil in the world. The Satan was demoted from a being that basically worked for this god (putting people's faith to the test, such as Job) to a being that is the embodiment of evil. Everything bad is the fault of human sin and this devil. This god gets credit for the good and none of the blame for the bad.

What is so ironic is that they totally ignore the fact that their supposedly all-loving god created this horrible devil; and then, to top things off, it gave this horrific being--and his demons--free reign over all the earth, with the ability to use lies and trickery to lure people away from this god and the truth.

Such a loving god, eh?

Thank you all for your feedback. It’s nice to see that others share the same thoughts as I do.

Your anger will only hurt you in the long run, and do absolutely nothing to change the status of closed minds.
If they come at you with their nonsense - shut 'em up !

It isn't obvious to everyone i guess.

g

Organized Religion is all about mind control as well. It’s never about thinking for yourself. But about brainwashing and scaring certain segments of the population into following blindly with promises of a better afterlife (Heaven), or if you behave in certain so-called “unacceptable ways”........ then you will suffer for eternity in misery in a place called “Hell”. I have been told lots of times that I would “Rot in Hell” over things like music choice, certain TV shows I watched, jokes that I made.......I came of age during Pres. Reagan’s era which was very conservative.......and it was during that time when I stopped attending weekly mass, and began undoing my mind from everything I learned from going to mass though it would still be another 9 or 10 years that I would declare myself a full blown Atheist..when I deal with jehovahs witnesses or others similar from trying to convert me I always tell them that I once attended church and they say they cannot understand how I became “Brainwashed and Immoral”. That’s when the conversation ends. I followed my conscience and will always feel I have done the right thing. Just live life as you see fit, your not going to please everyone and that others opinions are simply not your problem.

Without getting into the mythical history of this character I often point out that both god and devil come out of the same book. That's enough to do it for me.

Who needs a devil when you've got Yahweh? The Jehovah in the Old Testament is so insanely jealous, murderous, capricious, immoral and vile that a devil wasn't even needed. Most Christians believe that God's character never changes. Well if that's the case, then I vote for his rival! But then, we are talking about fictional characters, after all ... aren't we?

Don't let it make you angry... People, including you, can't control what they believe.

I’ve long wondered the same thing. A pointy tailed slick red guy with horns, really? Then they’ll get going on Angels ...or Holy Ghosts.. What have they got against Fairies, Goblins, Trolls & Unicorns It’s all such ridiculous shit … you’d think they’d grow out of it ~

Here's why: (people believe in the devil) Religious people don't understand nor believe in evolution. So our animal nature is misunderstood -- especially reproductive instincts. Don't forget if the members don't reproduce the species will go extinct. So it's very strong and includes all life.

That's what makes "Lord of the Flies" such an important book. William Golding attempted to explain why the concept of the devil is so pervasive yet it's merely our natural human nature.

What Freud called "id", Golding called "Jack".

I’m a little confused by this question. Are you asking about people that also believe in god/other supernatural beings? If so, I don’t see it as any less logical than believing in god or any other spirit/supernatural being.

Otherwise I don’t know because I don’t personally know anyone who doesn’t believe in god who also believes in Satan. The Satanic Temple believes in Satan only ironically, not literally.

So they can be conservative Republicans.
Being Christian is just a requirement to join their perverted sub culture.

If you are going to have a 'Great Spirit' to regulate human behavior, it becomes necessary to have an 'Evil Spirit' to explain human's 'bad' behavior. The one is the antithesis of the other.

Why do we believe in nation, country duty, honor, justice etc...
It is culture, we are imprinted with those notions when we are kids and they become part of our identity. Once it is done, this notions looks so obvious and so true that sounds ridiculous and even outrageous to question them.

Maybe it's because the only way many people can explain the heretofore unimaginable events of the past four years in this country , culminating in devastating fires, cataclysmic storms and floods and a governmental "Coup D'Etat" is that they can't imagine it being anything but the "work of the Devil" What would you call it?

Do not be angry, it is just a waste of effort and energy. There is no dog there is no devil, there are people who model these characters, but that is because people made them up so they refer to the attributes of people.

They won’t stop until other people believe it too.
This is why antitheism is even a thing.

It's not a myth to the people who believe in it. It's as real as can be. I was a christian for 30 years and i can tell you that i believed it was real and i believed he was hiding under my bed and watching me every second of the day to tempt me and make me do things i didn't want to. I'm not proud of that and looking back i feel like an idiot for believing that. I was brought up to believe it and it was programmed in me just like programming a computer. When you are taught that as a kid then its as real as touching the ground or drinking a glass of water.

There is no way to describe it unless you have been through it and forced to believe it. You really are brainwashed into believing that if you don't believe in the devil then you are going to hell.

Then if that is the case my youtube channel is my anger channel!

Most beliefs are myths, and religious myths are especially pernicious. And they are just that: Beliefs. Don't waste time worrying about it.