This Business with the Devil, Part II: Lucifer as God
When you’re delving into ideas that a lot of people aren’t going to like, you can’t worry about a few stubbed toes along the way. Even if those toes belong to the feet of your friends and you are the doorway of despair. What if God and Satan weren’t that different? What if somewhere in the Bible it said that they were actually childhood friends? Would people, Christians, see the devil any differently if teenage Jesus and a Satanic demon kid played tetherball with each other in high school gym? Who would win?
Those are frightfully stupid quandaries, please don’t get sucked in by my wit, but on a serious note, I truly feel that Satanism is misunderstood, misunderstood to the point of oblivion (i.e., its probably not worth saving). I just read a story about this Satanist who was put to death in Ohio for murdering three people. The entire bent of this story was that this guy was a devil worshipper. I guess being a deranged lunatic doesn’t make good enough copy these days. How many God-fearing killers get put to death all the time? This guy in Ohio, his name was Darrell Ferguson, was real good press; he dressed the part, from the tattoos, shaved head and goatee, Ferguson LOOKED like a Satanic serial killer. However, being a Satanist does not a serial killer make. The majority of serial killers, and all murderers for that matter, have had absolutely no connection to Satanism, but we rarely hear about them, why not?
Satanism is sexy. The average man or woman, and especially any religious person, would never admit to this, but it’s true. We are in the day and age of fear, and fear sells. And there is nothing scarier, nothing that will sell more papers and get more hits than Satan stories (other than Brad and Angelina’s baby photos). Maybe Shiloh is the Dark Prince, he has finally come for us, Hail Satan! Satanism is fear and fear is sex. America sells fear.
No, that’s not how it’s going down. I won’t let it. Because, you see, I don’t like to think about Satan like that. I like to think of Lucifer as God’s slightly more mischievous buddy. If God is the popular academic kid, then Satan is the class clown in detention. I refuse to be scared of things like Satanism just because I don’t understand them. I barely understand Satanism as it is, but I definitely won’t live in fear of it, that’s for sure.
Before I die I’d like to learn as much as I can about most of the religions, or a little bit every religion, I’m not sure what would be easier. Do they have Cliff Notes for religious texts? Doesn’t Monarch make a Koran reader?
