To atheists & other freethinkers, what makes some people believe in that there's

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   gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

   To atheists & other freethinkers, what makes some people believe in that there's a devil?  Is it
   
   innate in the human consciousness, mindset, & psychology that there has to be a displacement &/or a projection of the scapegoat & the other instead of facing the more negative aspects of one's consciousness & taking responsibility for it?
   
   

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   dashingscorpioposted 9 years ago

   I suspect it's the old school lesson we've been taught: Newton's third law is: For every action, there is an (equal and opposite) reaction.
   If one believes in God then it's only natural for them to believe there must be an "opposition deity" as well. To think otherwise would be the equivalent of believing sunshine exists but not rain.
   Opposing forces are dramatic!
   The Prince of Peace VS The Prince of Darkness!
   Every protagonist needs an antagonist to make a story interesting. Revelations aka "the end times" can't get here fast enough for some believers! Their ego requires "judgment day" to take place in their lifetime so they can (witness) the reactions of the non-believers.
   "Told you so!"
   Some folks HATE the thought of the planet spinning around for another 10,000 or even million more years! In theory it should have no bearing on their faith. However "the world" has been waiting for over 2000 years for this "event" just like people in Chicago have been waiting for over 100 years for the Cubs to win another World Series!
   It's not enough for them to believe it will happen they want to see it!

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   Austinstarposted 9 years ago

   Well, it says right there in their bible book that god created everything. He created his angels and one of them decided to rebel and he became Lucifer / Satan / Mephistopheles / the Devil / the Boogeyman / Demon / and all told, probably has just as many names as god does.
   Somebody says that we can't have good without evil, but that is just a saying that has been repeated over and over and over again until people don't even question the sense of it. Why can't we have good without evil?
   It's just another way to judge people.
   BTW - atheists do NOT believe in devils or demons or Satan or any other supernatural cosmic magicians/spirits that theists imagine to be true.

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      Claire Evansposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      How can one recognize something as good if one has never experienced evil? How is one recognized as good and another as bad? Because both good and evil exists and you can compare the two..

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      Austinstarposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      good and evil are individual judgement calls. If fire is "good" sometimes and "evil" other times, perhaps you can understand it using that analogy. Fire itself is NOT evil OR good. It just is. You decide if something is evil or good by your thoughts

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      Claire Evansposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You are referring to morals.  It is subjective.  However, there is pure good and pure evil when it comes to the supernatural.

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      Austinstarposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Claire, the supernatural does not exist! That's why it is called "supernatural". Look up the definition of that word. So, no, there is no such thing as PURE evil/good and it doesn't have to do with "morals".

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      Claire Evansposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Lela, it is merely that which doesn't comply with the law of physics.  It doesn't mean it doesn't exist or else would such a term exist? It transcends natural law.
      
      The supernatural is that which is not subject to the laws of physics or, more figura

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      Austinstarposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Things that do not conform to the natural physical laws cannot even be demonstrated BECAUSE they don't conform to natural physical laws. They only exist in your imagination.

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      Claire Evansposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I'm asking you, where did the term supernatural come if it hasn't been observed? Do you think empirical evidence is all that counts? In all honesty, you cannot say for sure the supernatural doesn't exist.

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   Lady Guinevereposted 9 years ago

   Innate, I don't think so. 
   Learned, yes. 
   By whom: Religion. 
   Why, because they want or need something to blame when their life goes wrong.
   Evil, nah, just a lack of understanding.
   Satan, well if you believe what the Bible says.  God created everything and everything was good.  Satan rebelled because of a jealous thing.  He was to halp mankind and he thought that God was putting him down and so he got mad and hated mankind...so one story goes.  God gave Satan the earth and humans on it to live with....kind of the lie a fitting punishment for not liking God's favortie creatures, wouldn't you think.  Satan has no power over his creator or the things that his creator created.
   Religion has always taken the stance of "I didn't do it".  Rarely have I seen or heard a religous person be accuntible for their lives when something happens in them that they do not understand or how it got that way.

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      Lady Guinevereposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Well, Thank you very much.  That was a fast pick.

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      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Quite welcome indeed!

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   Stargrrlposted 9 years ago

   I am a freethinker, so I will answer this question.  But I am not an atheist.  I believe there is a devil because there is obvious evil in the world.  There is sin.  Yes, people are responsible for their heinous actions, at times.  But there is a devil--he is mentioned in the bible.  As long as there is evil in the world, there is a devil about.

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   Angel Van Attaposted 9 years ago

   I believe that organized religion has a heaven and a hell so that it is easier to control the population. If people are good and follow the rules, they get to go to heaven. A magical place to spend an eternity with their lord. However, if people are bad or evil, they have to burn in hell and be tortured for an eternity by the devil. It's basically a tool for control.

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   Tom Wrynerposted 9 years ago

   Maybe it gives people a sense of comfort and hope that there is a devil, not necessarily because of something that that person or individual  has done wrong but because people would want to believe in anything other than themselves, however is that  Biblical story fact or myth of Satan being kicked out of heaven?, Is the real question. To some people will use science, logic and such to find the answer however in the end will there even be a heaven or some fiery pit of dispair for all eternity. So to answer your question, I would say that generational subliminal inplimented thoughts would make people believe, day to day people constantly use the word devil  or god this and that and before you know it you're saying it to, and what goes in comes out.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 9 years ago

   I think there is an argument for a psychological byproduct of our species' survival instincts. In order to stay alive, we often have to demonize threats to such a degree that we can defeat them without remorse. Sometimes survival meant killing other humans, and the only way to cope with the horrific nature of this act is to pretend the other side was evil. Granted, this boils it down to our concepts of good and evil, but I feel the devil is just an extension of that. He is one villain in a long line of villains we've devised to keep our stories interesting and serve as juxtaposition to our heroes. Because, without the villain, humans can't be heroes.

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      Lady Guinevereposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. I read Joseph Campbells book, Power of the Myth and it did mention something like that.

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   Claire Evansposted 9 years ago

   What makes one believe? By experiencing his works personally! It is possible to be spiritually in tune with the spiritual world.  People do it through prayer.  Once a relationship with the Lord is established, you will see nasty resistance. 
   
   And, of course, dabbling in the occult can make a believer in Satan very fast.

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