Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the ideas of the Devil that I
was taught growing up, and how many people I know who still very much
like to focus on this form, this encapsulated being they refer to as
"The Enemy" (or whatever name you may like to use).
I'm not exactly sure
what my thesis will/would be yet, but I am beginning to think that it
could very well be an incredibly psychologically/sociologically harmful
idea to have such a large piece of wide-spanning theology based around
the personification of evil. To have an anthropomorphic figure embody
ultimate evil and be ultimately evil creates this mindset, I am
beginning to believe, that allows for one to picture the Other as
completely evil. When that happens, we open the door to no longer see
each individual as an individual, complex as we all are, but rather as a
set of characteristics, actions, and shallow impressions which force
them into one of two mental boxes, good or evil. Usually, these boxes
are based on how well that person not only serves our moral and cultural
perspective, but when we look deeper, it's how they serve us and our
personal, selfish goals.
Does this idea of some doctrinal need for
"The Enemy" to exist, at least as a bit more than a literary archetype,
mean that those higher up on the theological pedagogy food chain
believe we need a common enemy in order to pursue common goals?
What
does that say about so many religion's views on humanity and our
abilities to do just about anything?
What do the words we use to
characterize who this devil, this ultimate evil, say about us and who or
what in our every day lives we may see as having shades of devil in
them?
Certainly, there are times when such descriptors have been used to
refer to styles of music, television shows, movies, books, races,
sexual orientations. Is "of the devil" just the more on-the-nose way of
saying "something my personal theology is too naively bigoted to accept
as anywhere near potentially good simply because it's different from
what I'm used to"?
By creating, or at least believing in, the
power of "The Enemy", are we shoving off our own responsibility, not
only for our harmful actions, but for our judgmental worldviews?
This
could get into a whole is there Ultimate Good and Ultimate Evil at all
and what form does it/can it take debate—can good exist without evil
and vice versa? I'm not really interested in that angels on the head of a
pin nonsense, so much as I am with something more personal and practical.
I was indoctrinated as a kid to
believe in some kind of Boogeyman whose very existence made it easier
for me to label my fellow human beings as completely good or completely
bad based on, essentially, whether or not I liked the cut of their jib.
That's what I see as the most dangerous part of this whole issue.
[obviously, this is skewed toward my own personal religious experiences growing up, so your mileage may vary. All I ask is that you look at this as an opportunity to reevaluate the boxes you've placed others in perhaps a bit prematurely, and I will try to do the same.]
