Every Halloween we see kids dressed up like Satan. It used to bother me but then I decided it might be therapeutic. I'm currently reading a book that calls the whole Satan/Hell thing into question. For most of my adult life I've listened to people with serious (but usually solvable) problems complain that "Satan is breaking up their marriages or causing their suffering in other ways. I sometimes think that Satan gets a bad rap. Is there a personality outside my own that "makes" me do stupid things or am I blaming my stuff on Satan so I won't have to take responsibility?
In Deepak Chopra's book, "Life After Death - The Book of Answers," he suggests we each have to decide if Satan is real. I like this idea because I think we each have to grapple individually with our own personal theology. For instance, I'm sometimes appalled when I'm reading lists of "What Christians Believe." I know Christians who have maybe four beliefs in common; the rest of the list is up for grabs.
Deepak Chopra says Satan is real if you believe that you deserve punishment instead of healing. So that guilt is projected upward onto demons instead of healed inside.
On the other hand, Satan is unreal if we feel we deserve healing instead of punishment and there is a believe in forgiveness, healing and atonement.
Of course, Evil, and our ability to hurt ourselves and each other, remains even after Satan is gone. So we always have work to do.
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