Devil

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This post is over 15 years old and may contain information that is incorrect, outdated, or no longer relevant.
My views and opinions can change, and those that are expressed in this post may not necessarily reflect the ones I hold today.
 

I have my last final exam tomorrow – an essay exam for philosophy. If you didn’t catch it from a few days ago, I’m cutting down on my blogging so I can focus on studying, which is why my blog posts have been so short lately.

 

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Topic #107: According to a Gallup Poll, nearly 70% of Americans believe in the Devil. Do you? Why or why not? Why do you think 70% of Americans believe as they do on this issue? Do you think this number is higher or lower than other countries in the world? Why? Do you think the devil is behind the choice of this topic?

I don’t believe in the devil because I think the debate of whether the devil exists or not will be extremely similar to the debate of if there are any gods, and the god debate has not convinced me strongly one way or another.

I think that a large number of Americans believe that the devil exists because there are a large number of Americans who believe that at least one god exists. They most likely find it difficult to justify the bad things in this world because they claim that their god(s) is/are all-good, so they credit the bad things that happen to the devil.

I think the 70% in America is about the same as other monotheistic religions, but higher than polytheistic religions. For example, in Greek history, there are many gods, some that are good and some that are bad. As a result, the ancient Greeks did not need to justify the bad things in life by stating that a devil exists; instead, they can credit that to the god of evil or the god of malice. However, in monotheistic religions, there is only one mighty being that controls everything, so it’s difficult to say that an all-good being causes or allows bad things to happen in the world.

And no, I don’t think the devil is behind this choice of topic, but I do believe that there is still a slight chance that some negative force is acting upon us that is gravitating us towards discussing where this negative force originates.

 

So Far in 2011…

Number of Taco Bell tacos eaten: 24

Number of times I did my own laundry: 3

 

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