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The Devil's Greatest Trick..

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cloudyday

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"The Devil's greatest trick was convincing the world that he didn't exist"
If you have seen the movie the Usual Suspects then you might know this quote. I guess it originally came from Charles Baudelaire's poem The Generous Gambler and was altered for the movie. I find this quote frightening because if the devil does exist then this would be a great plan for him. According to the bible you have to believe in God to get into heaven. If you don't believe in the devil how can you believe in God? I have do not align myself with any religion and I'm not saying i believe this but I think this is a strange thing to think about. My one friend pointed out "How would the devil accomplish this?" :?
 
All religions have an opposing force, as religion and spirituality is only needed here because religion and spirituality are allegories or dramas appealing to a target audience, attempting to explain to the duality of this existence.

I would read about Sophia and the Demiurge.

And the Gnostics and Cathars for a deeper understanding of the Christos and Christ as opposed to Christianity.
 
really? i thought it was the one where it looks like he rips off half his thumb
 
I think the opposite is true, his greatest trick was convincing people he does exist. Making a deity out of things that could be construed as negative to us does us no good.. much better to understand the multitude of influences and define them instead of just lumping it all together under the banner of one super evil figure (that doesn't exist).
 
If you believe there is no evil then you will mistake evil things for good things.
 
cloudyday said:
"The Devil's greatest trick was convincing the world that he didn't exist"
If you have seen the movie the Usual Suspects then you might know this quote. I guess it originally came from Charles Baudelaire's poem The Generous Gambler and was altered for the movie. I find this quote frightening because if the devil does exist then this would be a great plan for him. According to the bible you have to believe in God to get into heaven. If you don't believe in the devil how can you believe in God? I have do not align myself with any religion and I'm not saying i believe this but I think this is a strange thing to think about. My one friend pointed out "How would the devil accomplish this?" :?
Click to expand...



From what I gather, your fear stems from the belief the Devil has succeeded in fooling the world into libertarian thought? Fear and religion go together very well, and perhaps this is what first leads people into religious beliefs and keeps them there. Bill O'reilly actually says "If there is a God, then I'm going to heaven! Why would I take the risk?" If you're a scared of being manipulated by the Devil's plot, I really can't offer any consolation to you as fear is a very personal thing.


I can only lead you to a historical perspective of how religions come about, how they were thought up, the times and place they served as being useful and take this historical perspective about the nature of religion and how it appeals to society and go from there. For me, science, psychology and historical perspective really allows me to be comfortable with "evil ethereal monsters."
 
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demiurge

"One Gnostic mythos describes the declination of aspects of the divine into human form. Sophia (Greek: Σοφια, lit. “wisdom”), the Demiurge’s mother a partial aspect of the divine Pleroma or “Fullness,” desired to create something apart from the divine totality, without the receipt of divine assent. In this act of separate creation, she gave birth to the monstrous Demiurge and, being ashamed of her deed, wrapped him in a cloud and created a throne for him to be within it. The Demiurge, isolated, did not behold his mother, nor anyone else, concluded that only he himself existed, being ignorant of the superior levels of reality.

The Demiurge, having received a portion of power from his mother, sets about a work of creation in unconscious imitation of the superior Pleromatic realm: He frames the seven heavens, as well as all material and animal things, according to forms furnished by his mother; working however blindly, and ignorant even of the existence of the mother who is the source of all his energy. He is blind to all that is spiritual, but he is king over the other two provinces. The word dēmiourgos properly describes his relation to the material; he is the father of that which is animal like himself.

Thus Sophia’s power becomes enclosed within the material forms of humanity, themselves entrapped within the material universe: the goal of Gnostic movements was typically the awakening of this spark, which permitted a return by the subject to the superior, non-material realities which were its primal source."

This generalization shouldnt earn him any sympathy, though.
 
I doubt the existence of gods or demons matter to anyone since we all derive our own moral codes from life experiences anyway.
 
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