What The Devil Wants

#366: Not What You Think

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I recently googled "What Does The Devil Want", and as expected, there were many religious attempts to define the answer.  In fact, many fell into the trap of self-confirmation (several church websites had  "Keeping you from Church and studying the Bible." as a central devilish concern).  Below, I make a few observations on the topic:

  * Apparently the origin of the word 'devil' involves the Greek for 'slander'.  I find that interesting because, at first glance, slander doesn't seem that big of a deal.  In 2016 a candidate for president made up outlandish charges (Your father plotted to kill JFK), and defamatory nicknames ("Lyin' Ted Cruz", "Crooked Hillary", "Low Energy Jeb").  But, instead of being sidelined for the devil's work, that candidate easily won his party's nomination, and the presidency.  Of course, when you think twice about it, the use of slander is war--in miniature.

  *  Another answer to our question comes from the place where the devil lives--or should we say 'lived' since he's surely dead--hell.  If heaven is its opposite, hell is full of misery and lost hope.  But, isn't the realm of hell simply what happens to a mind that has chosen what it knows to be wrong?  When we transgress, we move from the unitary, internal agreement that is heaven, to the miserable duality of knowing we've made a mistake: regret, shame, and self-punishment.

What the devil wants, using the heaven and hell spectrum, is for us to end up divided in our minds, hating what we do, yet doing it anyway.  That is, ignoring our conscience and suffering the consequences.  Perhaps the best way to get a person to abandon the ship of conscience is to tempt him with the idea that he can get away with wrong-doing.  And if a movement emerged that treated 'getting away with it' as a manly virtue, that mocked shame (for pussies) and apologies (wimps), and attracted a leader who was a marvel at communicating those lessons (by literally never paying a price for his multitude of serious transgressions), wouldn't that be the perfect vessel to fulfill the devil's desire?

  * Finally, though, the devil would have to exact his price: hauling his minions off to hell.  That, of course, is his overall goal, so once a deal is struck, his targets abandon their conscience, revel in the giddy delight of not getting caught, reassure themselves on this account by repeating the same slanders ("Our enemies aren't worthy.") until the price must be paid: defeat, and the rest of their lives in hell.  Of course what has happened is that without a conscience, their inner decision-making process is compromised, atrophies, and is then abandoned, in favor of directions from their leader, making the end inevitable.  The foolish impulse finds its way into action.  The body rebels, with nervous ticks, or their equivalent, on display.  Doom then finds its prey, like the haunting owl's hoot: "Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo!