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Monday, February 17th, 2014

Why American Christians Love Satan

Author:     Matthew Paul Turner
Source:     The Daily Beast
Publication Date:     02.16.14
 Link: Why American Christians Love Satan
Stephan:   Fundamentalist Christianity in the U.S. is a pastiche of myths having virtually nothing to do with the teachings of the man it purports to revere -- Jesus. One of the most prevalent of its myths is the business about Satan. For starters -- and I refer you to Elaine Paigel's book The Origins of Satan for a single source that expands on this -- Satan started out as a kind of Jewish oral tradition device. Like the Greek Chorus Satan's function was to teach the moral of the story. When the Jews were undergoing a schism that would produce the original Christianity, and brother turned against brother, the Jews needed something to explain why some of their family were falling away. Enter Satan, transformed from a metaphor or an inimical force. Christianity's Satan comes centuries later.

Just like their historical forbears, American believers like to blame bad things on the devil. But what if he’s just a convenient way to hide from the truth?

In America, much like God, Satan works in mysterious ways. Just how mysterious depends on who you talk to.

For instance, a good number of Christians became convinced that Satan made an appearance at last month’s Grammy Awards. While Christians detecting Satan’s presence at large music gatherings is hardly novel, the fact that Satan showed up right smack in the middle of a performance by Katy Perry and Juicy J. caused this particular sighting to be deemed more buzzworthy than most. Some evangelicals even speculated about whether or not Perry, while singing ‘Dark Horse,” had enacted an ancient satanic ritual, one that had actually summoned the Prince of Darkness to join her on the Grammy stage.

So, did Perry & Co. really usher in forces of demonic destruction? Nobody knows for certain. The presence of Satan is difficult to confirm. Besides, among most Satan-fearing Christians, things like confirmation and proof are overrated.

That said, not only did Perry’s alleged invite to Satan cause a gnashing of tweets, but the spectacle was demonic enough to send one […]

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