They tell you all you need to do is accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. But it’s not true. You also have to accept on faith all sorts of peripheral nonsense. Nonsense like demons. And the ever-present malevolent Force that will pressurise you into misbehaving and compromising your commitment to the Lord. This Force is ‘The Enemy’, a.k.a. Satan or the Devil, and leading Christians astray is its/his principal occupation. The Enemy and his minions, the demons, are everywhere! All over the internet for a start, mainly on Christian sites. While the Church of Lucifer has an online presence, it’s Christians who love the bad guys the most.
According to some, Satan and his demons are in charge of this reality (though it could be God who’s got the whole world in his hands.) When they’re not attacking true believers, demons are doing their damnedest to bring America to its knees, mainly through ‘The Homosexual Agenda‘™ and abortion rights.
Perhaps it’s possible to ignore this aspect of the faith and still be a Christian, but to do so is to disregard the significant presence the devil and his demons have in the New Testament. Jesus himself has a cosy chat with Satan during his time in the wilderness, or so Matthew 4.1-11 would have us believe. Throughout the synoptic gospels, Jesus speaks very much as if he believes Satan to be an actual being, not merely a metaphorical personification of evil (eg: Luke 11:14-26). He also exorcises a significant number of individuals possessed by demons.
Steve Hayes on Triablogue blithely suggests that ‘when friends and relatives brought people to Jesus to be exorcized, that reflects their diagnosis, not his. They think the individual is possessed – which doesn’t imply that Jesus always shared their suspicions.’ But of course it does; to imply he was God and therefore would have known better is to impose a perspective that had yet to develop when the synoptic gospels were written – that, and a modern sensibility onto a first-century conditioned mind. If Jesus didn’t regard those brought to him to be possessed by demons, he would have said so. He is quick enough to correct his disciples elsewhere when they ascribe the wrong reasons to the causes of illness (John 9.1-3). Inventing ways to excuse Jesus’ ignorance is to avoid what the text clearly indicates; Jesus believed in demons. When he diagnoses a disturbed mind himself he doesn’t hesitate to conclude they are involved; he even engages in conversation with them (Luke 8.30-35).
We know now, and have known for some time, that illness and mental conditions are not caused by demons. We know too that same-sex relationships are not Satanic. There are no supernatural forces trying to debase America. There are no supernatural forces, full stop. It follows that Jesus’ mission couldn’t have been to magically defeat the devil by dying on the cross (Hebrew 2.14); his supposed sacrifice couldn’t have been the beginning of the end of the devil’s reign (Romans 16.20). Neither can there be any of the spiritual warfare against ‘powers and principalities’ of the air that dimwitted Christians imagine themselves to be engaged in (Ephesians 6.12).
Christianity is nothing without its imagined adversaries. With them it is nothing more than a superstition, which its founders ignorantly subscribed to and worked hard to perpetuate. Christians are about the same business today.
As for me, I cannot believe in a ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ who was so primitive, so uneducated and so ignorant he regarded Satan and his demonic forces to be real.
rejectingjesus, 
First of all I am an atheist. So bear that in mind as I play the devil’s advocate here, to make ironic use of a figure of speech:
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I really would appreciate it if ‘anonymous’ commenters would use a name of some sort. As it is, it’s difficult to distinguish between them all. I even suspect, despite claims to the contrary, that some are actually Christians who sometimes comment under their own identity, posing as neutral or atheist observers. It’s possible too that they’re bots or AI constructions. I’m not interested in engaging with them if this is the case. I’m considering not posting any more ‘anonymous’ contributions. Please bear this in mind when hiding behind the safety blanket it affords.
Having said that, this ‘Anonymous’ commenter is wrong when he/she writes ‘Jesus was never said to die to defeat Satan per se.’ Oh no? How about:
• Colossians 2:15 (ESV): “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
• Hebrews 2:14 (NKJV): “…that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
• 1 John 3:8 (NKJV): “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
• Genesis 3:15 (NIV): The prophecy that the “offspring” (Jesus) would crush the head of the serpent.
• Revelation 12:11 (ESV): “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”
Satan and his minions are foundational in Christian doctrine. I know this is an embarrassment to modern believers who like to play down the role of demons and the devil in the bible (‘metaphorical’; ‘the language of the time’ etc.) These malignant supernatural agents are nonetheless prominent throughout ‘God’s Word’.
As for the possibility that demons might be responsible for ‘DNA recombining’ that leads to wicked behaviour: well, it’s possible I suppose, but extremely improbable. It’s just as possible that benign but extremely inept aliens are responsible for malign genetic alterations. Possible but as highly improbable. When a proposition is as improbable as these two (demonic or alien interference) we can safely say conclude they are absolute bunk.
Bottom line? There is no evidence whatsoever that demons and devils exist, just as the post says.
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