Is Satan really evil?
Yes, he is.
Side Score: 9
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No, he isn't.
Side Score: 13
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He is evil. And if you can stomach anything that kills your confirmation bias, here it is... if Atheists and liberals have any spine... https://www.facebook.com/ Side: Yes, he is.
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It depends on which line of argument you're using. If you're using the Bible as an authority then no. You can view Satan as underdog that lost and is not truly evil, sorta like how those who won wrote the history books, but even this logic really doesn't follow. The argument that God is the evil one usually still goes based on a system of right and wrong, and merely places God as the evil one instead of Satan. However the argument used (God killed millions of people) to prove this misunderstands the context of the proof texts. If you start to look at the context of the events, it starts to make a little bit more sense. In Genesis when God was talking with Abraham, God promised the land to Abraham (Genesis 15:18) but couldn’t give it to him yet because the iniquity of the current occupants “wasn’t full” (Genesis 15:16). God wasn’t just going to kick out a nation because his people were special. In fact, God specifically said the Hebrews weren’t special (Deuteronomy 7:7). At all. God was using the Hebrews as a form of judgement, just as God would use other nations to judge Israel. But just how bad were these people, really? Well in the book of Judges it shows us a glimpse of what these people were like. In Judges chapter 19, it tells the story of a man that walked into a town of Benjamites. An old man sees the stranger and quickly tells him to get out of the street. Some time later, the men of the street surround the house and demand that the old man release the stranger. Fearing for his life, the old man shoves his concubine out the door instead. The men rape her continously until she collapses and dies in the morning. This is the kind of behavior that was taking place in the Promised Land before the Hebrews claimed the land. The Benjamites did what they did because they were influenced by the previous inhabitants, who were the group of people that God told the Hebrews to wipe out. This rape wasn’t an isolated incident in the surrounding area, this was a regular occurrence that was a cultural norm that took place before the Israelites conquered the land, and the Benjamites were judged just as the previous inhabitants were. This incident also gives us some incite into how people were when God decided to flood the whole Earth. People weren’t just a little mean or a little selfish, the entire world was filled with murder, rape, and absolute selfishness and hate. Or as the Bible puts it “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God wasn’t being unjust, bloodthirsty, or homicidal. God let mankind continue until God had no choice but to judge the people except for a select few who wanted to follow Him. Even God’s commandments of violence were out of justice and love. Side: Yes, he is.
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Satan is a shy choir boy compared to the god of the bible ; God murders and maims 2 and a half million of his creations ( low estimate ) according to the bible , Satan kills 10 as in Jobs family and only because god goaded him into it ... so why is god the good guy ? Side: No, he isn't.
Couldn't have put it better myself. I will, however add that Satan did tempt Adam and Eve, but what chance did they have being put their by God with a delicious tree they could not eat from? Satan was known as the "Great Deceiver" and God thought two brand new humans who didn't know any better wouldn't fall? It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they weren't supposed to eat from. Think about that. How can I expect my child to do good things if she doesn't know the difference between good and evil? Apparently God didn't think that was an important detail. Side: No, he isn't.
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How can I expect my child to do good things if she doesn't know the difference between good and evil? That's a good question. Interestingly Eve knew what seemed good to her. Eve seems capable of discerning good food from bad food. I'd imagine they understood the concept of good and bad and could apply it on a much greater scale. I could be wrong of course. Side: No, he isn't.
More than 55 percent of all terrorist attacks have taken place in five countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nigeria), and 74 percent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks took place in five countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria). In several countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, Syria, and Turkey, terrorist attacks and total deaths increased in 2015. What about the God of Islam and the Radical Islamist that murder and maim in the name of Islam. Side: Yes, he is.
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You must have missed his followers cooking babies alive in the Old Testament. And I've dismantled all of the bs Atheist apologetics on Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Example? The AA likes to quote mine to show that "God condones rape", but they never say that three verses earlier the death sentence was imposed on rapists. The next one AA like to throw out there in desperation is God having the followers of Baal slaughtered. Of course they don't tell you that the Baal worshippers cut themselves with knives, drank the blood, and sacrificed their children to the devil by cooking them alive. Side: Yes, he is.
If we think about it, Satan was cast down because he stood up to God. God had absolute authority which Satan challenged. He's a symbol of rebellion more than he is one of evil. Even if we look at this from a religious point of view, what was his great sin? Pride. Pride and free will. I always thought free will was something God encouraged. Side: No, he isn't.
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