(March 8, 2019 at 8:09 am)Der/die AtheistIn Wrote: So this man I know believes the devil existsl. I did say the word devil a few times and I have a plush devil, because of this the guy thinks I will get "negative energy". I once told him I don't believe in demons and he gesticulated a circle, said that God is in the center and the devil somewhere in that circle as well. Then I lied that I believe him so that he'll leave me alone.
The same guy said he doesn't believe in Hell. He specifically stated there is no Hell, after you die, God won't judge you, you're going to regret what you did wrong yourself.
What if someone doesn't regret their deeds? morality is subjective after all. There are evil people who don't regret hurting others. Are they gonna get away scot free? I do believe that some get scot free in real life (not in the afterlife, I don't believe in it), but I'm not claiming there is a great moral force.
I really don't get this guy. He claims the Earth is round and the people who wrote the Bible were wrong about it being flat, but God created men and evolution is wrong. He also doesn't believe that the atrocities made by God in the old Testament are literally real, but believes that there is a devil.
He already peeks and chooses what to believe, why believe in the Devil? It's not comforting. Why doesn't he just say the devil is a metaphor? Nobody else he knows is afraid of a plush devil, so why him?
Alright, I have happened upon such beliefs before. Not often, but once in a while.
My take on it is thus.
The proponent was likely raised some flavour of traditional christian. That gives the embedded hell/satan/punishment aspect.
Said proponent was then exposed to the appeal of new-age hippy jesus, which is much more appealing than all the fire and brimstone.
These are conflicting beliefs, so to resolve the internal conflict simply invent a "nice" version that includes angry bible god and lovable hippy jesus at the same time.
It is quite possibly a contender for the most extreme form of bible cherry picking.
Pick any of the nastier parts of the bible and they will tell you that that particular part is a metaphor. They never say what it is a metaphor for, exactly.
