A query on Demons

[TrueChristian]

We all know what demons are. Fallen angels who refused to serve and love the Lord.

My question is, in traditional religions do they torture the damned souls in Hell?

And if they do so (with pitchforks, spears, ripping with claws etc.) are they doing God's work?

God might be somewhat angry with the sinners who disobey him and might be pleased that the demons treat the damned in the way they do.

The whole concept of demons (including their abilities to "possess" the living or haunt a house) doesn't always make sense to me.

The whole idea and hierarchy of Hell also seems oddly similar to Hades and his domain.

I personally like Hades and Tartarus better because at least people who go there don't do so for disbelieving in Zeus or the Olympians, or for enjoying sex too much .

Thoughts?

[Aoi Magi]

Actually they just didn't want to bow before man, nothing to do with loving god, and I guess as per scripture they'd be justified too considering the bible shows man is a flawed creation who disappointed god, so lucifer was right about man not being as perfect as god had hoped.

[Minimalist]

Demons are figments of primitive imaginations.


Just like gods.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

We all know what demons are. Fallen angels who refused to serve and love the Lord.

My question is, in traditional religions do they torture the damned souls in Hell?

And if they do so (with pitchforks, spears, ripping with claws etc.) are they doing God's work?

God might be somewhat angry with the sinners who disobey him and might be pleased that the demons treat the damned in the way they do.

The whole concept of demons (including their abilities to "possess" the living or haunt a house) doesn't always make sense to me.

The whole idea and hierarchy of Hell also seems oddly similar to Hades and his domain.

I personally like Hades and Tartarus better because at least people who go there don't do so for disbelieving in Zeus or the Olympians, or for enjoying sex too much .

Thoughts?

According to the biblical fairy tale the God character has a herd of evil angels who do his bidding in screwing over people.  Is there really a point in having a herd of demons who do the same thing?

[abaris]

We all know what demons are. Fallen angels who refused to serve and love the Lord.

My question is, in traditional religions do they torture the damned souls in Hell?

And if they do so (with pitchforks, spears, ripping with claws etc.) are they doing God's work?

See, there's the idiocy, right there, in these few sentences.

Why would the devil lick god's boots by torturing the so called fallen? They're natural allies to his cause and since he isn't god's jailer and not god's drinking buddy, why would he do that?

Even if the whole tale wasn't entirely absurd, it stops to make sense right there and then. No, no, no. This image of hell is a remnant of the much older underwolrd tales. Not least of all the one about Hel. Wonder where the term hell comes from, by the way?

[Aoi Magi]

We all know what demons are. Fallen angels who refused to serve and love the Lord.

My question is, in traditional religions do they torture the damned souls in Hell?

And if they do so (with pitchforks, spears, ripping with claws etc.) are they doing God's work?

See, there's the idiocy, right there, in these few sentences.

Why would the devil lick god's boots by torturing the so called fallen? They're natural allies to his cause and since he isn't god's jailer and not god's drinking buddy, why would he do that?

Even if the whole tale wasn't entirely absurd, it stops to make sense right there and then. No, no, no. This image of hell is a remnant of the much older underwolrd tales. Not least of all the one about Hel. Wonder where the term hell comes from, by the way?

Well the logic here is supposed to be that there they hated humans and thus were banished, so they still hate humans and will take revenge when humans enter their domain

[Edwardo Piet]

We all know what demons are. Fallen angels who refused to serve and love the Lord.

Essence and existence are separate buddy. Yes that's what they are, that's the essence. As for their existence, do they exist? No.

Same with the Lord, he's the supernatural creator of the universe, does he exist? No.

An extract from the talk where Daniel Dennett talks about that:

Here's another common dodge—not a dodge, a common response: "What God is, is a concept; it's a concept in people's minds; it's a concept that enriches their spirits and inspires them." If you believe this, you're definitely an atheist. God is not a concept; the concept of God is a concept. A cup of coffee is not a concept; the concept of a cup of coffee is a concept. Elementary philosophy.

I have a term for this: it's called a deepity. A friend of mine, when his teenage daughter many years ago—a nice smart alec girl—and dad was in the habit of uttering pronouncements at the dinner table (an MIT professor) and one day he issued forth one of these wise tidbits, and his daughter said, "Wow! Dad said a deepity." He told me about that and I thought the term was just so great that I would appropriate it.

So what's a deepity? A deepity is an apparently profound observation that is ambiguous. And I mean that quite literally. It has two readings. On one meaning, it's obviously false, but if it were true, it would be very important. And on the other, it's trivially true. And so when you hear it, you sort of see, "Oh, I think that's true!" It is. It's trivially true. Or at the same time, "Woa!" That's a deepity.

I want to give you one of my favorite examples of a deepity. When I teach this concept to my students. Are you ready? Everybody sitting down?

"Love is just a word."

Oh, wow! Love is just a word! Think about it. Whatever love is, it isn't a word. You can't find love in the dictionary. Put the quotation marks around it—we philosophers are sticklers about this; it's called a use-mention error—and you get "love" is just a word. That's true and it's trivially true. "Cheeseburger" is just a word. "Word" is just a word. So that's a deepity.

Now, the idea that God is a concept is another great deepity.

And here's the full talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...iVCxx-GkMg

[vorlon13]

I know elderly Methodist ladies get raped in Hell by demons with unusually large penises.  The greater part of the horror though is the fear they might enjoy it.

[brewer]

According to the biblical fairy tale the God character has a herd of evil angels who do his bidding in screwing over people.  Is there really a point in having a herd of demons who do the same thing?

bold mine

Is a bunch of angels/demons called a herd?

[paulpablo]

We all know what demons are. Fallen angels who refused to serve and love the Lord.

My question is, in traditional religions do they torture the damned souls in Hell?

And if they do so (with pitchforks, spears, ripping with claws etc.) are they doing God's work?

God might be somewhat angry with the sinners who disobey him and might be pleased that the demons treat the damned in the way they do.

The whole concept of demons (including their abilities to "possess" the living or haunt a house) doesn't always make sense to me.

The whole idea and hierarchy of Hell also seems oddly similar to Hades and his domain.

I personally like Hades and Tartarus better because at least people who go there don't do so for disbelieving in Zeus or the Olympians, or for enjoying sex too much .

Thoughts?

Some of the demons in doom also had plasma cannons and other cool shit, aswell as claws and teeth.