I think it's a good question, Gary, even though both (God and Satan) are ideas that are imagined in many different ways by people who hold such superstitions.Gary Childress wrote: ↑Wed Oct 08, 2025 5:40 pm I mean, he drowns people, sets plagues upon them, tells them to commit genocide, pulls Abraham's leg about sacrificing his own son just to "test" him. The world is full of misery and strife, especially the area around the "sacred" city of Jerusalem. The "God" of the Bible punishes you and vanquishes you to Hell to burn with Satan and Satan tries to win your favor through tempting bribes but doesn't punish if you don't take them or don't worship him. Satan goes out of his way to try to win your favor. God judges and throws you in Hell if you don't please him.
None of that makes any sense to me. I wonder if the God of the Bible is actually Satan?
Women and children are also often abused by supposed 'men of God'. Such men will claim that their affiliation with God can redeem them from their affiliation with Satan, all while they claim that non-believers are condemned simply for not believing or participating in such a contrived belief system.
If someone claims to be aligned with 'God' while fighting against 'Satan', it appears (to me) that the constant threat of evil is a requirement of that belief/story and therefore it must be maintained alongside the belief in god. Both ideas are coming from the same place, and human beings are molding the ideas for their own purposes.