I feel like many Christians in America are completely disconnected from actual values espoused by Jesus in the Bible. Republican (many of the Christians) policy is diametrically opposed to Matthew 25:31. No one quotes John 13:34 because they rather quote Old Testament BS about what’s an abomination. Why not focus on the love for others, including enemies? Why not focus on helping the poor, the sick, the homeless? Why not help the immigrant? The Bible specifically calls this out as a marker of getting into heaven.

Most of these people don’t even read the book. They like the sense of community at a church, but it feels like it’s formed into a total in:out group mentality. We can’t be a Christian nation as long as there are poor & people struggling.

Then the Utah governor says something like, “We can’t have people camping wherever they want.” my emphasis. Bud, they don’t WANT to be homeless. The lack of empathy is so apparent.

You mean the god that prioritizes fealty and "love" for him alone over virtue, righteousness and good works? One who will give entrance to heaven to a life long sadistic, violent, and self-centered man who repents in his death bed, but will eternally condemn a man who has fed and clothed millions, who saved lives, who reformed bigots and criminals but questioned the existence of God or worshipped another. Compared to Satan, an angel that wished to overthrow this selfish god. Who values knowledge and choice in humanity. Who rewards ambition and creative joy. Who is stuck in hell with the rest of those condemned by the Almighty. I mean, is really no wonder many Christians are how they are.

If you haven't, read Horns by Joe Hill (skip the movie, it's not the same). It plays a lot with this dynamic. The protagonist isn't a hero, isn't "the good guy", but has a righteous cause and when God fails him, the Devil steps up.

My interpretation of Book of Job is God and Satan are in a toxic relationship where they egg each other on to fuck with people so you shouldn't trust either of them.

I mean, Lucifer is an angel who questioned the system. We know that statistically, there is a chance he is right and everyone else is wrong. Based on my observations of humanity, the chance of the minority being right is higher.

Much like how the president is lying about Chicago and Portland being crime filled dens of sin to keep people from finding out how cool of a city they are.

Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason

When we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon, than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my own part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest every thing that is cruel.

7. Examination of the Old Testament

I got really stoned one time as teenager and thought I had come to the very real and imminent discovery that Christianity is and was always the work of deep evil to silence and quell all other true religions. The crusades, the burning of the library at Alexandria, Pope John Paul III sitting on his throne of pure gold, It all made perfect sense. Don’t question it, just have faith.

I more or less fell headlong into atheism of a sort shortly thereafter, so part of me must really believe that on some level I guess?

Satan was the good guy.

Look into Gnosticism. Eventually what got me interested in Luciferianism.

Heinlein wrote about this very topic in "Job: A Comedy of Justice".

I hear that. Catholic school kid here.

Lucifer ain't that bad on my book tbh.

It's funny cause... when you're a small kid it's very common to want to be a good boy/girl/other. Many of us, at an early age, wanted the approval and validation from those that knew and understood how things worked (in our eyes), but most importantly, had power over us. Lots of us wanted to be seen as good by them. You know, like lots of people (the ones that actually try) want to be seen as good by god.

Lucifer is a symbolic representation of.. well.. whatever it is one associates to them. However, most people associate the satanic impulse to that of individuation, of blazing our own trails and rejecting the established (maybe divine?) order. You know, like teenagers. Teenagers basically want to understand how much of what they were told and warned of was not true and how much power they have to change the things they were told could not be changed.

When many of us become adults, we realize that the people telling us how things worked when we were small children were pretty clueless, and many of the things they taught us were mistaken, but it doesn't matter if they were or they weren't. What matters is some of those people looked after or cared about us and did the best they could with the hand they got dealt. And you know... passing that down is a nice thing. No one's gonna send you to hell if you don't, ofc. You'll just feel better if you do.

And even if they go completely against everything we tried to convey at some point, that's just how people learn and grow (or transcend what was previously thought possible) so it's all part of the game.

Oh and yeah, Christians can be really shitty. Satanists can be shitty. The church can be shitty. Everyone and everything can feel really shitty at times. You know what isn't shitty though? When you make things better for other people. idk about you but it makes me feel good.

And about lucifer? Following the image of him or any other representation of what we aspire to have or become is pretty much the same as following any other aspiration. Like... whatever a deity represents to you or even rational stuff like love of knowledge. If you dedicate yourself to its pursuit and worship it through your actions more than anything else, you will see it everywhere and it will become the most important thing... until it fails you in a time of deep existential crisis and then you'll look for the next thing.

That's just how it goes. Now please excuse me while I go to keep dedicating my worldly existence to the big Great Pudu in the Sky.

Have a good one. :)

You might be interested in Dr. Ammon Hillman, his doctorate is in classical philology and he has a masters in immunology as well, he's been reading and translating Ancient Greek for 35 years, including a lot of neglected medical texts. He asserts that both the Old and New testaments of the Bible were originally written in Greek, within a couple hundred years of each other. He has a lot of praise for Satan and the figure's apparent origins in Greek culture (Diana Lucifera and other mentions), and talks about Satan predating both Judaism and Christianity.

Hes also got plenty of scorn for Jesus, who according to his seemingly rigorous translation of the Greek bible was on a lot of drugs throughout his life and during his death, and was sexually exploiting and trafficking minors (the Apostles apparently ranged in age from 10-19)

He did some decent interviews on the Danny Jones show and on Hamilton Morris's podcast, and Ammon hosts a live stream a couple times a week at Lady Babylon on youtube. The name of his channel comes from Medea, a "sorceress" from Scythia who became queen of Babylon at one point. She was Hecate's daughter and sister to Circe from the Odyssey, and apparently was the first named person in history referred to as a "Christ", a term that he has showed at length refers to the use of drugs in antiquity. We get the word "medicine" from Medea.

Pretty outlandish if you're not familiar with him but despite his sometimes abrasive and eccentric presentation style I feel like the picture he paints of the ancient Greek world during the few centuries around the time of Jesus makes a lot of sense, and I appreciate that his channel is non-monetized and he doesnt accept donations for what he does sharing what he's found in half a lifetime of studying Greek source texts.

I will choose the path that's clear.

I like the approach of - there is no tue good or evil, but acts of nature. Life feeds on life.

Have you ever read Paradise Lost?

“some”?