Satan is a Metaphor for Our Lower Selves

Baha'is believe that "Satan" is a scriptural metaphor intended to symbolize the lower aspects of human nature. Human beings hold within themselves two opposing tendencies: on one hand, a longing for such things as transcendence, love, justice and service; and on the other, a pull toward selfishness, greed, aggression and the like. Our lives are a series of challenges that draw us toward one or the other aspect of our being. A life well lived is one in which our "higher" nature finds fulfillment. To achieve this is to find true happiness.

We are all a mixture of "heavenly" and "satanic" impulses. To spend our entire lives struggling to become better human beings is the essence of the human condition. Even if we never arrive at absolute perfection, we have the potential to become truly noble and to do great good, if we make this choice and commit ourselves to it.

Evil does exist, but I don't believe that it is a force exerted by an infernal being. The evils that we see in the world and in our own lives are the result of failure to live up to the higher aspect of our nature.

The struggle against the inner "satan" has social as well as personal dimensions. The process of globalization now well under way, for example, has been anything but smooth. Wherever we see individuals or societies placing the interests of any one class, race, religion or nation above the interests of all humanity, we see that the result is suffering, distress and failure. The challenges we face, such as the world financial crisis and the threat of climate change, demand a perspective that recognizes humanity as an organic whole, where the component parts are best served through advancing the interests of all. In this era, the "satanic" could be defined as any urge to seek the welfare of part of humanity at the expense of the rest, or to identify ourselves in any way that would lessen the common humanity of all the peoples of the planet.

When we battle against "satan" we are struggling to better ourselves and to correct the wrongs that exist in society.

By Kenneth E. Bowers | March 25, 2009; 8:40 AM ET Save & Share:
Previous: The Divine and Satanic in All of Us | Next: Like God, Satan is Everywhere

Comments

Please report offensive comments below.

This guy "gets it." In Freudian psychology, there is the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id represents all of our primal urges - fight, flee, feed, or er... reproduce. The id is focused on the individual's needs and ignores everything else. Think Veruca Salt in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". She wanted it all, and wanted it now. The superego is the part of our psychology that we would call our "conscience". If God is represented by our conscience or superego, what does that make the id? That dark, shadow self that we hide for fear that it will break free and overwhelm us. We personify it and call it the Devil, and say that we are "possessed by demons" if we step outside the boundaries laid by the superego.

And sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Posted by: Athena4 | March 31, 2009 4:27 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Hi, Mr. B'a'hai guy.

Nice sentiments, but not the 'Satan' all this messy stuff is actually talking about.

Welcome here, though.

Fact is, some people like their 'metaphors' a little to 'real' on the output end. So they may not take this as intended.

Still, welcome to our humble theological battle royal. It gets... pretty stupid here.

BUt if I can speak for certain of me and mine, we've always appreciated the gentleness and neighborliness of you and yours.

But the way the most of em speak here, there was an imp in every breadbox, if the geriatric Bolsheviks left any room. :) ;)

Posted by: Paganplace | March 28, 2009 8:12 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Human beings are a product of group selection, a process that is responsible for our most altruistic and base desires and actions. Both are a manifestations of the same process that produced a creature with consciousness and the incumbent choice for good or evil.

Kenneth E. Bowers

Posts By Category

Posts By Date

Satan is a Metaphor for Our Lower Selves

Comments