Your Take on the Devil

Courtesy of MythandHope.blogspot.com

This is Jennifer and here is my personal experience and its relation to the Devil as perceived in Norman O. Brown’s Life Against Death…

This past Friday I happened to be in a bar popular among homosexual men in New York City. As I was sitting there watching others harmlessly and happily indulge in their desires, I recalled a conversation which I recently had with a close family member of mine. Well, it was not so much a conversation as a speech I was compelled to listen to. During this speech, she adamantly compared giving into homosexual desires to worshipping the devil. In her opinion, homosexuality or any other sexual identity outside of heterosexuality was not sinful or “devilish” until it was acted on. At that point, it then became giving in to the Devil’s temptations. Then, once acting on these desires, she claimed, “One would be in the wrong.”

I thought this to be quite an infuriating, yet interesting take on the subject. I do believe it makes for a thought-provoking comparison of individual perceptions of the Devil.  Based on her Catholic background, her idea of the Devil is that he continuously tempts humans by introducing sinful, impure thoughts to them. He can be combated by rejecting these thoughts, forcing them out of your conscious mind, and asking for the help of God, even if that means, in this case, remaining celibate for the rest of your life. He exists in isolated thoughts, behaviors, and places of the world. He exists where God is not present.  

However, Norman O. Brown in Life Against Death suggests that the world is, in fact, ruled by the Devil. He sees Luther’s perception of the Devil as the Devil being the master of this world and nothing man can do will help save him. Luther identifies the Devil as a “trickster” and “the father of lies, of deceit, of trickery, a robber and thief” (p. 220). According to Brown, Luther also believes, “Man has no free will to determine his allegiance [to either Christ or the Devil]” (p. 214). This last idea seems to be in clear opposition to the views expressed by the words of my family member.

The perception of the Devil in the speech I received suggests that man willingly and thoughtfully follows the way of the Devil. However, Luther suggests exactly the opposite; men are not given a choice in the matter. Though his views are a bit ambivalent at times, he seems to be implying that our lot in life is determined by the ongoing battle between God and the Devil and we, as humans, do not have the power to choose one over the other. This is a topic that I think, upon further discussion, could lead to a profoundly intriguing comparison.