At the moment, we are concerned – or at least the Republicans are concerned – with the outcome of the presidential nominating process.  The early leaders in the Republican primary contest have largely dropped out, leaving only four people.  There is the favorite, Mitt Romney.  He is being challenged closely by Rick Santorum.  Then we have the perennial candidates like Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.  We would all like to think that we are living in enlightened times.   But if you listen to the blathering of Rick Santorum, there is doubt.
From what I have gathered, Rick Santorum has warned us that, “Satan has us squarely in his cross-hairs.”  There have been several occasions on which Santorum has made this remark.  I suppose that under any Santorum administration, we should all forego contraceptive devices and other worldly pleasures.
But I am not so much worried about the current campaign.  What I am worried about is the idea that Satan still lives.  More than anything else, Rick Santorum is a Catholic.  We would have expected these remarks to come from some back-woods Baptist who believes that Satan is just around the corner or in every pool hall in the United States.
Are we left to believe that Satan has been granted eternal life?  May I ask, does anyone fear to meet Satan somewhere along the road?  As you can see, I had long since dismissed the idea of a Satanic preacher greeting us in the so-called afterlife.
For a Presidential aspirant to contend that Satan is a real creature is nothing less than mind boggling.  Here is a man who, I believe, has graduated from law school.  For him to contend that Satan has us in his cross-hairs is a bit more than this mind can assimilate.
All of the old questions arise as to whether Satan is too old to stoke his “fiery furnaces.”  And again the question arises as to how Satan lives when all of the other Biblical characters seem to have passed on.  The Republican primaries are not noted for their intellectual achievements.   But here we have a former Senator with a law degree contending that Satan has all of us in his cross-hairs.  For some reason, Santorum says that the residents of the United States have been singled out.
May I make a suggestion?  I would suggest that the idea that Satan has us in his cross-hairs would have an opposite effect.  I suspect that it will increase the incidence of non-belief more than religiosity.  For us at this late date to live our daily lives in fear of a Satanic preacher is more than the normal mind can comprehend.
So I would suggest that in the Republican primaries, the end result might be a great increase in the belief in non-belief.  I would have no objection to this outcome, but I am sure that it is not what Santorum has in mind.  In the unlikely event that Santorum becomes our next President, please head for the hills before Satan grabs you in his fatal embrace.
E. E. CARR
March 9, 2012
Essay 640
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I was under the impression that all angels are immortal, an Satan is a fallen angel, so nominally he should be immortal too.
My question is why he is still portrayed as some sort of adversary to God, who is pretty much by any definition omnipotent. Omnipotent people shouldn’t have enemies or adversaries because they can just make any enemies they have disappear. So either God is not omnipotent, that is not strong enough to rid himself of satan, or God is content with Satan exactly the way he is (because God would have made him be something different, otherwise). The former one seems conceptually impossible but the latter makes sense if you think about it — Satan punishes those who commit evils. Which means he’s doing exactly what he should be doing, and God is a-ok with that.
So why, then, are Christians so mad with the guy?