"Satan" Lives. Now What?
Why write about Satan in the 21st Century? Why not? Taken as a powerful allegory, the notion of a conscious, intelligent malevolent, “Satanic” influence in human affairs is far closer to the mark than, say, a therapeutic medical model for which “counseling”, “dissuasion” and “an appeal to our better nature” are the answers to all human perfidy.
This piece is a revision and compilation of a number of thoughts and observations that were generated by my accidental presence in and among those New Yorkers and tourists who were in Manhattan close to Ground Zero on 9-11-01. Among the two most important insights: (a) I was in the presence of actual evil on a large enough scale to pose a threat to civilization itself (b) All of the people around me, everyone in that cranky, wonderful, vital mix of humanity that makes up New York, all of these people - religious, anti-religious, right, left, center, hip, square, sinful and virtuous - were just different versions of the good. And the lessons about evil itself were equally valuable: (1) Evil is real. (2) It must be defined very narrowly. (3) When it reaches a certain scale, it must be taken very seriously indeed.
