Evil, Atheism, and the Existence of Devils

In the articles so far written about this subject on various sites I've read lately, "arguing the existence of the devil", the level of ignorance of the writers is so painfully apparent it is embarrassing to the rest of us.

Therefore, let us get a few things understood from the outset about Christianity, evil, and the possibility that there is such a thing as a devil:

(1) Christianity is NOT the "only" religion. ITI Traditionalism, is both a spiritual and a religious way; there are many varieties because there are many ITI cultures; there is not and never has been "an Indian culture" on this Turtle Island. Shinto, Bhuddism, Islam, Wicca, and Masonry are all spiritual ways having religious protocols, and name only a few of the many religious ways found among humans here on the earth.

(2) Christianity is NOT the "only valid" religion. To repeat, ITI Traditionalism, Shinto, Bhuddism, Islam, Wicca,and Masonry are all spiritual ways having religious protocols, and name only a few of the many religious ways found among humans here on the earth.

(3) Christianity is NOT the "first" or "first valid" religion. ITI Traditionalism has existed far longer than Christianity, and there are many other spiritual and religious ways that have, as well.

(4) Anyone who does not subscribe to Christianity is NOT "automatically" an atheist. This perspective is so ridiculous it doesn't deserve the dignity of further discussion. It shrieks of the ignorance of anyone who claims that all non-Christians are automatically atheists, though. Such people should do a long, intensive meditation on the old teaching, "it is better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you might be a fool, than to open it and remove any doubt". 'Hoof IN mouth' disease is another name for it, to speak tongue-in-cheek.

(5) Christianity is NOT "the number one" religion - anywhere. Even "if" a majority of people in any locale claimed to believe in the Christian way, that does NOT mean they actually follow its precepts. The behavior of far too many people who claim to be "good Christians" proves that.. The behavior of those who claim to 'follow' the Christian way does so even more.

(6) Simply because a person does not subscribe to Christianity does NOT mean they don't believe in the existence of evil. There are more devout people among nearly every spiritual way in the world than there are among so-called Christians. I, for one, much prefer quality to quantity, any time.

Now to the question of whether or not there is such a being as a devil. We must first answer whether or not such a being has a form, and if it has, does it have more than one form?

Since humans are visual creatures, whether evil ever has a form of its own or not is irrelevant. What is likely is that evil takes any of a variety of forms so that humans can relate to it. Mengele, Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer... all come to mind as candidates for evil taking a form so that humans can relate to it. Since the human being does not exist that can frighten me so far as my considerable experience has shown, then evil for me takes some other form(s). For me, human over-population is absolutely evil, and so is its nightmare progeny, global warming. I am the woman who Dances The Four Winds, which is a prayer to heal the sacred hoop of the world, so it is easy to see how I would see evil through this. For you, it may be otherwise.

Since evil is a reality, and it takes many forms, and evil definitely has strong effects throughout the life of every entity on the earth and has throughout time, then it may be said that at times, evil inhabits some physical entity and that becomes "a devil".

In the Traditional Way of my People, the Lakota, there is no such thing as "a devil", but there definitely are evil spirits. Similarly, there is no "hell"; there is only life here on the earth, which is definitely a place of suffering - often, considerable suffering.

The assaults on all ITI Traditional ways and cultures by so-called "missionaries" of the Christian way are definitely evil. Forced adoption of ITI children to non-ITI people, is definitely evil. Anything that makes an effort to destroy our Traditional spiritual and cultural ways and fabric is evil. Fortunately, we now have the Indian Child Welfare Act to prevent most such non-Indn adoptions, and we ITI have been becoming stronger and stronger in our efforts to not only stop the actions of "missionaries", but to reverse them.

Is there only one way to define evil? Probably. Anything that causes personal or cultural suffering is evil, no matter how 'well-intended' it is said to be. Evil comes into everyone's life because everyone at some time or other invites it in or doesn't do what they must to prevent evil's entry. Is that the work on one entity? No. Just as there are 404 Good Spirits, so there are many nasty ones. It is about balance, and the exact number doesn't matter.