Satan: He's a Smooth Operator

I love scary movies. Well, I guess I should say I used to love scary movies. I still enjoy them, but it seems the movies they come out with nowadays have A) way too much graphic violence and sex or B) stupid, corny plots. It has been quite awhile since I've watched a good quality scary movie. Oh well.

However, there is one type of scary movie that scares the living crud out of me, and that is movies about Satan and demonic possession. After watching movies like that I practically sleep with the lights on with a rosary around my neck. Why do I freak out so much? Because evil like that actually exists. A man that kills you in your dreams (Freddy Krueger)... not so much.

Many times when we think of Satan we think of a very scary being. We think of a black-eyed demon, a gigantic monster with fire and a pitchfork, or a giant dragon. We think of death, decay, darkness and ugliness. We want to stay away from such unpleasantries. Because of all these horrid things it is easy for us to say we reject Satan and all his works.

However, that isn't always how Satan works. He knows that if he always portrays himself as scary and evil then it will be much harder to tempt us into sin. He disguises his ugliness into beauty- his evil into goodness.

That is one reason I enjoy the book The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The book contains letters written by a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, a demon-in-training. The letters contain advice on how to get Wormwood's "Patient" (an ordinary British man) to turn away from God and to enter into Satan's service.

Screwtape doesn't advise using the usual diabolical and wicked ways of tempting the Patient into evil. Instead he says, "...the safest path to hell is the gradual one." The way to do that is to be cunning, to confuse and corrupt.

A couple months ago my brother wrote an excellent post on how we must always be aware that the devil is among us and the slight, cunning ways he uses to tempt us. He tempts us by believing we have the right to make up our own truths, by putting doubts in our minds about the Truth God has revealed, and even by making us think that He, the Devil, doesn't exist and neither does Hell.

Satan also tempts us by turning what is beautiful into something ugly. It is hard to picture Satan being beautiful. But we have to remember that he was an angel, one of God's most glorious creations, before he turned wicked. There is a Bible passage in Ezekiel that is used to describe the evil King of Tyre, but is more commonly attributed to Satan:

"And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre: And say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You were in the pleasures of the paradise of God: every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, the topaz, and the jasper, the chrysolite, and the onyx, and the beryl, the sapphire, and the carbuncle, and the emerald: gold the work of your beauty: and your pipes were prepared in the day that you were created. You a cherub stretched out, and protecting, and I set you in the holy mountain of God, you have walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day of your creation, until iniquity was found in you." - Ezekiel 28: 11-15

Think about the good and beautiful things in life that Satan has warped. For example: sex. Sex is an awesome and holy thing. (If you just read the Bible and read some writings of the popes regarding sex, you will learn that Catholics love sex. Hard to believe, I know... but it's better to go straight to the source rather than lame-stream media or to people who don't know what they are talking about.) God made sex to be amazing. If having sex was like clipping one's toenails then His whole command of "Be fruitful and multiply" might not have panned out.

But look at how Satan using our Fallen Nature has warped the beautiful act of sex. Now having sex is more of a means of getting pleasure for oneself rather than giving your whole being to your beloved. Sex has ripped apart marriages and families because of extramarital affairs. Sex has ripped apart the self-worth of a woman when a man rapes her. Sex has also confused young men and women when they engage in sex at young ages with multiple partners. It shouldn't be like that.

Look at the good of food. We need food for survival. And God has given us delicious food so that we can enjoy it. But Satan whispers in our ear that we can become gluttons. Who cares if we become obese and start suffering from life-threatening diseases as long as we can eat whatever we want, how ever much we want, whenever we want.

Look at the good of money and material things. There is nothing wrong with money as long as we've come into it by working honestly and not stealing it. There is nothing wrong with having a bunch of money as long as we use it to help the poor as well and live in moderation. But the good of money is probably one of the easiest things Satan can tempt us in. Golly, I've been working so hard, I think I deserve to replace our old car, even though it still works perfectly fine. But the wife and I have been thinking about having another baby. But man... a new car would be so nice right now. Having a few extra bucks after paying the bills would be wonderful. I think having just a little bit of financial abundance would be more beneficial to us than bringing a new soul into the world. Finances and material things can sometimes cause a shift in priorities.

Money has caused greed, wars, murder. It has caused jealousy and malice. Food and gluttony has caused life-ending diseases and yet there are still people in this world dying of starvation. Sex can cause unspeakable emotional and physical damage. Just like the Devil may be beautiful on the outside, his inner being is twisted and corrupt. He does this to the good things in life. He can make the beautiful and good things of sex, money, food, etc. into twisted and dark aspects of our lives.

So yes, we need to be vigilant, like my brother writes about. We should use wisdom and prudence to avoid the dark and dangerous. We should also use that wisdom and prudence to really know and understand the good things in life and to keep them good instead of letting Satan tempt and befuddle us.

Most importantly of all, we should always rely on the goodness and Truth God has revealed to us. We should rely on the protection of His love and the protection of the angels and saints in heaven. It is His purpose that we are happy, loved and safe... and at peace.