Believe it or not

There is no neutral ground in the Universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter claimed by Satan

- C.S.Lewis

Do you believe in God? If yes, then please continue reading. If you don't then I am not sure how much of this is relevant but you can continue reading for academic purposes.

Do you believe in the Devil/Satan? I am guessing that a lot of people would answer this question as 'no'. I would like to argue here about the existence of a Devil.

First, let me try and provide a perspective about this philosophical discussion. As expected it is a movie which prompted me to raise this question. Sometime back a friend of mine had suggested a movie called 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose'. He told me that it's not the usual cliched horror movie. Recently I gathered the courage to watch this horror movie alone in my apartment.

The premise of the movie is that a priest is being tried for causing the death of a possessed girl by performing an exorcism. This girl starts having visions and is diagnosed with epilepsy. When the medicines don't help, her parents are convinced that she is possessed. They ask the local priest to perform an exorcism. One fine day the girl refuses exorcisms and stops taking her medicines. Naturally, she dies very soon, thereafter. The priest is charged with criminal negligence.

I found one particular scene in the movie particularly disturbing but worth mentioning. Although it may not add to the original purpose of the post but I think that was the one scene I will remember forever. When the priest is performing the exorcism, he asks the demon to name itself. Instead of speaking out the name she starts saying, "1,2,3,4,5,6 take your pick". Then she starts speaking 6 names and it dawns upon the viewer that there is not one but six demons inside her. The last name she says is that of Lucifer. Even the thought of Lucifer possessing one is scary to me!

After watching this movie I had a long discussion about the movie with the friend who had recommended it to me. I asked him what was it that he liked about the movie and this is what he said:

"The movie is not judgmental. It does not take a stand whether the "ghosts" exist or not it just tells two different points of views which are equally strong and leaves it to the audience. A very thought provoking movie "

He continued:

"Also, I have always believed that there is nothing absolute truth in life and this movie brings this thing to the fore. Second, I never believed in ghosts and supernatural things but this movie gave me a different tangent to think on. There are things which you might not have experienced till date but might exist around you."

Coming back to the discussion at hand. My argument in favour of the devil's existence is summarised in the lines I wrote to my friend:

"I really don't know why the world is out there to prove that there is no such thing as the devil...even the bible says that there is Satan...our holy books...The Bhagvad Gita gives instances of evil...from a more rational point of view...the world is bipolar...there always has to be two sides to everything...so if there is God then there must be a devil..."

What do you say?

P.S. - I started writing this post yesterday and it became a difficult night for me...hope it's not the same today...