Explaining The Devil

I don’t have a very in depth knowledge of the devil. Growing up, nobody really talked about the devil and so much of what I know comes from popular culture and the media. Horror movies have taught me to really fear Satan. The idea of a fallen angel trying to posses me, harm me, or kill me, is terrifying and keeps me up at night. The devil is so terrifying because people know little about him. Nobody even knows if he exists. It is this fear of the unknown that makes the devil so scary, fascinating, and profitable for the media.

I’m unsure whether I believe a devil like creature, spirit, or entity exists. As a very logical person I’d like to think he does not, but unexplainable events people recount suddenly make the idea seem plausible. The only interaction I’ve ever had with the devil turned out to be nothing more than my imagination. While asleep one night I experienced sleep paralysis, a condition where one’s eyes are open, but the body is still asleep. As a result, I dreamt with my eyes open, while I was unable to move my limbs. I saw a shadowy figure at the end of my bed and felt a weight on my chest, making it hard to breathe. I was unbelievably scared because I had no idea what was happening. For the moment, I truly thought the devil, or at least a demon was in my room. It was only upon waking and researching my experience that I found a logical explanation for what I experienced.

The church, movies, television shows, and other forms of media all try to explain and even scare people about the devil. People easily buy into the concept of him because he’s an unknown and people fear what they don’t know. However, where the devil and the media are involved there is a lot of dramatization, and exaggeration at work. I think most people’s so called encounters with an evil spirit can be explained in some other more logical way.