I’m writing a book tentatively titled “They Ain’t Us—How to Heal a Divided and Polarized America Through a Revolution of Values.” Today’s post is an excerpt from a draft of a chapter from that book:
In the 1960s, a former San Francisco bellhop turned comedian named Clerow Wilson produced a variety television program called the “Flip Wilson Show.” Clerow, known by his stage name, Flip Wilson, played a character named Geraldine. In one skit, a minister shares how much pressure women are under from the Devil. The minister tells Flip, “You think you’ve got problems? Every day, I’ve got to wage a constant war with the Devil."
The minister goes on to tell Flip how the other day, his wife came home from an exclusive shop that sold dresses that cost over one thousand dollars. And the character playing the minister says to his wife, “Another dress? Did you buy another dress? This is the third dress you bought this week.”
The wife replies, “The Devil made me do it! I didn’t want to, but the Devil kept following me. I was going down the street, and the Devil kept following me and telling me how good I would look in that dress. And I told the Devil I won't buy any more dresses. I’m not even going to look at it. But you know what, the Devil made me buy it anyway!”
Often the phrase, “The Devil made me do it," is said tongue in cheek to take someone off the hook for things they did they should not have done.
The Devil Problem
The Devil is not an actual entity. Metaphysically, Satan or the Devil represents crazy thoughts. However, in Christianity, this supernatural being played an essential role in its history.
According to Christianity’s biblical and historical roots, Satan started as a member of God’s divine team, and its role was to test humanity’s loyalty to God. The Story of Job is the most prominent illustration of Satan’s responsibility.
In Judeo–Christian history, Satan’s job transformed into something more sinister - God’s archenemy and the embodiment of evil itself. In this new capacity, this supernatural being was hell-bent on stopping God’s mission of “peace on earth, goodwill toward all," as carried out by his emissary - Jesus.
The idea of Satan has remained a mythological idea that some people believe in but, more importantly, it gives folks comfort by explaining why bad things happen in life and the world. But somewhere along the way, the Devil concept took a more pernicious turn - it became a symbol for “the other” or someone or group of people who were categorized, demonized, and marginalized. When a person or group of people are characterized as “The Other” by those in power, it is easy to dehumanize, discriminate against, or outright persecute the so-called “Other.”
Such dehumanization is particularly acute during times of upheaval and societal change, whether it was the Crusades or the formation of the Inquisition, in which The Church punished or tortured people considered to be heretics.
The New Devil created a line in the sand that separated the good people from the bad, and targeted groups of people perceived as a threat to the status quo. Eventually, the New Devil was not only part of the religious empire but wove into the fabric of the secular world and was used to wield power, instill fear, and practice exclusion when it came to “The Other.”
The rise of Demonization was not only part of Judeo-Christian literature; it grew into a practice that has plagued our history for over two thousand years. It became a vital and horrifying component of Christianity and society.
A person does not have to have a religious belief for the Devil concept to affect them. The more significant challenge is that the story has seeped into the collective belief system. Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung describes this more considerable challenge as the “cultural unconscious," which affects how we see ourselves and each other and live life today.
The collective unconscious belief has become a built-in concept in perceiving our opponents. It’s unnecessary to believe the mythology of a devil, but in the world in which we live, the “us vs. them” inherent in the devil framework is in us; it is an invisible perception lurking in the background.
The cultural unconscious belief system that Jung spoke of is at the heart of the division we witness in our country and world. If we hope to transcend the division and polarization we see today, we must bring this unconscious belief system out of the shadows into the light. Only then will humanity move from division to the realization of our oneness with each other and fulfill our potential as expressions of the divine.
In “They Ain’t Us,” I aim to offer spiritual solutions that will help us achieve our potential.
Peace and Blessings,
James