Speaking of the Devil
Few topics are as misunderstood in human life as the devil, the entire idea of good and evil and what they mean for mankind. Nevertheless, it’s of the utmost importance for humans to grasp these vital topics and more importantly to properly apply them to their everyday lives. Correctionism is very much concerned with the foregoing topics but the problem is that the vast majority of mankind has been thoroughly misinformed about them. In Correctionism, the most dangerous devil isn’t the supernatural one but those that walk around in human form. When it comes to this subject, few have said it better than William Shakespeare in his work the Tempest (1623), and I quote: “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
Correctionism teaches that what men often refer to as the devil is actually the personification of man’s built in punishment mechanism called evil, which also forms the opposing side of man’s own nature. In other words, when mortal man was created, he was endowed by God with immense capabilities, but he was also shouldered with great responsibilities as well. However, God didn’t leave it up to man to use his capabilities correctly here on earth; so God eternally pitted mankind against its own evil and ignorance as a species; so the devil is merely the personification of the combined forces of man’s evil and ignorance. This not only makes man his own worst enemy but it also ensures that if men fail to do what’s right in their cultures or societies, the devil will inflict as much pain and suffering upon mankind as possible. Therefore, far from being highly favored by God, mankind is strictly policed by the devil on earth. Whenever men fail in their most vital responsibilities such as defending their cultures or societies against takeover by evil and ignorance, the devil will take full advantage and mankind will suffer in a world ruled by evil and ignorance on earth. This is the high price men must pay for the possession of such immense capabilities as a species; so mankind actually has very little margin for error in this world. Unfortunately, mankind became grossly ignorant and incompetent due primarily to the rise of international imperialism and the wholesale destruction of local cultures, which eventually made it possible for the devil to takeover this world. Humanity has yet to recover from this monumental catastrophe.
In Correctionism, good and evil aren’t just religious topics but important structural elements of human life. Therefore, man must be wise and good on earth not because of God or even religion but because this is the only way for humans to have a decent earthly life. Verily, human life on earth is no joke but men will never know this if they continue to limit themselves to orthodox, mainstream religious and secular beliefs. Such beliefs are actually part of the problem rather than the solution because whenever the devil takes over, he’s always represented by the mainstream. Among man’s vital responsibilities is defending his cultures or societies from being taken over by evil and ignorance. The devil maintains his iron grip on the destiny of the human species, largely because mankind continues to give lip service rather than actually holding evil and ignorance at bay. This is very telling because in Correctionism we learn that evil can only rule in those societies, ancient or modern, where the people are truly ignorant. In other words, if the devil is ruling man’s world whether in ancient times or today, it means that the people living during these periods are truly ignorant and have things completely wrong. Furthermore, among the worst outcomes for a human society is to be taken over by evil and ignorance. Thus, the devil has literally had a free hand here on earth for thousands of years up to the present day, while the earth has literally been converted into a massive crime scene.
Why has this happened? It happened because mankind has been largely deceived and manipulated into indulging in two very bad habits: worshiping human inventions or creations like religion and technology thereby making them more important than humanity itself and living in influential or cherished religious or secular mythologies rather than in reality. Living in mythology of any kind, renders the vast majority of humans extremely ignorant and incompetent so they have little or no idea what’s really going on, just as they will readily believe whatever they’re told. Under such conditions, the devil maintains a steady stream of erroneous yet popular beliefs to keep mankind occupied and firmly locked on the wrong track. Just as God created man but man created religion, like all of man’s creations, religion is subject to corruption and moral decay over time. Therefore, any idea of an infallible religion or an infallible religious dogma removes man from reality and places him firmly in the realm of mythology. Under such conditions, people are taught things like Holy books are the direct word of God just as they’re taught these books are also above either question or criticism. Furthermore, since man is indeed a liar and a hypocrite, the devil is an even greater liar and hypocrite; it’s, therefore, a dangerous proposition to believe that the direct word of God could ever be reliably set down in any book; it’s even riskier to believe that such a book would also be above question or criticism. The foregoing is a clear case of the creator being ruled by his creation which is never a good idea for mankind. Blind, unquestioning faith in any belief or creation of man is a huge mistake and this has been proven time and time again throughout human history.
Therefore, human evil truly knows no boundaries. The devil can just as easily tamper with or even write a Holy book as he can create and or weaponize any other creation of mankind. Furthermore, all human institutions are subject to corruption and moral decay over time; this includes both religion and science so nothing is higher than the Truth. The Truth, therefore, serves as man’s sole, time-tested and effective defense against the devil as well as the source of all that’s good. Once we understand man’s true predicament on earth, we can attain a better understanding of the devil, which in Correctionism is just another name for the cunning of human evil and the obstinacy of human ignorance. Whenever we’re speaking of human evil, we have to include human ignorance because ignorance is the greatest enabler of evil in man and in human societies; for humans, the effect of being ignorant is often the same as being evil; this is because the ignorant in any society of humans are always a ready instrument of evil whether they realize this or not. Evil and ignorance go hand in hand just as truth and goodness go hand in hand. In other words, human nature is based upon the binary principles of good and evil. This can also be expressed as human and inhuman respectively. Mankind is unlike all other species on earth because we always have the devil watching and tempting us, ready to strike and take full advantage of our great mistakes and derelictions of duty.
For the foregoing reason, human societies or civilizations are often the exact opposite of what they think they are because humans aren’t always inclined to do what they’re supposed to be doing here on earth. This allows the devil to take full advantage of man’s weaknesses among the most important of which is man’s proven track-record of being both easy to deceive and quick to deceive himself. Therefore, the devil has managed to fool most of the people all of the time for many thousands of years and continues to do so today. Not only do we humans often fall into the trap of not taking the Truth seriously, we also often fall into the trap of thinking what we believe can’t be wrong. In this manner, humans doom themselves to certain deception and manipulation on earth because the Truth is man’s best defense against the devil. Humans have even created religions that purport to wash away sins, which actually encourages people to do wrong. The foregoing, are distinctly human shortcomings that help to explain why mankind continues to fail miserably in its eternal struggle against the devil.
In Correctionism, the devil is an integral aspect of human life and one that we neglect at great peril. Therefore, evil not only has a purpose in human life it ensures that if mankind fails to do what it’s supposed to be doing here on earth we will suffer in a world ruled by evil and ignorance. This means that doing right rather than wrong aren’t just religious or merely ethical issues but vital structural elements of human life. Nothing proves this better than the fact that humans have been ruled largely by religion for thousands of years up to and including the present, yet evil and ignorance are now more powerful than ever! Humanity has clearly been doing something seriously wrong for thousands of years and continues to do wrong today.
For example, the last 2000 years has resulted today in the building of a digital hellscape for mankind right here on earth! Lest we forget: if the devil has ruled man’s world for the foregoing period, it means that the most popular and influential religious and secular beliefs of this period up to the present, were also those favored by the devil. Though most men continue to believe that God is in control of their earthly lives, the brutal reality is that God made this world such that each and every earthly species is in control of their own lives to a considerable degree, based largely upon how wise or foolish they are at any given time. There also appears to be widespread confusion today as to the nature of man’s struggle against the devil because people frequently speak of it as “spiritual warfare;” lest we forget: the most dangerous devil isn’t the supernatural one but those that walk around in human form. Under the influence of erroneous, popular religious beliefs that are still favored by the mainstream, man allowed the institution of religion to get completely out of control in ancient times and is repeating the very same mistake with mainstream science and technology today. This has sent the vast majority of mankind far off on the wrong track, which the devil has taken full advantage of. Mankind has no one to blame but itself as it was hoodwinked into believing that religious and now scientific and technological beliefs could actually be above question or criticism. Correctionism teaches that blind faith in any belief of man is among the devil’s greatest assets because he becomes stronger, the stronger our blind faith becomes. If men are truly interested in salvation, at this critical time in human history, they will realize they’ve been badly deceived and correct themselves before it’s too late.