The Death of Satan Review by Gary Carden The Death of Satan by Andrew Delbanco New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux - 1996 $23.00 - 274 pages We have met the enemy and he is us - Pogo For several centuries now, the Devil's absence has been a favorite topic for writers, theologians and psychiatrists. Where is he? Does he live on the dark side of the moon or the frozen wastes of the Arctic Circle? If we pray to him, will he come? Now, as we enter the Millennium, the Prince of Darkness, Son of the Morning Star, and the Lord of Flies is rumored to have finally shuffled off his immortal coil. A number of modern writers and thinkers, including Andrew Delbanco suggest that his prolonged absence indicates that he "is no longer with us." Specific details of Satan's demise are lacking. At the risk of being flippant, I have some questions. Where did it happen? Were there any witnesses? I would have thought a guy like that would have gone out with a bang. I keep seeing him pursued by people with torches, baying hounds and Bible-wielding ministers through a night forest in Transylvania. He should have ended up on a wind-swept precipice, his red cape billowing, at the edge of a thundering sea -- or like the wicked witch in Walt Disney's "Snow-white," lit by lightning, cackling as he shakes a defiant fist at the world... Well, I've seen too many movies, I guess. From all accounts, the Arch Fiend simply sneaked away like an embittered politican who, failing to get a vote of confidence from the electorate, has opted to die quietly and obscurely, unattended and unmourned. Of course, to say "The Devil is dead" is an indirect way of saying something much more significant. It is to say that evil (or "Evil") as a palpable force does not exist in the modern world. Some noted theologians even suggest that it never did. Suddenly, the talk shows and the books shelves are alive with spokesmen who deny that malign forces exist at all. What appears to be examples of evil, such as serial murderers, the holocaust and Aids are actually "disorders." Hitler, Stalin and Ted Bundy -- according to this form of reasoning -- are not demons or soulless predators, but victims of psychological and political abnormalities. From Lucifer, the fallen angel, to a victim of psychological and/or political "error" (severe asocial personality traits!) is quite a reach. How did this happen? According to Gerald Messadie, another of Satan's biographers, the "fallen angel" was sort of a scriptural afterthought anyway. In A History of the Devil, Gerald notes that in his first appearance in the Old Testament, Satan is a benign and obedient servant. Even in the Book of Job, he seems more an extension of God's will -- only misuing Job with God's approval. Afterwards, in other episodes, he changes, becomes arrogant and envious, and even acquires some retrogressive history (the war in Heaven). Messadie thinks that the Devil only appeared because the authors of the scriptures needed him as a "dramatic foil" for God and, later, for Christ. Also, he provided an explanation for the presence of injustice and suffering. In effect, Satan is yet another response to Milton's announced goal of writing Paradise Lost -- Satan also "justifies the ways of God to Man." Andrew Delbanco says that the "Lord of Dark Places" has become an anachronism. The modern world now perceives him as "irrelevant" -- like an obsolete relic gathering dust in a museum because it no longer serves any purpose. One writer compares him to biological irrelevance... an appendix, for example, in terms of usage and function; another compares him to a kind of spiritual anomaly or extinct species, like dinosaurs or the Dodo bird -- creatures that ceased to exist because their environment no longer sustained them. I was surprised to find that Delbanco feels that the Tempter went into a kind of forced retirement back in the 17th century and has merely been called out sporadically since then, either to host a renewed (but brief) interest in Satanic cults, wars, horror films or comic TV appearances (Saturday Night Live). His physical appearance keeps changing too. From fallen angel to goat-footed satyr he has passed from an overly endowed demon with horns and tail in medieval paintings, to a frock-coated poser in Shaw's play, and finally a rustic, casually attired itinerate peddler ("The Devil and Daniel Webster"). For two hundred years he has been like an old actor with a closet full of costumes. Now Delbanco says that he won't come out of the closet anymore, even when summoned by Anton LeVey and a bevy of naked witches. Is he dead or merely sulking? Delbanco's book suggests that America has lost "its sense of evil." If evil does not exist, then Satan has no purpose. However Delbanco cautiously concludes that America wants him back. In essence, we need him. At the risk of sounding blasphemous -- if that is possible in a discussion of this book -- the forces of Right need him too. This paradox is largely due to the way America has changed in the way it defines the nature of evil during the last three hundred years. Certainly, the Devil was alive and well in Colonial America, but in the years following the Salem witch trials, he gradually became the name of whatever the government or a component of society considered to be "the enemy." During the Civil War, both Jefferson Davis and Sherman were demonized. For the Abolitionists, slavery was evil. In the aftermath of the war, both the North and the South were left with the feeling that the course of human affairs was governed -- not by providence but by blind chance or accident. During the reconstruction period, Blacks were demonized and in the years following, Satan was associated with alcohol, dancing and a variety of ethnic groups, including Chinese, Native Americans, and Italians. Satan became synonymous with "the other" or anyone who opposed "us." The growth of industry during the next century seemed to demonstrate that hard work and ethical behavior would not guarantee success, and theologians were hard pressed to explain poverty and slums as the just deserts of the sinful working class. Unprincipled men, racism and social injustice flourished. Where was God? Where was Satan? Who was in control? There was growing suspicion that humanity was alone and if the Devil existed, he was not external. He had taken up residence within the human heart. Certainly, WWII did nothing to clarify the issue. Such awesome tragedies as Hiroshima and the concentration camps made the word "evil" an abstraction. At the same time, the metaphors for Good and Evil vanished and a cold, new concept evolved. Nothing -- neither war, Serbian torture camps, serial murderers, hurricanes, tidal waves, plagues or cocaine -- was evil. They were all simply events that happened and each is equally unrelated to any ethical or moral concepts. Today the use of the word "Satan" is almost whimsical and may apply to anyone from the Ayatollah Khomeini to George Bush, depending on which side the accuser represents. Delbanco cites a multitude of modern writers -- including novelists, playwrights, poets, scientists, anthropologists and social critics -- who hold views supporting his conclusion, including Arthur Miller, Saul Bellow and George Will. Where, then, is help? How do we find meaning in a world that seems bereft of meaning? Well, the answer is complex, but the bottom line seems to be "Give us back the Devil." We are trapped between two worlds: the old comforting one in which virtue was rewarded and evil was punished and a universe governed by "accidental cause and effect." If the old metaphors don't work, we must create new ones. Something that represents transcendence and purpose must either return or be created anew (God?). That which nullifies, demeans and flourishes at the expense of preying on (or misusing) others must be defined as "evil." Human survival may depend on the existence (or re-creation) of an "ethical order." Books Music Enter keywords...

Chance



My walking stick

becomes a lance.

I step and lunge.



He leans into the window,

leering widely,

malevolent, insane.



Come in and fight.



But he retreats,

recedes into the night,

and the duel becomes a dance.



-- jh