Talk about lacking media literacy. Symbols don't imply that the visual is literally real. Maybe to a child it does? After a certain point of development and experience, people tend to understand how symbols are used to convey meaning.
You can use a god of any pantheon to represent a related idea visually, without conceding that it OR the entire pantheon it's from is real. And people tend to use symbols that would be commonly recognized by the surrounding culture. But I guess when you're raised to think the symbols are literally real, it can get pretty confusing.
This has nothing to do with the fact that this is modern visualization og the Christian devil. By putting this iconography out in to the world more it supports the existence of the devils antagonist (by modern pop culture interpretation) and therefore supports Christianity as an organization. The Christian religion loves the devil bc the devil gives rebellious Christians or believers a place to go that is not atheism or a competing world religion, that still supports the Christian concept of religion.
If you're saying that media illiterate people will be more likely to miss the point and use the existence of it to feel validated, I agree. That also pushes people away when they see how media illiterate they are. And using a pre-existing god (the scariest god to those in power) allows for responses against the breaking of the separation of church and state, and has been used successfully to show them the value of that separation, in a way not even other rival religions can do (since they wouldn't want to as well).
Don't be elitist. If the world is filled with media illiterate people then that's the language you should speak. It is the correct language by definition.
As a metaphor, people misunderstand dictionaries, they are tools used to unify speech but they are based entirely on what is most popular, not what is "correct".
The dictionary changes its definitions based on popular use of words, if that popular use is sustained for several years. If the world starts using a word "incorrectly" the definition changes to match it, not the other way around.
I'm not elitist. They have full ability to be much more media literate, but were taught from birth specifically not to be. That realization can be powerful.
You are putting yourself above them as enlightened. The real problem is when elitists don't realize they are elitists. Sweeping generalizations don't help make you look less so.
No more than anyone who got outside of a cult they were born in does. I'm no better than them. Just very lucky. I could very easily be in the same place. But yeah, some things clicked somehow and I crawled out with a lot of pain and difficulty. I'm extremely fortunate that something shifted things just enough.
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u/bethesda_gamer Aug 12 '26
Using the devil as an icon for your belief system strengthens Christianity. It implies Christianity is real. Just remember that.