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Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 8, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Hi, just wondering if anyone here can jog my memory or help me find a reference for this. I remember hearing the idea once about how to the generalized masses, both an apex hero and a super-villian are both appealing. Maybe the analogy was explicitly between God and Satan? Regardless of ethics, both the hero and the villain have influence and power far beyond what average Joe could ever hope to achieve. So without considering moral consequences, they are equally likely to worship both. It sounds a bit like an idea I could have read in Terry Pratchett but it also sounds like an idea I would have come across in rationalist spaces. Does this sound familiar to anyone and could you link to a resource that discusses it in more detail?

Maybe the analogy was explicitly between God and Satan?

Satan absolutely does not appeal to the masses. People who identify with Satan or find him appealing exist, but they're definitely not normies.

I mean, don't a lot of Christians believe that Satan is appealing to fallen mankind? We chose him over God all the time, right?