this really makes me want to ask what you think of the "sympathy for the devil" outlook on christian mythology. how about it? what's your opinion?

I don't want to get into a massive diatribe so I'll give you the cliffnotes-version (and a quick reminder that I am for all intents and purposes agnostic and don't subscribe to any organized religion):

Basically I always thought that God was kind of a dick in the Garden of Eden story (and quite a few other places in the Old Testament but we're not talking about those), because he created Adam & Eve in a flawed way: namely nude, which the Bible loves equating with shameful except when it doesn't feel like it. I never got why their nudity ought to be shameful when you remember that God made us in his image. Either God has some serious self-loathing issues, or large chunks of 'the Good Book' are kinda nonsensical when you think about them. You decide.

But anyway: rather than solving this problem by, say, giving them clothes to wear or creating them as something he does not find shameful when nude (like literally every other animal ever) God's solution to this problem is effectively to partially blind or lobotomize them: preventing them from perceiving/understanding their true selves. So what do I think of the guy who fixed that? The one who wanted Adam & Eve to gain the knowledge of Good & Evil and wanted them to see the world for what it was?

Yeah, I'm inclined to like the guy who supports transparency in authority and the right to self-discovery. Sure, he lied and deceived to get his way, but then so did God (he told Adam that if he ate the fruit he would surely die, which was patently false) and at least Ol' Scratch was the guy pushing the boundaries, arguing for discovery and trying something new. Obviously 'new' does not always equal good but I think humanity's innate curiosity (which we have him to thank for, btw) can overall be considered a good thing. Why? Because it means I can live in an era where I don't have to worry about dying from polio.

And finally we have to remember what he has been up to ever since God cast him out of Heaven. Which is to say, burning in Hell. Yeah, people tend to forget this but Satan didn't set up shop in Hell to become the lord of all evil: he was sent there as punishment. He knew that's what would happen if he got caught but he did it anyway.

Part of the reason why I like to imagine God as a child is because it's the kindest way to excuse the many imperfections and immature temper that God displays throughout the Bible. But the devil? Well let me put it to you like this:

Bravery is doing something even though you're afraid to do it.
And Lucifer took humanity from ignorance to enlightenment despite knowing he'd end up burning in sulfurous hellfire for all eternity.

"Sympathy" is not the right word. A better word would be "Respect."

hmm.... that's certainly one way to look at it. and I like that way of looking at it, even if it's not quite my perspective.

I will say, I still have not found any hard evidence or even much soft evidence to support the claim that the snake in the Garden was Satan. for one thing, that claim royally fucks up the story's chronology.

that said, every other depiction or reference to Satan (especially if we bring it all in the context of God's creation where he made the Archangels, and the Universe, and told everyone to bow to Adam) does paint a picture to me of somebody who does the dirty work that is in the best interest of the growth of humanity.

the creation mythos of the Yazidi tribe of the Kurdish people is exactly the same as the one in Islam (Allah/Yazdan creates Iblis, then the Archangels, then Adam. tells the Archangels and Iblis to bow to Adam. Iblis refuses to bow to a lesser being, and gets sent to earth for his transgression) except that in the Yezidi version he is praised for not bowing, because he promised he would be to nobody other than God. so he is made the ruler of earth, Melek Taus (as opposed to Shaytan, the betrayer of man).

in the part of Genesis where God is about to flood the earth, we're told that many of the Watchers (a certain guardian class of Angels that come to earth) were teaching humans about science, and divination, and cosmetics, and some of them were even taking human wives. the Nephilim (GIants, or Half-Angels) were born. all of this resulted in 1/3 of the hosts of heaven falling from grace to join Satan, including all of those derelict Watchers. for what again? for helping humans out. for teaching them arts and sciences.

and the book of Job? hah! clearly it's God who's being the dick there. and it clearly shows that God and Satan are probably in some sort of partnership.

part of me really believes that for it all to make sense, either God is a tyrant and Satan is right to rebel because he loves humans more than God; or Satan is secretly still God's servant, doing the hardest job of all.

but then again, I don't really believe in the abrahamic stories anyway. =w=