Dan Brown

My son just gave me Origin to read, and I have just started. On Page 6 the Bishop remarks to Kirsch that it is a benefit to believers to hear from unbelievers: "It is in hearing the voice of the devil that we can better appreciate the voice of God."

Is this paradox true? Yes, in that God created us as basic sinners, reared in a sinful world ruled by Satan, and we instinctively run in packs (pack-living reinforces our altruistic tendency, our hateful and hating orientation to others and the self), we not only hear the voice of the devil, but we are drenched in satanic thought, feeling, worldview and culture. What amazes is that people are as good as they are, as orderly and civilized as they are (Jordan Peterson, are you reading this?), and that they hear the voice of God, of conscience, at all.

Having knowing the voice of the devil, we are able to appreciate that voice of reassuring love and hope, God's comforting, pleasing, uplifting and loving words for us.

Unbelievers, materialists, secularists and scientists provide believers with an alternative view of the world, so in the name of moderation, it is important and valuable to hear that voice. It is painful but beneficial to hear from them, but hear from them we must, and we religious folks must never quash dissenting, or alternative voices.

So moderation dictates that believers must hear the voice of unbelievers, and the religious must hear the voice of Satan, but, not too much, not too often, or the faithful will begin to be converted into unbelievers and satan-worshipers. A taste of the countering views suffice, and then believers need to stay focused on God and believing. They must remember that God is love, and to love is to worship free will and liberty. In the name of maintaining free will and liberty for all, the voices of the satanic and the unbelievers must not be persecuted, silenced, or legal coerced into lip service or forced conversion.

Forced conversion is spreading tyranny, fanaticism and group-dominance, and these bad means guarantee the victory of the bad end, Satan's control of the world and that we seek to avoid at all cost.