Conservative Christians Attributions to both God and Satan

Religious people, particularly conservative Christians, go about their daily lives with the belief that god is constantly working in the world. When good things happen, it is the work of god; when an individual is saved from a life of sin, it is the work of god. However when so called “evil” has been done upon these individuals or they themselves have committed misconduct, it tends to be attributed to the works of Satan. Throughout our class discussions what Satan means to a conservative Christian and how this figure is utilized has not been addressed in depth. In her book, Goldberg (2007) discusses the case of Tonja Myles a former drug addict who prostituted herself to support her habit until she was saved by the word of god. After overcoming her addiction she attributed her previous lifestyle to the works of Satan by describing herself as a former Satan worshipper. Why is it that conservative Christians need to attribute negative events or their own negative behavior to the work of Satan or demons?
A more commonly known answer would be that Satan is the fallen angel so therefore anything perceived as evil in the world must be attributed to the work of Satan. However, in reference to Eliade’s theory, a religious person, in this case a conservative Christian, cannot see space as homogeneous, nor can he or she attribute events in the world to cause and effect response or simple chance. Lupfer, Paola, Brock, and Clement (1994) conducted a study to investigate secular versus religious attributions to events. Researchers distributed a variety of vignettes to 202 participants all of whom differed in their adherents. Researchers asked participants to provide an explanation for the characters behavior or the outcome of the vignette. Researchers found that religious attributions, for example vignettes with positive outcomes being attributed to god and vignettes with negative outcomes being attributed to Satan, were most common among participants who adhered to conservative Christianity. Religious attributions were especially prevalent among conservative Christians when the actions in the vignettes were linked to religious values (Lupfer et al, 1994). In a religious persons world, when a man has fallen off the path of righteousness he is being influenced by Satan or inner demons, but can be saved by being reborn.
Aside from the bible professing acts such as homosexuality a sin, belief in an active Satan serves to justify attitudes of intolerance. In another study, Wilson and Huff (2001) conducted a correlational analysis of Christian’s belief in an active Satan in relation to their attitudes towards homosexuals and ethnic minorities. Researchers had 200 participants complete a prejudice scale along with an attitude towards homosexuals scale and a belief in an active Satan scale. Researchers observed that an active belief in Satan was directly related to intolerance towards homosexuals and ethnic minorities. Conservative Christians belief in an active Satan has fostered hatred towards things that are considered to be unclean such as homosexuality, drugs, and alcoholbecause of the belief that Satan is at work.
How does this attribution to Satan affect religion in American politics? As discussed by Goldberg, conservative Christian politicians believe that the separation between church and state is the work of Satan. The belief in an active Satan with regards to issues such as abortion, prostitution, premarital sex, and homosexuality is a working force that is helping conservative Christians in the political sphere get closer to their goal of saving the worlds sinners. Conservative Christians belief that they are not only battling society’s sinners but the works of Satan is a strong driving force to create religious reform in the political sphere.
References
Wilson, K., & Huff, J. (2001). Scaling Satan. Journal of Psychology, 135(3), 292. Retrieved
November 4, 2009 from Religion and Philosophy Collection database.
Lupfer, M., de Paola, S., Brock, K., & Clement, L. (1994). Making Secular and Religious
Attributions: The Availability Hypothesis Revisited. Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion, 33(2), 162. Retrieved November 4, 2009 from Religion and Philosophy
Collection database.