Opus 2026-160: Flip Side

Wasn’t it comedian Flip Wilson who came up with the line, “The devil made me do it”? It is one of the great lines in comedy and one of the greatest excuses in theology.

It is a denial of responsibility.  We fall into the trap of giving Satan god-like attributes.  He is not omnipresent.  He is not omniscient.  He only has so many demons to do his work and yet we give him these awesome powers.  I personally think he sits on his throne and laughs at our excuses.

While I accept the reality of an active Satan I don’t think he has to do much.  We forget that ever since the serpent laid the trap for Eve mankind has been using him as a scapegoat.  He is good with that because he is focused on results rather than credit.  The lesson in the Bible is that we are sinful in nature and our default is to rebel against the God who created us.  When given a chance we will take the route of self.  Only the influence of the Holy Spirit makes it possible to resist and mankind usually is not interested in cooperation.

Evil thrives because we think we are smarter than the average bear.  All these deluded socialists who claim it will be different this time think one of two things.  Either they assume they are smarter than the millions sent to the Gulag or they know in their hearts that it may not work for the masses but they will be in the command chair when the chain gangs are formed.

It may have been the seed for our victim culture.  We should make up calling cards for the social workers and bleeding hearts of the West that has Flip’s Phrase printed in Gold.  After all, the fact that they cannot show up for work on time and put in a days labor is not their fault.

It is older than Flip.

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