If Satan was a US citizen, would he be an equal?

[Tinkerlina]

[quote name='White Knight' post='743099' date='Oct 1 2005, 03:52 PM']not to change the subject but, I thought this would be interesting to ask.


Where does the Catholic Church believe Hell is located? Ive heard some reports they say its in the center of the Earth, however Ive heard about other deminisions as well. Heaven & Hell are higher deminisions above our deminision.

I believe the second one is more likely, however I could be wrong, pelase clear this up, thanks.[/quote]

As far as I understand, Hell is something like a dimension, Heaven , Hell, Purgatory and the world of the living all exist at the same time. It is a physical place but as far as I know there is no teaching as to where it is specifically. Interesting question. -Katie

[Didacus]

[quote name='Tinkerlina' post='1706589' date='Nov 21 2008, 01:31 AM']As far as I understand, Hell is something like a dimension, Heaven , Hell, Purgatory and the world of the living all exist at the same time. It is a physical place but as far as I know there is no teaching as to where it is specifically. Interesting question. -Katie[/quote]

Methinks we'll know when we get there.



Where-ever that may be.



Hoping for purgatory myself.

[Justin86]

Actually, the devil was born in Hawaii (or maybe Kenya, no one is quite sure), and later grew up to go to Harvard, get elected to the Senate, and is currently our President-Elect...

Ok, ok, so that was in bad taste. But really, with all the praises people sing to him can you blame me?

[HisChildForever]

At first glimpse I thought this said "Santa."

[Socrates]

[quote name='Justin86' post='1708142' date='Nov 22 2008, 10:41 PM']Actually, the devil was born in Hawaii (or maybe Kenya, no one is quite sure), and later grew up to go to Harvard, get elected to the Senate, and is currently our President-Elect...

Ok, ok, so that was in bad taste. But really, with all the praises people sing to him can you blame me?[/quote]
I was going to make a similar crack, but you beat me to it.

I was going to say, "Equal? Hell, he'd be elected President!"

[jeffpugh]

This thread is classic. Thanks for bumping it up, Lil' Red.

[Fidei Defensor]

I find it confusing that God allows satan to exist. Couldn't he simply will him out of existence? Sure, we'd still have the free choice to choose between good and sin, but without satan pressuring anyone, people would be more inclined to choose good.

[Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam]

[quote name='fidei defensor' post='1709934' date='Nov 24 2008, 05:39 PM']I find it confusing that God allows satan to exist. Couldn't he simply will him out of existence? Sure, we'd still have the free choice to choose between good and sin, but without satan pressuring anyone, people would be more inclined to choose good.[/quote]

Lucifer's name literally means "light bearer." God loves Satan and he still has good qualities: intellect, reason, being, will, and many others; however, Lucifer chooses to abuse his gifts and good qualities by rebelling against God. To say Satan deserves to be willed out of existence b/c he chooses to go against God's will is to also say we deserve to be willed out of existence as well in that we sin too. Grant you his sins and ours differ because we have different natures, he an angelic nature and we a human one, and because of the different circumstances surrounding the fall of humanity and the fall of Lucifer and his being cast out of Heaven. We would still sin without Satan because as St. Paul puts it he struggles with the law of sin that resides in his flesh and tries to follow the law of God in his heart and intellect. Satan isn't solely responsible for all temptation of humanity but our natures are broken and do tend towards sin because of previous sins and original sin (this is called concupiscence).

As for the original question "If Satan was a US citizen, would he be equal?" I guess for the question that means equal to us under the law. To be a citizen one must be born in America or have parents who were American citizens. Satan wasn't born in the human sense of the word but rather was willed into existence along with the rest of the angels. Also the Constitution gives rights to "peoples" not just citizens but I would argue that the term means "human person" and does not include angels. However, I do not believe that rights come from Positive Law or a cultural agreement such as the Constitution but rather come from Divine created purposes, obligations of humanity that stem from the intended end that God gave to the cosmos when He created it. So Satan and the other angels would have their own rights given to them by God; one such right being The Right to Life.

[Proud2BCatholic139]

Not possible, Satan is a fallen angel and angels can not show human emotion.

Even if he was a form of a human being. Still, he has no human feelings...