“But The Devil Doesn’t Exist!”
Illustration by Stefan Gasic
One of my favorite movie quotes is from The Usual Suspects:
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.” – Keyser Söze
Another of my favorites is from O Brother, Where Art Thou?:
“Well, there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork.” – Ulysses Everett McGill
It doesn’t matter whether you believe in The Devil as a fallen angel named Lucifer or a jinn or named Shaitan or just a symbol of evil. We know there is evil in the world and for the sake of this book, I’m representing evil as this androgynous, pitchfork-wielding, purse-carrying devil-y person. (Credit is due to cartoonist Stefan Gasic.)
The point of including The Devil in the book is to separate myself from the problematic behaviors and temptations I face in my life. In an ideal world, I wouldn’t make so many bad decisions or put myself through the hell of the mental prison. But I did for a long time!
It wasn’t my fault, but it was my responsibility to get out of it.
FYI, this comic is one of several from my book Mental Prisons.
