this isn't intended as a dig at christians as a whole, but it is just something i've noticed about CERTAIN christians. i'm not even sure it applies to denominations. it's just an observation i've made based on individual talks with various believers
often it seems that when something a believer approves of happens, god is credited. but when something disapproved of happens, satan is blamed. there is seldom an established criterea for determining if an action was that of god or satan, & it's worth noting that this is a distinctly different roll for satan than is played by him throughout the first testament. in early parts of the bible, satan is simply "the adversary", a being sent to tempt us & test our faith in god, but not personally interested in inspiring us to do evil. (see "the origin of satan" by elaine pagels if you are interested).
so since he is now set up as the opposite or at least enemy of god, doesn't that make him "a" god? many polytheistic religions have or have had deities that were malicious, but they were still gods in their own right.
satan has his own realm, his own supernatural followers (demons), & according to many in popular thought, at least some ability to operate outside of the wishes of god, a supposedly omnipotent being. i think this classifies him as a god, & therefore christianity as a polytheistic religion, even if the "dark god" is not to be worshipped or revered.
i want to state one more time that this post is in no way a judgement on christianity. it's just an observation on my part.
EDIT: also wanted to add that the ten commandments don't state that there is only one god. only that believers are not to worship another god besides the god of isreal.
jf
Where to begin....LOL! Those are all good points, and many that I've read on here also are very good comments thank you all. This has been a very interesting thread. Let me try to explain, and attempt to answer your question. Been awhile since I've been to church.
Ok, Satan is a god. But not the way that your thinking. And let me try to explain so you'll have to follow closely. You may or may not have read the story of noah. But basically the world was evil during that time. Now here is the thing, what starts the flood of noah, is the Nephilim. Now the Nephilim are the offspring, of the sons of god, (ie. the angels), and human women. Now the bible does specifically state that these were the the men of old, in other words these nephilim were our hercules, Odysseyes, etc... there fathers later would be known as Zeus, and other such gods. Satan was one of those angels that would have done such a thing. Probably was known and or treated like a god. However, and this is the key, no creation can ever be equal to, or more powerful than it's creator. If you created a coffe cup, it is never going to be a human, in no sense ever, can not physically happen. The same with Satan, and the demons, it is not so much anymore in my belief that they want to be gods any longer, as it is they want revenge. When god created the flood and killed the Nephilim he killed there children, period. If you don't think that, that isn't going to piss somebody off, I don't know what will. There whole goal, is to try and kill us, because we are the creation of god, and that is their revenge. They hate us, because god saved one family, and it was a human family. Yes, Satan wants to be worshipped like a god, but only because he is evil, and has nothing but evil in his heart. YOu know that the bible states that the devil and the demons have been cut off from all enlightenment. They can not learn anything new. THey are very powerful compared to humans, but even humans have physically battled with angelic beings and held there own. They did not win, but they did give them a run for there money.
It is also a false belief that they are to be considered gods or lesser dieties. The same is true of Jesus, many religions believe that he is god. However, nowhere in the bible did he call himself such, as a matter of fact whenever asked Jesus often said, " I am god's son". The belief in Jesus and god being one in the same, comes from a passage where Jesus says, " I and the Father are one. If you have seen me then you have seen the father." Now this passage gets misconstrued as Jesus saying that he is god. This is not a true representation, when considered with the rest of Jesus's lifetime that he referred to being the son. Furthermore, it is said that, "God loved the earth so much that he gave his only begotten son." Now consider this, when people would bow down at Jesus' feet and try to worship him, he would tell them, " Stand up, do not do that, for there is only one who is deserving of your worship, and that is your heavenly father." Jesus when he said, " I and the father are one", was not saying that he and god are the same. No rather he was referring to himself being a direct representation of his father. You meet a man, and learn that he is a good man, an honest man. Your first thoughts most generally are wow, he must have had good parents. They raised him right. So when you meet this man, you are seeing a direct representation of his parents. So the same is true with Jesus, you are seeing his only parent, because he only has one, GOD. So yeah, in thinking, morals, ethics, beliefs, Jesus and God are one, but they are not the same peson. To take this one step further, the bible does say that god only has one son, Jesus. So even Satan is not a god, or even a lesser diety. He was at one time one of god's most faithful servants. Basically a worker. Let's say upper middle class.
So now I want to discuss the trinity. The father, the son and the holy ghost. In many bibles it does not refer to the the holy ghost as such, but as gods active force. Interesting. If jesus is one but seperate, because he is a direct reflection of god, then what is the holy ghost? Is it one? I would say yes. I believe personally that the holy ghost is god's chi, his inner strength, it's what he uses and that allows him to do what he does. Without it he would be powerless.
Now, the idea of hell, for another poster. THe history channel did another documentary on this and it was very well, done. THe catholic church in the middle ages began to lose alot of perisheners. So they therefore needed away to get them back, and so created hell. THis is historical fact, as found by the history channel. Had nothing to do with the bible at all whatsoever, as a matter of fact, nowhere in the bible does it say, you will go to hell if your bad. Simple.
ANd to finish this off, the only powers that Satan has, are the ones that god allows him to have. THe only authority that he has, are the ones that god allows him to have. HE has no power without god, to worship such a being would be like trying to worship a rock, or statue or anything that is considered lifeless. I hope that I answered your question or gave you some food for thought. Very interesting thread, and have enjoyed reading and writing in it.:asian:
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. Because, in a sense, my agnosticism began as a reaction to the religious teachings of my youth, I do tend to think in those terms 
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