The devil made me do it
May 20th, 2007 by Glenn
I just read a very disturbing news story. Apparently, a 19-year-old father in Galveston, Texas, put his infant daughter in a microwave for 10-20 seconds. He told the police that he did it because he was stressed. His wife – the infant’s mother – didn’t blame the husband at all. “He would never do anything to hurt her,” she said. So what happened? Well, she said the the devil made him do it – because the devil didn’t want her husband to become a preacher. “Satan saw my husband as a threat,” she told a local television station.
This story just broke my heart, and this is clearly a horrendous, evil crime (so my apologies in advance if this seems in any way to trivilialize the situation — that is not my intent at all). It sounds so absolutely crazy. But at the same time, it also sounds somewhat familiar and it made me wonder how prevalent this idea is in Mormon culture — the idea that Satan sees us as a threat and does things to thwart us in our daily lives.
Folklorists will often talk of “official” vs. “unofficial” culture – the difference between canonized top-down doctrines versus vernacular bottom-up practice/belief/thought. I know what our scriptures say about the devil, but what really interests me are the different ways we use and/or interpret this information in our daily lives – the way it colors our world.
It strikes me how often I hear people at church say things like “that’s what Satan wants us to do,” or “when we do (fill in the blank) we are just making the devil happy.” I have heard things like “the devil hid my car keys because he wants me to be frustrated and not focus on what I should be focusing on” or “the devil made it rain because he didn’t want us to have our ward activity.”
So who/what is “the devil” in our vernacular (folk) worldview? What role do these beliefs play on a daily basis in LDS people’s lives? What stories have you heard that play on similar themes?
Glenn,
One area where I think this idea can tie into is the swimming prohibition for missionaries. The unofficial reason Missionaries aren’t allowed to swim or participate in water sports is because Satan has power over the water in the last days (according to D&C 61). In reality, there are probably other reasons that suffice (revealing swimsuits or no swimsuits depending on the beach, liability reasons with water sports or water craft, etc.) But the idea of Satan’s control over the water and his desire to destroy missionaries is what is usually discussed.
I think you are right on the money with that, j_t. I remember when I transfered to Izumo, Japan, my new companion showed me all the pictures from his greenie area of he and his trainer swimming and playing in the ocean. I remember thinking I was in for a wile ride with this guy (which wasn’t totally off) and wondering why in the world he would take such risks like that when he already knew the devil was out to get him just for being on God’s side.
Glenn,
Testimonies about car breakdowns or flooded basements just as the family is about to get baptized/go to the temple/take a son or daughter to the MTC often attribute the problem to the malevolent influence of the adversary, at least in the wards I’ve been in.
FYI — there is a very interesting “who/what is the devil” thread going on over at New Cool Thang. Check it out.
In LDS theology the devil is (rather importantly) non-corporeal, so at the official level the idea of the devil hiding someone’s keys to make a day go badly seems rather silly. However, the idea of the devil as an active, physical agent (who can be overcome) is a widespread folk idea. I did research on Hungarian bagpipes a few years back and found all kinds of stories about the devil getting into bagpipes and making them play themselves, as well as some about players tricking the devil to show his power be leaving the pipe and going into a bottle (where he gets stoppered up and can’t get away). (A scholar in the 1960s had collected these stories.)
I don’t know how to square the idea of a non-corporeal devil that only has influence through our actions with a devil who is busy pulling spark plugs our of cars and making people miss buses. Of course a little dissonance in our concepts shouldn’t bother us since we are used to believing contradictory things all the time and picking answers that appear to address our current need. The devil is a convenient explanation for when we don’t understand our own motives or when we aren’t “in our right mind.”
So I don’t think that Satan somehow compelled this fellow to microwave his baby, but I don’t know what did either… It may have been any number of factors, and reducing them to “the devil” may make just as much cognitive sense as saying that the ratio of lithium ions in his brain was off. There may be the scientific answer, but the “folk” answer can personalize it and make it accessible. Certainly it makes for better narrative than talking about schizophrenic mechanisms or something like that.
Back when I was in High school Dana Carvie’s popular character the Church Lady was on SNL. We would often quote “her” In Seminary and we would add “the devil made me do it.” My wise seminary teacher used this as a way to talk about thinking about temptation and “Satan” as an entity that we had control over; instead of something to fear. Satan has no control over how you choose. I like this idea that when it comes right down to it we, as individuals, are the ones who decide how we act. Neither satan or god can make choices for us.