Satan is a convenient idea. I need a scapegoat when I have unkind, judgmental or downright harmful thoughts. When I realize I am thinking wrong, how can I explain why I am doing it? On whom or what can I blame it? On my unknown self? It is frightening to think that I am not in control of my thoughts; that in the dark, unplumbed depths of my subconscious lie the source of some inherited grudge, some anger, bias, or unholy desire which rises unbidden to a conscious level. It is better to imagine that there is an evil “projectionist” in the theater of my psyche who routinely inserts reels of malignant ideas among my thoughts. Perhaps this is the central question of the spiritual journey: why do I not always act according to the Truth? But, finally, I am human. The devil made me think it; the rest was my doing.
Nick Hilton - Reflections 