I don’t think humanity needs devils and demons. The ingenuity of human beings does pretty well in the area of evil on its own, without supernatural help.
I also don’t believe that God created a Universe in which he has any competitors. It’s only the nonsense of our wayward selves that causes trouble - He gave us Free Will.
‘Devil’ and ‘demon’ may have been a useful way to portray man’s own negative nature to a relatively primitive people. I think we’re past that now, and need to look OURSELVES straight in the eye.
‘The Devil made me do it’ is a damn copout.
“‘The Devil made me do it’ is a damn copout.”
It is, indeed... and has been used many times as an excuse for bad or... dare I say it... demonic behavior.
However, the two issues at hand (demonic influence vs. man’s own negative nature) can both be true at the same time. If that were not true, then Adam and Eve would not have sinned and failed in the Garden of Eden and thus doomed mankind to this crap-fest we call “Life on planet earth”. But I guess you don’t believe in that part, either.
My take: It’s all true and it’s all playing out exactly as prophesized in the Bible. We’re here to choose ... good over evil. That’s the whole (and only) point in this life we’re living. You might want to consider altering your viewpoint and facing that reality. It might come as a rather unpleasant shock at some time in the (near?) future, otherwise.
Take care.