Expert: Michael Clark, Ph.D. - 4/17/2004

Question
Hello Dr. Clark,
I had a brother I loved very much who committed suicide in the early 80s from gambling addictions. He had attended church very regularly for years and had a lovely wife and three very beautiful little girls, but the weakness got to him.
Afterwards, I developed an intense hatred towards Satan and his demons and wanted and continue to want revenge on them for doing my brother in. I don't expect to have the power to fight Satan or his demons in this mortal life here, but I do often pray to God that he will give me the power, somewhere in the spirit world, after I pass on, to inflict as much damage as possible on Satan and his demons, to equal the damage they have done to my brother and humanity.
My question is: Are my prayers to God to give me the powers to attack and punish Satan and his demons after I pass on, a wrongful or even a dangerous type of prayer, or should I reconsider this prayer in a different context? I even find myself ,at times, telling Satan he's a coward for not picking on someone his own size. I realize we should love our enemies, but does this apply to Satan and demonic forces as well? Thank you very much.
Mike Eidson, LAc.

Answer
Mike.. I'm really sorry to hear about your brother. And I can understand your anger toward evil. I have my own issues that can really make me angry. But I continually choose to not let anger get the better of me. One way that I deal with it is to express evil through art. The psychologist C. G. Jung, who had a positive Christian bias, believed that it's far better to represent evil (as through art, music, literature, etc.) than to engage in it.

Now I realize that you are not engaging in evil. But in my humble opinion a prayer for vengeance against Satan isn't really necessary, because demons are already miserable. They're in hell. They're not happy and never will be.

Suicide is such a terrible thing. The effects can ripple through families for generations. My advice is to not let that anger carry through. That's just what Satan wants.

You might consider trying out some grief counseling, or something like that. Just a place to talk about how you feel. Or maybe something as simple as long, healthy walks. Even moderate exercise releases endorphins, and gradually the most stressful or upsetting situations begin to look better.