* I disbelieve in the caricatures and general folk-knowledge understandings, which is mostly what I see.
* I don't think the bible teaches the devil is the cause of all or even most natural disasters.
* It teaches that people are 100% responsible for their own actions. And most evil we experience is from human beings and, especially that, 'time and chance happen to them all.'
* It demonstrates that evil is in fact, selfishness, not pure malevolence, even in the fallen angels. The more self-absorbed and selfish, the more dehumanised we become and the more potential to do evil to others. Understanding that I've sat with people who have committed horrendous crimes and seen their humanity underneath struggling with what they've done.
* It teaches that the devil and demons are not the cause of all evil that happens, but they are one example of moral evil.
* I don't have any difficulty in believing the possibility of existence of non-physical moral beings that are probably five levels above our comprehension or that they may even have capability to influence at times. I also consider the possibility of life on other planets that is completely different to carbon-based life as we know it is not irrational.
Nothing inherently irrational there. Whether you believe in it is another question entirely that builds on unproven presuppositions - which we all have, often unconsciously - that are the basis of our world view.
