I was going to post this in Rita's Repentence thread but as I wrote it I realized that it probably should be separated since it's kinda the opposite tack to her intent.

Here's part of a note from waterfall in that thread:

Have you ever thought about the possibility that they don't exist?

What follows is an interesting quote from a book by Donald Capps called "Deadly Sins & Saving Virtues."  In this quote, he is talking about the work of two moral philosophers, Judith Shklar and Mary Daily.

[quote=Author, Donald Capps]

When I was younger, I believed what my mother told me, "If you have sex before marriage you will go to hell," & "Gay people will not go to heaven." Here in lies my predictament, because I was a virgin until I decided to test my faith. I figured, as long as I am a lesbian, I am going to hell. So I did the right thing, by being with heterosexual males, and lost my virginity to a guy. But that still meant I was going to hell! After 6 years in the closet, I decided it was time to come out. And finally be happy being me.

Couldn't the Devil in the Jewish-Christian tradition be nothing more (or less) than the human ego, and sin nothing more (or less) than the fruit of a life centered on that ego?  

Is this just a "liberal" view or are their "conservatives" who view the Devil and sin this way as well?

I am realtively new here, and do not want to post if this topic already exists somewhere else.  I tired to find it but could not.  I could see allusions to it all over the place, but not specifically on the topic I have in mind.  I also had no idea what forum to actually put it under.  I chose Religion and Faith, cause it seems closest to philosophy and science, which is probably where this should go.