You say that some spirit requires only that I turn from another to claim my soul. But tell me - what is the soul? Is it some prize passed between invisible beings? Or is it the reasoning part within us, shaped by virtue or by vice?
If the soul is governed by virtue, then no external power - be it god or devil - can seize it. For the soul is not a battlefield for superstition, but a realm of reason. What corrupts it is not lack of worship, but the harboring of ignorance, fear, anger, greed, and falsehood.
You speak of being claimed. But the wise man belongs to no one - not to Fortune, not to fear, and certainly not to imaginary tyrants of the sky or pit. He walks upright, guided by logos, living according to Nature. He fears no punishment from gods, nor bribes them with praise. He does what is right because it is right.
If a being needs only that I ignore another to gain dominion over me, then that is not a god to be feared, but a tyrant to be pitied.
And if your Jesus is just, he will not demand blind loyalty, but virtuous living. That is the path I walk - not for reward, nor out of dread, but because reason and conscience demand it.
So let any devil come. He shall find no foothold in a mind that is its own master.
