day no. 15,765: emergency contact

"I do not think Dualism is true. There is an enormous difficulty in conceiving two things which simply co-exist and have no other relation. If this difficulty sometimes escapes our notice, that is because we are the victims of picture-thinking. We really imagine them side by side in some kind of space. But of course if they were both in a common space, or a common time, or in any kind of common medium whatever, they would both be parts of a system." — C.S. Lewis, Miracles

When we consider the proposition that good and evil are eternally at odds with each other as a possible solution to the problem of the presence of evil, we introduce a different problem into the mix which Lewis here points out: we imagine God and the devil at opposite sides of a room aimed at each other as in a stand-off, occupying the same circle, but separate and distinct and opposed to each other. But notice in this scenario, they both occupy the same room, the same circle, the same world. So, Lewis points out the presuppositions which require explanation: where'd the room come from? Whose circle is it? Who made the world that contains these two eternal opponents? Who pays the rent for the space? Whose name is on the deed? Whose the emergency contact should it catch on fire? Who referees the fight? Who has the authority to call fouls? If there is a ring in which they battle, even assuming they have opposite and distinct corners, where did the ring come from and who controls and patrols its boundaries? If good and evil are against each other on stage, they are both contained to its dimensions, which means there is someone or something above them both. If there is eternal good and evil, the question is then, "good" and "evil" by whose standard? To what principles do the opponents attempt to justify themselves and impugn the other? All that to say, who is authoritative and who is derivative? Who is defined by whom? Who is whose opposite?

There could only be an eternal good and evil if there was Someone above them both to draw up the line of scrimmage and determine the end zones. Someone must toss the coin. Someone must create the coin and determine its two sides and declare one "heads" and the other "tails" and create the law of non-contradiction that to be heads is not the same as to be tails.

Isaiah 5:20-21
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight!

The idea that good and evil are different sides of the same coin is one that ascended from hell. It is from below and as such below standard. In other words, dualism is demonic.