Myths About Satanism

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia"

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Every month, our pastor hosts a cable public access question and answer show. "The Bewitching Half Hour" is a vehicle to dispel the many myths and popular misconceptions about Satanism. We are proud to present excerpts here on our church's website. It's up to the church to see that vicious lies and slander are something only spread about Christianity. MYTH: yo preachr- i heard this story the devil was beaten by this guy in a singing contest or something. it might have been singing and guitars i'm not sure.this guy wrote about it in a song he wrote i thing it was 38 Special or Ronny Milsap. the song also had something about chikens picking out dough if that helps Debbie :) (by email) FACT: It was the Charlie Daniels Band that released the song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," popular in its day, about an alleged contest between our dark Lord and a boy named Johnny. According to the song, Satan was bested in a violin playing competition. However, in truth, Mr. Charlie Daniels has merely adapted an old folk tale and in doing so, has taken severe artistic license with it. Pastor Karlss on the set of his cable public access show. The original tale, known variously as "Olde Nick Hath A Mandolin Fine," "Thee Lute Of Thee Damned" and "Tommie Fiddlepants Burns Yet In Hell," actually tells of a young lad named Tommie (NOT Johnny), who, walking deep into an unknown forest to hunt for valuable leeches, overhears Satan playing a lute. Enthralled by the exquisite playing, Tommie returns to town and purchases a lute, determined to reproduce the seductive music he heard in the forest. After many years of frustration, he eats the lute and dies. Whereupon, Tommie is damned to hell and Satan rips the bloody intestines from Tommie's gut to string the lute. Tommie screams in agony, forever tormented as Satan strums the disemboweled intestines that are still connected to Tommie's body for all eternity. In some versions of the story the lute is yellow. This has obviously been warped into the "fiddle of gold" in the story, even though a solid gold fiddle would be unplayable and difficult to even use as money. The point of the original story is that all music (even Mr. Daniels' particular brand of country rock) is the gift of Satan, and all who would practice it are doomed to lives of misery unless they DO sell their souls to Satan for success. A far cry from Mr. Daniels' foolish premise that a mere mortal could outplay the Prince of Darkness. In addition, the original story is set in Alabama, not Georgia. What children need to learn is that there is nothing wrong with pursing a musical career as long as they know they must sell their souls to Satan to have success in the material world that He controls so thoroughly. It is well worth noting that Mr. Daniels did NOT sell his soul to Satan, and, well, his lack of success speaks for itself. NEXT MONTH: The Truth About the Devil and Daniel Webster.