If Satan exists then we as a people should not follow the teachings of the bible.

The idea that an all-loving God would create evil is troubling for many people, so I thank him for the timeless and worthy discussion. Let me make it clear what the debate is about. This is not a debate about whether God exists or Satan exists, for that is a given from my opponent. It is not about whether the Bible is good or bad, for my opponent is stuck to defending a specific line of reasoning given by the topic. Also, my opponent is defending that NO ONE should read the Bible if God created Satan. As such, I will argue 3 reasons why at least SOME people should read the Bible, even if God created Satan. First, God did not create hate because He is "bad". God created Satan, that is, he created hate because he needed to create love. Love is something that can never be forced, even by an omnipotent diety - love requires the presence of hate to have meaning. My opponents arguments are patriarchal American ideology at work: "God is mighty. Might can do all! Thus, God can create love!". That is the flawed echo of the male dominated society we have grown accustomed to. Sorry, might cannot bring all: though God is mighty, might cannot bring everything. All the might in the universe cannot create love. Love cannot be forced, even by an omnipotent deity. If love is forced, it is no longer love but something of lesser value: perhaps obedience or loyalty. Love cannot be bought; it can only be given away. Love cannot be compelled, manufactured, or held for ransom. God cannot create love. Here's the key. The ability to love requires the ability to hate. God allowed us to choose hate so we could love. Literary theorists, such as Jacques Derrida, agree that we need contrast to understand anything and everything. Though this is not a quote from him (he is nearly impossible to understand), the following is a paraphrase: --Explain to me the word "man" without reference to "woman". You cannot do it. When I ask you what a "man" is, the only meaningful response is to contrast "man" with "woman". You say things like "a man does not have breasts and has a deeper voice". That is comparative - an explanation that requires comparison. Without any difference between the two, that is, without a woman, there would be no man, because there would be nothing to contrast man with – there would be no concept of gender difference in humans. Without a woman, the man would not exist. Our understanding of the world is comparative. Without "man" there is no "woman". Without a "day" there is no "night". Without "sorrow" there is no "joy" -- Why did God create hate? Well, to create love. If we had never known a hate, love would be meaningless to us. Without the contrast, how joyful would it be? Love without hate would just be the natural state of things. No one knows the nature of love without the contrast of hate. God created Hate, he created Satan, not out of spite, but to create love. Thus, my opponents argument (that NO ONE should read the bible since God created Satan) is flawed because creating Satan is necessary to make the hate that is required to create love. Second, even if God is bad, it does not follow that we should reject His good teachings. My opponent's argument is a silly one. The nature of the teacher does not effect the nature of the teachings. You can have a bad teacher but have good teachings. (by teacher I mean anyone who teaches moral rules, not school teachers). For example, say a policeman pulls you over for drunk driving. Drunk driving is wrong, no matter who the police officer is. It doesn't matter if your policeman is an three time ex-felon. Drunk driving is wrong. The same goes with the Bible. The Bible is a very helpful and inspirational book that has uplifted souls and benefitted lives. It does not matter if God is bad, the Bible is good. I am not Christian, but I have read the Bible because it answers many difficult questions in life. Sure, the Bible might have some scientific and historical inaccuracies, but that is not the point. The Bible answers difficult questions such as: How can I be a good friend? How can I be a good parent? What is success and how do I achieve it? How can I change? What really matters in life? How can I live so that I do not look back with regret? How can I handle the unfair circumstances and bad events of life victoriously? Even if God is bad, that is not a reason to reject the Bible. The Bible is good anyways. My opponent might say that the Bible contains a lot of bad things in it, however, that would stray from the initial topic. We are debating a very specific line of argumentation and should become distracted. Also, even if the Bible contains bad things, such as scientific inaccuracies, it does not follow that NO ONE should read the Bible (which is what my opponent is proving). At least some people are capable of ignoring those few errors to see the book for its merits. Third, even if God is bad and we should reject His good teachings, the Bible is not God's teachings anyway. There is no doubt that the Bible that people read today is greatly influenced by mortal human beings. Even if it was perhaps originally the word of God, the versions we read today are all edited and revised by human beings. Think about it. How did early churches make copies of texts? Copy machine? Printing press? Nope, the original Bible was more than a thousand years before that. Scribes re-wrote each book by pen and candlelight word for word! The Bible we read to day is hundreds upon hundreds of copies and years later – thousands of years of accidentally missing lines while copying, using incorrect but similar words, and other typos. Add in that in first 100 years after Jesus died each new group of followers had different ideas about the life of Jesus (divine or not? God or man? Both God and man? Women rights? Treatment of Jews? etc. etc.) it is not hard to understand that each group's scribes might alter the text slightly to their advantage or doctrine. Even if the Bible was orignially the word of God, there is absolutely no possibility that it remains to be so today. So, even if God is "bad" (which is ridiculous), God did not create the Bible anyway, so a rejection of God does not necessitate a rejection of the Bible. As stated in my second point, the Bible has many merits as a helpful and inspirational book. In sum, Satan's existence does not necessitate a rejection of God for three reasons 1) Satan's creation, interestingly, serves a worthy purpose - hate allows love. 2) Even if God is bad, that does not take away from the merit of His teachings 3) The Bible might not be His teachings anyway, so even if God is bad, the Bible should be read as a very helpful and inspirational book.