[jimhelm]

If you had never heard of God or Satan... like REALLY never heard of them.

you'd still know right from wrong, wouldn't you? You'd still recognize Evil in people's deeds, and Good.

Do the labels make a difference?

I think of it like a branching path. you begin your life in the center. you're neither good or evil. you make decisions as they come. each decision lies on one side or the other of the path, to varying degrees. the more decisions you make that lie on the side of evil, the more likely you are to continue to make those choices.

You may encounter some major event or philosophy that teaches you that you've been going the wrong way, and then you begin making the right choices... finding your way back to the 'good' side.

your struggles, JB, seem rooted in the fictional aspects of the Xtian religion. It's all allegory. Just do the right thing, and forget about the labels.