I used to at one point, I was raised very religious. In fact when I was a kid my biggest fears were demon possession and alien abduction. I was taught that aliens were actually demons in disguise. Then I went through a point in life trying to summon demons then I went through an atheistic phase.
Now, hmm, I don't believe so, not strictly. But I believe in a metaphoric existence of demons, which can be really real if it fits into your world view. Real things, real problems, real malevolent forces materialize into forms that you expect.
I believe hell is a state of existence present when you are separated from God. So yes I believe in hell. I'm pretty sure, though that I don't believe in God the same way that you do and I'm sure I don't believe in its manifestation in the same way as you.
So, my answers are, Yes and No. I'm a professional sword edge walker.
What is your conception of God? What do you mean by the metaphoric sense of Demons?
I was brought up in an average RC household, wouldnt consider it particularly religious, although I have to say that I had a common experience of fearing demonic possession, also a fear of vampires but it was objectively the same thing, and also the devil in person, I remember stories of a very medieval kind in which the devil would appear in person and trick people, try to get them to sell their soul, that kind of thing having some currency in the story books we had growing up.
I do believe that this life, as it is, can provide foretastes of both heaven or hell. I also believe that this life could be heaven or hell for everyone, that is I believe in the prophetic messianism of the old testament when they spoke heaven or paradise as "the world to come" and meant it in the sense of historical time or an eventuality when God or his spirit would return to the earth. In the RCC and Christian tradition that I'm part of this old testament sense is not invalidated by the new testaments teaching that everlasting life and heaven and hell are transcendent states, or the Celts and earlier belief systems described it, the otherworld, the book of revelation combines these seperate beliefs.
The idea of there being an embodiment of evil which is seperate from and not the invention of humanity, or some sort of metaphorical or literary tool, is not difficult for me to believe, I think there's other less plausible beliefs. Although there are very good treatments of this in literature, usually involving devils or devilry being or becoming obsolete because they are overtaken by human evil. Its easy to believe that there's plenty of evil besides devils or demons but I still think they are an archetypical source.
