Today, in a symbolic act, Iranians set fire to the flags of Israel and the United States, as well as an obelisk and a statue of Baal—which they described as a symbol of Satan—in various cities across Iran in response to the release of the Epstein documents.
Not canonically, but they mean historically and like sociologically.
The etymology of some words have previous origins, but that’s it. The concept of God in Islam (and all of Abrahamic monotheism) is very different from other religions (including the pagan religions of the time and Zoroastrianism), it’s way less bestial and/or anthropomorphic and local.
i went on a really fascinating rabbit hole when i read baal’s role in the epstein files and learn that all abrahamic monotheism started out as polythesitic paganism based on the ancient mesopotomic pantheon of gods.
over time, they morphed into monotheism with a particular god as the supreme ruler and all of the other others were demoted to demigod/hero/prophet/noteable-figure status. baal was such a god and became synonymous with satan in what would eventually become the cristo-judiastic religions we know today.
Just posting to say that I initially read that as “i went on a really fascinating rabbi hole”
That’s pretty interesting, if questionable. The major prophets of Abrahamic monotheism are pretty clearly men, with flaws and no major powers (Moses parted the sea and Jesus healed the sick but the former had to exile himself and lead his people through the desert and much suffering and the latter got captured and murdered by the Romans… Zeus wouldn’t have gone through that, you know). Solomon was proud and very hedonistic in his youth, Moses killed a man, Job got angry at God… But yeah, before God guided people full-on, paganism was the law of the land. Or they had something more interesting and closer to the magnanimity, complete supremacy and non-anthropomorphic nature of God, like the cultures that worshipped the Sun. 🤷