What would you do tomorrow if you allowed me to die today? What vocation would you pursue if my name disappeared? For decades you have been roaming these villages and warning people against falling into my hands. They have paid for your advice with their dollars and the products of their land. What would they buy from you tomorrow if they discovered that their wicked enemy no longer exists. Your occupation would die with me, for the people would be safe from sin.

As a clergyman surely you realize that my existence alone has created my enemy, the church. You and I together are the conflict which removes gold and silver from the faithful pockets, and deposits it into the pouch of the preacher and the missionary.

How can you permit me to die here when you know it will surely cause you to lose your prestige, your church, your home and your livelihood? I am the father and mother of sin, and if sin were to vanish, the fighters of sin would vanish with it, along with their families and structures.--- Satan "The Pastor and Satan" KHALIL GIBRAN

Does the Pastor let the seriously wounded Satan die after listening to his valid argument? If you've never read this story (or any of Gibran's works for that matter), you should. It's really quite amazing.