Lucifer's Courage

Lucifer's Courage

A different view of hell's angel

Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com)

February 07, 2000

Daily Nebraskan

"For who can think Submission? War then, War open or understood, must be Resolved."

--Milton, "Paradise Lost"

I hate it when the good guys always win. Such a thought struck me the other night while watching Kevin Smith's "Dogma," a movie about two fallen angels' attempt to reenter heaven through a loophole in Catholic teachings. Although their success would have caused the end of existence, my companion and I both had the same reaction after the movie ended with God smiting the fallen angels and making everything magically all better.

We both wished the bad guys had won.

In a general sense, I find myself rooting for the bad guys for a variety of reasons. For one thing, good guys are often bland and boring compared to their evil antagonists. Who would Luke Skywalker be without Darth Vader? Who would read Sherlock Holmes if not for Professor Moriarty? I even feel sorry for some of the bad guys. After all, the Penguin can only get pummeled by Batman and Robin so many times before you start feeling sorry for the poor bastard.
Sometimes, if only for the sake of originality, the bad guys should win.

But my desire for the fallen angels to succeed in "Dogma" was based on something else: they deserved to succeed. There's a crucial scene in the movie where the two fallen angels, Loki and Bartleby, are arguing about whether they should even attempt to reenter Heaven if it means facing God's wrath. Loki says "Do you know who you remind me of? The Morning Star. You're following in the footsteps of Lucifer, and you saw what happened to him!"

We've all heard the biblical story of Lucifer. Once the most respected of angels, he craved power for himself and incited a rebellion in heaven before being defeated and banished to hell. The traditional, Judeo-Christian spin on this story is that it's a parable on the dangers of foolish pride, a lesson on what happens to those who disobey God.

But I see it differently.

Imagine coming into existence in a world where you have no choices. Where your every move is decided in advance. Where your destiny is to obey a despotic ruler, and the slightest deviation from his laws results in torture and death. A world where your every move is observed, your every word is monitored and your very thoughts are scrutinized.

Lucifer didn't rebel because of pride, he rebelled because of tyranny.

Although he lived in an eternal paradise and had everything anyone could ever desire, one thing was missing: freedom. And without freedom, all of his supposed joys became a constant, painful reminder of his captivity.

So Lucifer decided to fight back, and one-third of his brethren flocked to his side. One-third! Clearly Lucifer wasn't the only angel to chafe under the chains of God's enslavement.
Of course, Lucifer wasn't insane. He knew his chances of success were slim at best, and that the consequences of failure were the harshest we can imagine. An eternity in hell. It was worth it to him, though, this desperate lunge for freedom.

I wish we all had this trait - Lucifer's courage.

All of heaven were embroiled in this war between the oppressed and their oppressor. Eventually Lucifer lost, and he was banished to hell with all of his rebellious allies. But he didn't stop fighting. Much as Prometheus was chained to a mountainside for daring to introduce fire to man, Lucifer convinced Eve to eat the apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Some say he seduced her into sin. I think he showed her that she, too, was free and could rebel against God's tyranny. And according to the "Good Book," because of Eve, we all have this option.

Lucifer never existed, of course, no more than Jesus or Zeus. The story of a demi-god rebelling against his fellows is not original to Christianity. But I know that if he had existed, Lucifer and I would have the same outlook on life. To paraphrase Milton:

"Better a free man in Hell than a slave in Heaven."