Lucifer: I Apologize to You

Hi, everyone. My name is Lucifer. Son of The Morning. I trust all of you good Christian lads and lasses know the name. You may call me Iblis if you're Muslim or Has-Shatan if you're Jewish. How are you doing today? I've got some news to share with you. I want to apologize. Yes, I want to apologize to all of mankind. Uh, and womankind as well. Doesn't matter where you're from, what color you are, what religion you embrace or what ideology you subscribe to. I want to apologize to you because of what I've done to you. I've been whispering into the ears of ordinary men and women worldwide for so long that it's not even funny. Whenever you have a bad idea, I add spice to it and turn it into a full-blown mission which becomes an obsession. And because of me, this world stands on the brink of destruction. Again.

Here I sit, inside the library of a certain University somewhere in the United States of America, watching young men and women busy learning, surfing the web, or just having fun. I've always loved this particular town. For all the smart people in the myriad colleges and universities. For the racially diverse and fairly liberal populace. For the open-minded people, big and small. The American revolution began here. Same-sex marriage, arguably the most controversial issue of the Western world today, first became legal here. Have you guessed which town I'm referring to by now? Come on, people. I've given you enough hints. Hmm. Whatever. Anyhow, location isn't the important thing here, message and content are the topics of the day. The world stands on the brink of destruction because of what I began so long ago.

What am I talking about? I'm referring to the Last Crusade and the advent of Global Jihad. Christians and Jews are under attack by fringe elements within the Muslim world, and it's only a matter of time before the skirmishes taking place in places like Nigeria, Malaysia, Pakistan and certain parts of Eastern Europe drag into their madness the entire world. My Angels are out there, encouraging the Christians, the Jews and the Muslims to kill each other. They're silencing those men and women whom God tapped to be the heroic voices of moderation and reason among people of all faiths. With reason silenced and madness flowing, we're looking at a global catastrophe. A clash of civilizations from which the entire human race may never recover. Forget about the end of civilization. We're talking about the end of the world. A war to truly end all wars. Once upon a time, that was my goal. In my time, my minions have been everyone from Julius Caesar to Emperor Charlemagne the Great, Emperor Justinian, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and the likes of Hitler, Mussolini and of course Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. I've always wanted the mortal offspring of God to wage war against one another in His name. Whether they called themselves Jews, Christians or Muslims, I hated them all. I was always their common enemy.

In bygone days I whispered in the ears of Imams in the Muslim world, Rabbis in the Jewish world and Bishops in the Christian world. Forever urging them to fight one another. For every God-fearing man, whether Christian or Muslim, who slays his brother in the name of God commits the ultimate blasphemy and when he goes to Hell...and they always do....his soul belongs to me. With every soul gained through crusade or jihad, I grew stronger. In the old days, I could only walk the earth for a limited time. And even then, my powers were always limited. Not today. Today I can do whatever I want. That's why I am sitting on a couch inside the university library right now, housed in the body of a tall, good-looking young man of African descent. In the old days, I could only whisper into the minds of men and women. Now I walk around in a human body. And the owner isn't even aware of it. He's going about his normal business, unaware of the fact that I'm in the driver's seat. I couldn't do that before. It's one thing to play ventriloquist. It's another to get inside the dummy, and walk about. Fun.

Why am I telling you all this? I took the worst possible time to grow a conscience. Basically, although I hate my dear Father and probably always will, I've grown fond of the mortals. At first, it surprised me. I have come to the conclusion that mortals, for their endless attempts at finding love, and improving themselves, and all that, they're better than Angels because of it. Angels live forever. I couldn't die even if I wanted to. Sometimes I wish I were dead, though. But I can't die any more than a human can turn himself into a bee and fly away. When you're an Angel, death is impossible for you. I think that's why we can never improve. Angels, we got all the time in the world. It makes us lazy and complacent. Doesn't matter if we're so-called good Angels like the mindless pricks who still serve The Old Man or the enlightened ones who joined forces with me. Understand that I am not sorry for waging war against my Father or my Brothers and Sisters Who Dwell Above. I'm only sorry that what I've done might cost mankind its existence after they've come so far and accomplished so much.

What can I do? I've been kicked out of Hell. When I had my Crisis of Conscience, my followers were at first shocked, then got pissed. Imagine if Bin Laden suddenly told his followers in the Desert that he was sorry for attacking America over a decade ago, and wanted to make amends for what he'd done. He would have been slain by his followers long before the American special forces came for him. That's the position I find myself in. I am now exiled from my dark kingdom. I miss my beloved Hell, where I reigned supreme for eons. What am I supposed to do? I find myself unemployed for the first time in ages. Right now, in Hell, they're fighting each other to decide who's going to be the next King. The Throne of Hell is vacant for the first time ever. Soon the new King ( or Queen ) will be crowned, and Armageddon will be unleashed. All my former followers need is a certain number of souls before ALL of them can break out of Hell and conquer Earth physically as well as magically. Then the Angels from Above will descend upon the Earth for the final battle. I don't want that. Anymore. I'm sorry for what I've done. And I am going to make things better. Not sure how, but I will find a way. Wish me luck.