By Matthew Clark
In 1667 John Milton, an English civil servant, wrote an epic poem entitled 'Paradise Lost.'
'Paradise Lost' told the story of the archangel Lucifer's rebellion against God, a revolt which, when unsuccessful, resulted in his expulsion from Heaven. Thus paradise was lost. The theme of the poem was the necessity of obeying God, with the hero of the story being our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet the figure from the verse who has captivated both intellectuals, and reading public , since it's publication, is the villain Lucifer, later known as Satan after the failed rebellion. Arguably he was the first anti-hero in the modern English language. In 'Paradise Lost' Lucifer is a rugged individualist, far more independent than his fellow angels. The Romantic poet William Blake, an admirer of John Milton, noted that all the best lines in the ballad were given to Lucifer. Milton never seems to have informed anyone why this was so. Perhaps, as a man with a deep Christian faith, he was warning his readers that the devil would make himself as captivating as possible as he steered us towards evil.
One of Lucifer's utterances has, over the centuries, resonated with readers more than any other comment. "Better to reign in hell, than to serve in Heaven."
It is a line of pure malevolent genius, a proclamation worthy (in a banal way) of the Universe's ultimate evil entity. For starters it masks an evil endeavour by giving it a defiant (false) morality. Lucifer is a freedom loving rebel! Yet a closer inspection reveals he is not trying to free his comrades from a terrible yoke, but rather remove them from God's benign grace to suffer under his overlordship. This is not the colonists enlightened resistance to an overarching king. The statement goes even further. It depicts Heaven, by implication, as a place whose inhabitants (for lack of a better term) are in some kind of servitude, or slavery. Heaven, the embodiment of moral grace, is depicted in the statement as an authoritarian dictatorship, whose subjects undergo the horrible condition of slavery. Satan has projected a nobility, onto a despicable lie. Lucifer is not in revolt to promote goodness as his statement suggests. In truth the devil rules as the ultimate dictator over his domain while our all powerful God gives every soul freedom to choose their fate (which is why a benevolent God allows bad things to happen in life, even though it saddens him.) If you are an admirer of this line, but also a God fearing individual, it is recommended you reread the phrase.
What are the secular consequences of Milton's masterpiece quote, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven?"
Unfortunately many readers give the thread an abstract meaning it does not possess. It has become, in many minds, a defiant pronouncement on individual freedom. They see Lucifer as an example of the noble soul who yields to none. In their minds he exhibit the attitude; 'When faced with slavery I will succumb to no-one.' However a more accurate description of Milton's Lucifer, it can be argued, if expressed in secular terms, would be that of Lenin, or Mao Zedong. Autocrats who despise the notion of personnel liberty, rebelling for the sake of self gain, in their case the assumption of political despotism.
In the October 28, 2019 online edition of thedeepdish.org journalist Richard Meadow explained his admiration for the Luciferian decree in this way.
"It is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" 'I believe this (to be) right to my core. But if you can find a way to get the best of both worlds,-to rule in heaven, or be a wolf among dogs, -perhaps that's even better.'
In this statement Richard Meadow has articulated the immoral imperative of global modernity. Whether it is in the realm of business, politics (especially politics), or society at large, the goal is to be the one who mandates. Rule for good, or evil, it matters not, just be the leader. Under this philosophy only through command can an individual gain freedom in their lives. Gone is the day of free living citizens co-operating together in civic life, while operating the right of individual, and collective dissent, when they deem necessary. Into the dustbin of history goes principled revolution, where men and women defend individual liberty by rising up to defy oligarchs who take on powers that only God could manage, but which our Lord in infinite wisdom resists so as to enable our souls to be our own. Instead, in modern civilization freedom only occurs when you are the top dog. This reasoning, by inference, lumps human beings ( in present day circumstances close to eight billion people) into two categories, Monarchs and Serfs.
Those who exercise this way of mind, which, judging by current comments expressed in all medium it appears a majority of humans believe, are creating a version of hell on earth. One only has to look around at everyday life in most urban centres to gauge the veracity of this claim.
Heaven is paradise. It is filled with souls who, under freedom, chose to be principled. Hell is evil, directed by Lucifer who chose to reject the freedom and goodwill God created so he could dictate. It has been decreed that the same situation will be thus for secular earth. Those jurisdictions which allow individuals the largest personnel freedoms are also the most benevolent. Nations which turn their citizens lives into a relationship of rulers, and ruled, always evolve into pernicious entities. John Milton wrote a literary masterpiece on how the devil attracts us, frequently through a duplicitous tongue. We best defeat his methods through direct confrontation, in paradise, or on our planet. One crucial tactic is to roar-There is no freedom through power-they are enemies!
Study history if you doubt this truth!
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