In Praise Of Man  - Or - The Modern Prometheus 

Lucifer: Greetings, Man, greetings Woman; I bid of you an acceptance sincere for a discourse equally sincere, given our mutual enmities for all these millennia. I come forth amid some of the legions of my heartfelt manifestations and attributes, for the exact purpose of not merely a discourse with Man, not merely for the practical endurance of my grandiose presence, but to learn from my simple expatiations on you, and of your attributes. 

Man: Good evening.

Lucifer: Would you prefer me to begin with the Truth or Lies?

Man: What a question! Are we already playing tricks? 

Lucifer: Have we not both entered this space to have a dialogue?

Man: Yes, we have.

Lucifer: And has this not been mutually voluntary?

Man: Yes, it is.

Lucifer: Is it fair to say we are both seeking our own interests?

Man: You mean, in our proposed discussions?

Lucifer: Yes. 

Man: We both have our interests, and for my part, I have many; but, and this is terribly frail point that I will make; for I will strike and seek, in finding out, were it possible to affect your thinking in a better light. 

Lucifer: Fair play, to you my Man.

Man: And what do you seek from me?

Lucifer: I have but of only one interest, unlike you. 

Man: I see, and what may that may?

Lucifer: I only wish of you to know the nature of my game, and for the purpose, you must please allow me to introduce myself to you. 

Man: I understand that. 

Lucifer: I ask you trepidatiously, because as an animated soul, I do need to inquire from you, as how exactly you wish of me to approach you, lest you be startled, stumbling suddenly upon a vision entirely misconstrued as per my intentions. 

Man: I don’t know what you mean by ‘startled’ since nothing of what constitutes your soul has, does or can ever shock me, and, next, with respect to you your intentions, you’re wrong again here, because I know all of them. 

Lucifer:  What are my intentions?

Man: What a question!

Lucifer: Why so presumptuous? 

Man: What is there to be presumptuous about you? By definition, you are well known, and every matter, component and attribute that defines is putrid to the extremes. 

Lucifer: And you presume you yourself do not need to know of the caustic, damaging ingredients for your own rancid mannerisms, ideas, behaviours and lifestyles that you have needed as the base preservatives to elongate your longevity? 

Man: What longevity? That belongs to God or Nature and they decide when our lives must expire. And what are these lifestyles of what I supposedly ‘needed’ for my life and during my lifetime? 

Lucifer: Dear, dear soul, already so agitated? Just like Kerouac, so jaded before his years.

Man: I am not agitated -or, let me say this again – I may be a bit angry, because I thought there could be a chance of in a trillion for a relatively unacrimonious and civil discourse with the rot that you are.

Lucifer: Isn’t that a contradiction, hinting at a degree of idiocy on your part? 

Man: No, not at all. I did not think a discourse hoping to find something or anything in the least good or positive about you.

Lucifer: So, what then is your purpose in seeking this dialogue?

Man: To understand what motivates evil; to understand why are there these impulses to murder innocent human beings; to understand why are there these impulses to mass murder entire communities, to understand why are there these impulses to commit genocide against a race; to understand why are there these impulses to rape instead of going to your nearest whore; to understand why are there these impulses to strangle innocent people; to understand why are there these impulses to stab innocent people; to understand why are there these impulses to torture innocent people; to understand why are there these impulses to stalk people who do not want to be followed; to understand why are there these impulses to hit people who have done nothing against you; to understand why are there these impulses to mutilate corpses or to engage in necrophilia and how any so-called ‘human’ not find that vomit-provoking; to understand why are there these impulses to molest children and to understand why are there these impulses to murder children, the most innocent creatures on the planet. What on earth would cause human beings to commit such acts and, what is of course so much worse, is when some of these characters actually admit their ‘enjoyment’ while committing such screaming obscenities. 

Lucifer: And these affairs are of course my fault?

Man: In part yes, but I’m not discounting other reasons, such as genes, a bad upbringing, poverty, socialising with anti-social people, bad parents and parenting, bad schooling, bad health facilities, verbal and/or physical and/or sexual abuse, drugs and so on. 

Lucifer: So, can you be more precise, as to what my own role is in motivating such creatures to do the infamies you mention? 

Man: I think, even when we take into account all the aforementioned reasons, most people simply do not commit such depravities, and that is why, I think, the final push, so to speak, that makes people actually undertake such acts, must come from your influence. 

Lucifer: And, so, do you wish to know why I motivate such individuals to commit these acts, and is that one of your motivations, in meeting with me? 

Man: Yes. 

Lucifer: This is the Truth you seek?

Man: Well, here we come, once more, on an incompatible and paradoxical stage in our discourse, since I seek Truth, while fully knowing every word, every thought, every impulse that is emitted by you will be conclusively and unconditionally opposite to reality’s ‘Truth’. 

Lucifer: Well, how fascinatingly interesting, because again, you contradict yourself; for why would you seek talking with me if every letter I propose shall necessarily be a lie?

Man: For the exact same reason law enforcement officers, psychiatrists, neuroscientists and lawyers interrogate evil humans. We do not expect truthful answers, but we seek, we try to extract a degree of what it is, for example, that motivates a man molesting a four-year old child. 

Lucifer: And I too have a purpose in talking with you, did you not appreciate that? 

Man: I know your intentions, again, because you’re the Devil, therefore your intentions are obvious. 

Lucifer: Yet again, what a contradiction! Since if you know all of my intentions, what questions do you need to ask?