Taitology

In latin, the name Lucifer translates to Light-Bringer or Morning-Star. According to history of the early Christian Church, Lucifer was God’s favorite angel. In the book of Ezekiel, God says of him

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

But, we know him as the Lord of Darkness, the Gatekeeper to Hell, as Satan. So, what happened to Lucifer?

One day, God decreed that all angels worship the image of God in his son, Adam. Lucifer refused the will of God.

I will not worship one inferior and subsequent to me. I am prior to him in creation. Before he was made, I was already made. He ought to worship me.

In a fight, Lucifer was banished to Hell and Satan was born. A man of God, becomes the Angel of Death. Just like that, he pledges to drag Adam and Eve down to Hell to exact his revenge on God.

We hear stories of Lucifer and Darth Vader, and don’t believe they apply to us. Some people make bad decisions that lead them down a dark path, but not me. We all think we know the difference between right and wrong, and what it means to be moral. But, if we were slowly becoming someone we never intended to be, how would we know? How do we know when our personality or moral become disengaged? At what point do good ordinary people become perpetrators of evil?

Dr. Philip Zimbardo has spent his life trying understand What makes people go wrong? We all know that a line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. For example, to be a hero, you have to be a social deviant. Heros go against the social norm which would be inaction, to save their own neck. But, some people go against that norm. So, where do you draw that line?

Dr. Zimbardo grew up in the Bronx where he saw many good friends turn to the dark side. Philip went on to study psychology at Yale and Stanford, where he would eventually be appointed professor. He was first involved in the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison experiment, which went tragically out of control. Since his childhood he has devoted his life to this cause. If that isn’t honorable in itself, I don’t know what is. His talk is mostly about the studies he’s been involved in, but the bigger questions are what he speaks for.

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.