We all know the story: the all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing Jehovah created Heaven and all its angels and ruled over them in bliss and harmony. But then the archangel Lucifer swelled with pride, and he waged war against the Creator to take his throne. The angels fought, and it was the righteous Jehovah who overcame the evil Lucifer, and he cast him out of Heaven.

Still prideful and seeking vengeance, Lucifer went after God’s new and prized creation. The humans, Adam and Eve. He tricked them into eating the forbidden fruit, “sin” entered the world, and Jehovah reluctantly banished humanity from paradise.

Ever since, we have known that fallen angel Lucifer as Satan, the dragon, the devil, the entity behind all the evil in the human heart, deceiving the human race into the eternal fires of Hell.

But it is the victor who writes history. And this is only one side of the story.

Is it possible that Jehovah, his prophets and his followers have demonized the devil with this propaganda to cast Heaven’s winner in good light? Is what we think to be black actually white, and what we thought was white truly black?

John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” written in the 17th Century, poses Lucifer not as a villain, but as a tragic hero who, like Achilles, is a warrior who feels slighted by his commander and who, like Odysseus, embarks on a grand voyage, be it for a grandly hopeless cause. Meanwhile, Milton attempts to cast the Creator as perfect, loving, and omnipotent. But, as evidenced by the Bible, that Heaven’s ruler is a divine dictator:

It was Jehovah who deemed the whole human race wicked, disgusting, less than vermin, and holocausted his children with a flood (Genesis 6).

It was Jehovah who gambled with the life of Job, who destroyed his livestock, his house, and who murdered his innocent children (Job 1:18-19).

It was Jehovah who killed the innocent first born sons of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:29).

It was Jehovah who commanded Moses to lead an army to slaughter the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3).

It is Jehovah who destroys both the good and the wicked (Job 9:22).

It is Jehovah who hardens the hearts of human beings, who he then punishes with infinite torment, for a decision they were never free to make in the first place (John 12:40).

Lucifer, allegedly the originator of all sin and evil, has murdered a grand total of ten humans — and it was only under the supervision of Jehovah.

Lucifer is hailed as the Tempter; at least he only persuades humans, and does not force them, to do anything.

Lucifer was the first of egalitarians, a patriot of democracy, because he rebelled in order to be equal with Heaven’s ruler and have a voice in the politics of paradise. The same reason the American colonists rebelled against their British motherland.

It was not dark pride that drove Lucifer to dethrone Jehovah. It was righteous indignation on behalf of the human race, who Lucifer knew would be tormented and subjugated under Jehovah’s divine scepter.

Even in defeat, Lucifer felt compassion for humanity. He told the humans in Eden that Jehovah lied to them and he gave them the forbidden fruit — it awakened the humans from their animal-like state and gave them the power to make choices for themselves. He did not enslave humanity. He liberated them.

The characteristics of Lucifer are uncannily similar to Jesus. In the Bible, both are compared to a lion (Revelation 5:5 and 1 Peter 5:8). Both are hailed the “Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16 and Isaiah 14:12). Both existed before the universe was created (John 1:1 and Job 38:4-7). And both are the sons of God (Mark 1:1 and Job 1:6, 2:1).

This revelation is difficult for many people to understand, because they have been told over and over that Lucifer, no matter how logical or moral he might appear, is actually a demon masquerading as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14).

That is why for many years, even after hearing the truth, I lived in denial, a meek, humble servant of Jehovah. I poured my energy into apologizing on Jehovah’s behalf, spinning elaborate arguments and cognitive acrobatics to justify the bloodshed and madness wreaked by the Tyrant of Heaven, as exemplified in my previous work. Now I am free.

I consider the Bible to be fiction, as thrilling and creative as a superhero film. Spiritually, however, if I choose a side to root for, I have defected to the rebels. I’m the devil’s advocate. Those with a conscience should do the same.