Sympathy for the Devil

Let's face it. If the Devil is real, and that whole "war in Heaven" story actually happened, he must be getting pretty bored by now doing nothing but hanging out in the pits of Hell and basically being evil all the time. The good old days, when God allowed him to gleefully kick the crap out of Job, are long gone. So if you were the Devil, what would you do?

A new television series, Lucifer, claims to have the answer. In the series, based on a comic book character created by Neil Gaiman, the Devil abandons Hell, moves to Los Angeles, and opens a nightclub. Hey, it sounds a lot more fun than brooding around an infernal pit until the end of time. But predictably, a conservative advocacy group is circulating a petition to stop the show, because, you know, the Devil is evil.

As of press time, more than 12,000 people had signed on to One Million Moms’ petition, launched Thursday, to cancel Fox’s planned 2016 fantasy series. According to One Million Moms, the show “will glorify Satan as a caring, likable person in human flesh.” The Lucifer character will be “portrayed as a good guy,” according to the petition’s authors — a contrast to Lucifer’s biblical portrayal as the devil incarnate.

Lucifer’s official website describes the program as the story of a fallen angel who has “abandoned his throne and retired to L.A., where he owns Lux, an upscale nightclub.” One Million Moms laments on its website that previews of Fox’s upcoming TV program, “depict graphic acts of violence, a nightclub featuring scantily-clad women, and a demon.”

One Million Moms, which clarifies on its website that it welcomes people who are not moms — even if they’re “single” — is a prolific petition producer. The right-wing organization’s ongoing campaigns, which anyone can add their signature to, include a call to make Schick’s commercials for razors targeted at women less sexually suggestive and a request that Taco Bell tone down the implication in one commercial that a woman may have shown her bare chest to a man — possibly one she was not married to.

So One Million Moms is not made up of moms, and it doesn't have anywhere near a million members. But I suppose "a couple thousand uptight crazy folks" doesn't have the same ring to it. Media scolds are some of the most boring people out there, determined to reduce all of popular culture to a G-rated melange that hardly anybody wants.

As for me, I'll be happy to watch the show if it turns out to be any good. Watching the Devil run a hip nightclub has to be a lot more interesting than a lot of the stuff that airs currently.