There are not many things that the upper echelons Heaven and Hell agree on, and those areas where they do agree tend to involve the distant past (such as certain details about the creation of the universe.) In fact, it's difficult to get the upper echelon to agree with itself in either Heaven or Hell.
But amoung the most powerful of the powers that be, it is universally agreed that the Luke and Ella theory, the Ella and Luke theory, the Ella or Luke theory, and all possible permutations of such theories are not merely false but outright blasphemy.
In fact, there is less stigma attached to the "God is dead" theory in Heaven than to the Ella theory, and there is less stigma attached to the "Lucifer bit the dust" theory in Hell than there is to the Luke theory.
Yet in spite of this the theories persist, and are indeed pervasive.
Some of this can be attributed to the fractured nature of the rulerships of Heaven and Hell because while the top echelon may denounce the theory, there are members of lower echelons with no clear oversight and some of them are indifferent about the theory or even supportive of it. However, the prevalence of the theory cannot be solely, or indeed mostly, attributed to these safe harbors. Within every organization of a certain size in Heaven or Hell it is all but certain that at least someone believes the theory.
The hostility toward the theory is not just that it involves assuming the leader of Heaven, Hell, or both left the entire population thereof out of the loop. In fact, many of the theories to explain the absence of God, Lucifer, or both that see instituional support take this as a given.
Nor is it merely because the idea that the most powerful beings in the universe (God and Lucifer being those beings is another of the few things that Heaven and Hell agree on) decided to leave their jobs and live as humans, the youngest and arguably least impressive of the eight races, is considered absurd.
Likewise it cannot be attributed to the fact both Luke and Ella have been confirmed to be completely mundane humans in the few remotely credible sightings where attempts were made to test their nature.
It must be acknowledged that the largest part of the resistance to the Luke and Ella theory is ideological.
Many might accept that God, Lucifer, or both determined that the fate of the universe would be decided not from the top down, but from the bottom up. From there it is possible to make the leap that says they would do this by taking on the forms and limitations of the lowliest and most ephemeral of the eight races.
Where the theory breaks down and gets denounced is in the characters of Luke and Ella.
If Luke really is Lucifer, then serious questions must be asked about why he acts the way he does. Luke does not attempt to drive souls from the Heavenward path. Luke does not attempt to corrupt humanity. Luke does not appear to dislike humanity. Luke cannot be said to be evil.
Instead Luke spends his time helping people and, if he can be said to be opposed to anything, it is institutional power, not God.
If Ella really is God, then why doesn't she care about religion? Why are her actions secular? Why is she willing to break bread with Satanists? Why does she ignore the dictates of religion? (Whichever religion the angel in question holds true.) Why does she cavort with atheists, antitheists, and maltheists?
Why would she, like Luke, simply wander the earth helping people regardless of religion. Instead of teaching people rules to live by, as God obviously would, she seems instead to have a flexible situation dependent understanding of ethics that makes it difficult to divine any set of fixed rules her actions exemplify.
She seems to favor helping those who are victims of individuals or small groups, such as bullies or gangs. She does this even on the Sabbath day and regardless of what commandments, strictures, pillars, or other rules the victims may have broken.
The fact that she is reported to have said that, "Don't be an asshole," is a sufficient rule to live by incenses many. This would be anarchy, they argue. The few who dare to argue against them point out that actually living by that rule requires extensive study and constant work, which is the sort of thing that a religion could be used to speed up and direct. This argument has not been met with approval.
Another problem is that there are rumors that Luke and Ella have worked together at least once. If Luke and Ella are simply wandering humans then this is easy to believe. Both would rush to help the victims of bullies with institutional power. If Luke and Ella are Lucifer and God this is more difficult to accept. The two meeting ought to be apocalyptic, it is argued, and they would not set that aside to meddle in the minor affairs of humans.
The theory also suffers because there is no definitive proof that either Luke or Ella actually exists. Certainly there are many individuals with those names, but that the ones described by the theory exist is much more difficult to determine. The fact that the characters of the two are consistent across reports lends some credence to the idea they exist, but it could be that those making such reports only did so because the character of the individual they met was consistent with reports already made.
It should be noted that outside of Heaven and Hell the theory meets little resistance. In addition to it being entertained, variations often crop up. Amoung the Norse there are those who believe Loki, in one of his excursions as a human, is Ella, Luke, or both. Others point to Odin as a likely candidate.
The theory is harmless, and it would be prudent to stop suppressing it. The arguments against it would likely be given greater weight if they were supported not by the fear of punishment but instead their own soundness.
The current situation has led to the theory flourishing in darkness and private spaces. It has also made it difficult to debunk the claim that where Luke and Ella go there are often miracles of an unknown sort using magic undetectable by ordinary means. This is because such stories are generally told in such a way as to obscure the source, and thus protect each story's originator from any official sanctions.
The greatest mystery surrounding Luke and Ella sightings is what caused them to be identified with Lucifer and God, respectively, in the first place. Neither Luke nor Ella has been reported to have claimed to be more than human.
But amoung the most powerful of the powers that be, it is universally agreed that the Luke and Ella theory, the Ella and Luke theory, the Ella or Luke theory, and all possible permutations of such theories are not merely false but outright blasphemy.
In fact, there is less stigma attached to the "God is dead" theory in Heaven than to the Ella theory, and there is less stigma attached to the "Lucifer bit the dust" theory in Hell than there is to the Luke theory.
Yet in spite of this the theories persist, and are indeed pervasive.
Some of this can be attributed to the fractured nature of the rulerships of Heaven and Hell because while the top echelon may denounce the theory, there are members of lower echelons with no clear oversight and some of them are indifferent about the theory or even supportive of it. However, the prevalence of the theory cannot be solely, or indeed mostly, attributed to these safe harbors. Within every organization of a certain size in Heaven or Hell it is all but certain that at least someone believes the theory.
The hostility toward the theory is not just that it involves assuming the leader of Heaven, Hell, or both left the entire population thereof out of the loop. In fact, many of the theories to explain the absence of God, Lucifer, or both that see instituional support take this as a given.
Nor is it merely because the idea that the most powerful beings in the universe (God and Lucifer being those beings is another of the few things that Heaven and Hell agree on) decided to leave their jobs and live as humans, the youngest and arguably least impressive of the eight races, is considered absurd.
Likewise it cannot be attributed to the fact both Luke and Ella have been confirmed to be completely mundane humans in the few remotely credible sightings where attempts were made to test their nature.
It must be acknowledged that the largest part of the resistance to the Luke and Ella theory is ideological.
Many might accept that God, Lucifer, or both determined that the fate of the universe would be decided not from the top down, but from the bottom up. From there it is possible to make the leap that says they would do this by taking on the forms and limitations of the lowliest and most ephemeral of the eight races.
Where the theory breaks down and gets denounced is in the characters of Luke and Ella.
If Luke really is Lucifer, then serious questions must be asked about why he acts the way he does. Luke does not attempt to drive souls from the Heavenward path. Luke does not attempt to corrupt humanity. Luke does not appear to dislike humanity. Luke cannot be said to be evil.
Instead Luke spends his time helping people and, if he can be said to be opposed to anything, it is institutional power, not God.
If Ella really is God, then why doesn't she care about religion? Why are her actions secular? Why is she willing to break bread with Satanists? Why does she ignore the dictates of religion? (Whichever religion the angel in question holds true.) Why does she cavort with atheists, antitheists, and maltheists?
Why would she, like Luke, simply wander the earth helping people regardless of religion. Instead of teaching people rules to live by, as God obviously would, she seems instead to have a flexible situation dependent understanding of ethics that makes it difficult to divine any set of fixed rules her actions exemplify.
She seems to favor helping those who are victims of individuals or small groups, such as bullies or gangs. She does this even on the Sabbath day and regardless of what commandments, strictures, pillars, or other rules the victims may have broken.
The fact that she is reported to have said that, "Don't be an asshole," is a sufficient rule to live by incenses many. This would be anarchy, they argue. The few who dare to argue against them point out that actually living by that rule requires extensive study and constant work, which is the sort of thing that a religion could be used to speed up and direct. This argument has not been met with approval.
Another problem is that there are rumors that Luke and Ella have worked together at least once. If Luke and Ella are simply wandering humans then this is easy to believe. Both would rush to help the victims of bullies with institutional power. If Luke and Ella are Lucifer and God this is more difficult to accept. The two meeting ought to be apocalyptic, it is argued, and they would not set that aside to meddle in the minor affairs of humans.
The theory also suffers because there is no definitive proof that either Luke or Ella actually exists. Certainly there are many individuals with those names, but that the ones described by the theory exist is much more difficult to determine. The fact that the characters of the two are consistent across reports lends some credence to the idea they exist, but it could be that those making such reports only did so because the character of the individual they met was consistent with reports already made.
It should be noted that outside of Heaven and Hell the theory meets little resistance. In addition to it being entertained, variations often crop up. Amoung the Norse there are those who believe Loki, in one of his excursions as a human, is Ella, Luke, or both. Others point to Odin as a likely candidate.
The theory is harmless, and it would be prudent to stop suppressing it. The arguments against it would likely be given greater weight if they were supported not by the fear of punishment but instead their own soundness.
The current situation has led to the theory flourishing in darkness and private spaces. It has also made it difficult to debunk the claim that where Luke and Ella go there are often miracles of an unknown sort using magic undetectable by ordinary means. This is because such stories are generally told in such a way as to obscure the source, and thus protect each story's originator from any official sanctions.
The greatest mystery surrounding Luke and Ella sightings is what caused them to be identified with Lucifer and God, respectively, in the first place. Neither Luke nor Ella has been reported to have claimed to be more than human.
I love this universe so much!
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