Oh dear, how often do we hear that phrase spoken?
Mass murderers or thos who carry out shocking crimes say it. Idiots that do idiot things use it. It is seen as the one phrase which will either assuage them of all guilt or convince those who'd listen to such tosh believe them to be insane and, therefore, not responsible for their actions, get a reduced sentence or something of that nature. We all know how it is.
It's almost become a cliché...
They ignore one basic fact however, we all do; Free Will. According to everything ever written about the devil prior to 1998, free will is a large part of the Arrangement. He cannot subvert it, apparently. He can suggest, he can manipulate, he can cajole and torment...he can try to break someone's will down as he is said to have done with Job, but he cannot actually 'make' anyone do anything.
That, my friend, is ultimately your choice there.
Free Will is Inviolate
You see, that is what the argument between Lucifer and his Father was all about apparently. Lucifer was of the opinion that the human race did not deserve it, that they would use it and abuse it. He felt, perhaps rightly, that because the Creator had made us from animal stock that we would behave like the animals we came from.
"A dog will love it's master with while there is plenty of food and comfort but, should the master die and food be scare, it will have no compunction about taking advantage of a convenient and abundant food source..."
He likes to say things like that, he can be quite smug about it. He will tell you he's clever, he is subtle, and he's good at what he does but he never holds a gun to their heads. What a silly idea, he has People to do that for him!
They usually only tend to do that when money or loyalty are involved however.
For someone that is not really known for his own loyalty, that might be considered somewhat ironic but there it is.
Lucifer is convinced that humans, as organic creatures, are unreliable and impure, nothing compared to spiritual beings such as him. As far as Lucifer is concerned, though, everyone is inferior to him, including his own brothers. Especially Asmodeus, apparently.
As such, Lucifer is certain that mankind, with very little help from his Fallen angels and nephilim, will disappoint The Creator and break each and every one of His Laws.
That Lucifer did the same things is not a topic one wants to broach in his presence.
Given enough free will and encouragement, he is certain that humans will simply think of their own desires, needs, and wants. He is certain that it is a fear of the consequences only that prevents them in doing exactly as they please and no more. Remove the consequences, he says, and you will have beautiful chaos as all the fancy notions of a minority of humans implode under the weight of the selfish indulgances of the rest. He says it will be like a symphony.
Lucifer's Plan
In order to give humans every opportunity to express their unfettered free will, Lucifer has not been idle these past millennia. In fact, he has been busier these last two centuries than ever before, it is claimed. This is due, in no small part, to his promotion of Asmodeus to his inner circle.
The Fallen are, as immortal and eternal beings, slow and resistent to change. They will follow the well-worn path of slow and gradual success because it works rather than try something new that might fail for the most part so the innovative Asmodeus had his work cut out in convincing the Horsemen from the very beginning. In all honesty, he has not completely succeeded yet.
Lucifer appears to have a careful eye on him and, if such rare coin is available among the Fallen, appears to trust him to some degree, something which is irritating enough to his 'brothers' to allow Asmodeus to enjoy it all the more. Of course with great power comes great danger but he's prepared to take the risks when they are are so potentially profitable. Add to that the fact that the low opinion his fellow Fallen have of him is exactly what he wants them to think, you start to wonder what is really going on.
As Lucifer's plan was always to subvert those things humans drew moral strength from and pushing out more and more of that which weakens and divides them, he cannot deny how effective Asmodeus' methods are in furthering those goals. What might have once taken years of heavy, hard, and patient work can now be achieved in mere minutes. The infrastructure is there, one simply has to tweak the message to suit the need.
The Over-Used Excuse
"The devil provided you with the necessary tools to carry out your own desires" is a term Lucifer likes to employ when feeling of good humour. Let him explain;
"Just as you can lead the goats to water but cannot make them drink, nor can you do so with sheep, such as those who occupy this world's largest cities in such profusion. I could hand a moral man a gun and he would either return it to me politely or put it away somewhere and forget about it. Now, if someone decides to keep that gun and later murders a number of people with it, claiming I made him do it; Am I really to blame? Yes, i provided the means but I did not provide the will and the desire; those were always there and he would have found a way without me..."
Simply put, Job did not break and Lucifer did far worse things to him than most other people have suffered; I don't think I'd have lasted close to half as long as he did to be honest, I think few could.
"Remember that forest, in the movie with those small people with hairy feet? it had elves, dwarves, and all those people in it? I remember how well they described it. 'There is no evil here except what you bring with you', one of them was told. That is how it works. I pull levers, I push buttons, I whisper, and I weedle but I did not place that which reacts to it where it is. I can push, I can weaken, and i can break. I can visit upon their mind nightmares such as they cannot imagine, I can kindle fear in their hearts but I cannot make them decide. I can influence only but if they decide to commit the sin, that is - excuse the pun - their affair."
Now, there are few people on the world that possess the native strength to resist what Lucifer is capable of sending their way. He has refined and improved his techniques over a very long time but he is no longer an angel on the Earth, he cannot really give his 'personal attention' to that many people at a time.
To be honest, if you are receiving special attention from Lucifer and his cohorts, particular and focussed attention, then you are a very special person indeed, in his eyes. Either that or he or one of his Fallen are in need of a new body. Now, like vampires, a Fallen does not come uninvited, there is a form of verbal contract required. Lucifer will tell you that he can invade a body against the will of its host but to do so is exhausting because a soul fighting for its very future is very strong and, afterall, it is on its home turf and he is not. A soul that is prepared to sit back passively is much preferred because, in 7 out of ten cases, the native soul will expell the invader sooner or later. So if you are hearing voices or seeing such things, it is likely a regular disembodied soul or run-of-the-mill standard mental illeness that is to blame.
It is clear that a great many more claim having experienced such a level of intimacy than Lucifer has, in fact, involved himself directly in. Even his nephilim are, compared to 6 billion humans, few in number and not an effective force in the war Lucifer is waging. The internet made it much easier and made certain formally taboo material much more readily available but nobody is forced to view, access, or read it. It is often said that exposure to certain material corrupts people but that is not true, the desire must exist in order for that to happen.
Perhaps it is easier to blame an unseen devil than accept that we have always had and always will have our own monsters.
Believing that the devil made them do it is, perhaps, a much easier pill to swallow than considering the fact that we all have, within us, the potential to do exactly the same thing if we're pushed just the right way
That kind of thinking is exactly what Lucifer wants us to be having, of course; we told you he was clever.