Is Lucifer or "The Devil" evil?

[Akela Lonely Runner Santana]

I've been watching this T.V show called Supernatural and in the show the two main characters, Sam and Dean Winchester, keep referring to Lucifer as evil. Is Lucifer evil?

[Dani Halter]

According to Islamic, Christian, and Jewish belief, he is. If those aren't the belief systems under which you function, he's probably a non-existant entity to you.

[Kenny]

According to the bible, god is a genocidal nut-case who will send you to hell if you don't love him and attempt to follow all of his ridiculous rules. Lucifer is a guy who said "fuck that".

[Übereil]

In other words, he's definently evil!

[Paulsifer]

Can we say: reductio adabsurdome (sp?)?

[Kenny]

We can, but we'd sound silly as hell. "Reductio ad absurdum", on the other hand, sounds really intelligent.

[Paulsifer]

Do you know what "(sp?)" means?

[Kenny]

Yes, but you know I'm not gonna let you get away with that. Who do you think I am?

[Paulsifer]

I even looked it up in Word, and it had no idea any of it was a word...

[Brendan Linwood]

After that rather ignorant answer, I will offer a slightly more doctrinally correct one. Lucifer, according to the allegory of Judeo-Christian-Islamic scripture, was the highest of the archangels. He was named the Light Bearer, and he was closest among all of God's creation to the creator. However, Lucifer succumbed to pride (Greek Hubris) and sought equality with God. The pursuit of a lesser Good (personal gain) over a higher Good (God's will) created an absence of good which the scholastics (St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas) classify as evil. Having thus become unfulfilled goodness (evil is a lack of good, not a substantive thing) and having betrayed the trust of God, Lucifer was renamed Satan, the Prince of Darkness, and he and the rest of his followers, angels who had fallen from grace, were cast into hell.
Again, it is all allegory for greater religious themes as opposed to "true" story in the conventional sense of the word. The point is not that people have to unfalteringly follow the will of a "genocidal nut-case who will send you to hell if you don't love him and attempt to follow all of his ridiculous rules." While God as depicted in the Old Testament (or Jewish scripture) is much more authoritarian than the loving God presented in Christian and Islamic holy books, He is still a creator who made His creation in love, and gave them the gift of free will to love Him or not. Lucifer, though he loved God, loved himself more, and THIS is what God punished him for. That the greatest of all the angels should choose a lesser good than the good of God was what got him cast out of heaven, not the tyranny of God.
So in answer to your question, Lucifer brought evil into the world by creating a lack of Good, but as he was created by God he was not evil to begin with. Satan is the "evil" manifestation of the fallen Lucifer, who perverts evil to his own will, but even such he is still part of an ultimately good creation.

[Kenny]

The bible only tells god's side of the story. If god and Satan do exist, then it's possible that what I said is true and god made sure Lucifer looked like the douchebag. All you have to go on is a story told by the winner of the conflict.

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

The analogy there is one of human history. In human history, both sides are morally equal, but in this instance, neither is human, and one is very clearly superior to the other.

[Kenny]

in this instance, neither is human, and one is very clearly superior to the other.

I could not possibly agree with this statement more.