Cultivate Evil

This phrase was meant to tell people to stay away from evil i.e. do no evil and stay away from people doing anything evil.  Instead, in today's world it has a new connotation.

Instead of just staying away from all things evil, including people who commit evil, it has come to mean fear people who do evil to you and protect yourself by cultivating them.

In the course of conversation, a friend of mine told me, 'I am walking with the devil to safeguard myself'. This got me confused.  I asked how and why.  So, the explanation goes thus.  The old saying was 'fear evil'.  Meaning stay away from evil, committing evil and the influence of evil.  However, in today's world where for example, your boss decides your career, staying away from evil is not an option.  Staying away from influential people who are evil, does not help if one is in need.  And, if you start doing that, then you will have to stay away from a lot of people, which is not possible.  Besides, you never know who you will need and when.  

So, the new mantra is that you walk with the devil, knowing you are walking with the devil.  Be polite and go through the motions, else one never knows what the devil will do, directly or indirectly.  Smile and do as the devil wishes, all the time knowing that you are doing something wrong but in the belief that you are protecting yourself and so the cause is justified.  It does not matter that one is not true to oneself, one's conscience.  The act of being a friend when one is not is a farce.  And there is nothing wrong in the farce.

Then came my question, 'Do you walk with the good always then, and are you true atleast then ?' Got an interesting answer.  'I walk with the good when possible, but I compromise.  If walking with the good will do me harm, then I stay away.  The good don't and cannot harm you.  So, it is okay if you ignore them and you can always explain.'  Meaning you can get away by being mean and nasty to the good.  

It was a strange conundrum for me where one values the devil more than the good because of the harm they cause. So, in the process of safeguarding itself, is the world teaching people to be bad as everyone fears the devil and will do as the devil says.  No wonder God is loosing his place in the world.  More he becomes like the devil, his followers will increase.