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Time to give the devil his due
Posted: June 5, 2006
Eugene Kane
In honor of a pretty special day, this will be my most devilish column yet.
I'm not talking devilish in the most extreme definition of the word. We're not praising Satan or wickedness in general here. Neither will I evoke black magic or conjure up diabolical thoughts.
Today's date is 6-6-06, which makes it perfectly acceptable to grab hold of some devilish observations.
I have been accused of being more like a devil than an angel in my personal life, but according to the dictionary, that might not be so bad. The conventional definition of devil is "the chief evil spirit, a supernatural being subordinate to and the foe of God."
I prefer to think my devilish qualities refer more to this definition: "A person who is mischievous, energetic or reckless."
Another definition that strikes me is the term devil's advocate, which is something that should apply for all newspaper columnists on occasion: "One who argues against a cause or position, not as a committed opponent but simply for sake of argument or to determine the validity of the cause or position."
For example, I like playing devil's advocate to those who think the solutions to Milwaukee problems are overly simple. I mean the ones who use senseless shootings in our streets and parks as a way to criticize officials, police and citizens for tolerating lawlessness.
Playing devil's advocate, I ask them if the easy access to guns in our society might play a part in all the mayhem. Whenever I do that, they usually look at me like they think I'm Beelzebub himself.
Many politicians who want to tout or downgrade any new proposal or initiative often will mention "the devil is in the details." The term shows up everywhere on the Internet, but the definition appears murky.
Far as I can tell, when a politician says "the devil's in the details," what he or she is basically saying is:
I don't have a clue how this works.
Those caught up in a particularly trying circumstance are often thought to be "between the devil and the deep blue sea," which sounds great as a metaphor but probably isn't as immediately understandable as "caught between a rock and a hard place."
Unless you're a sailor.
When I was a child, whenever it began to rain while the sun was out, we would say it meant "the devil is beating his wife." I believe it was a Southern folk tale or something.
If you ever encounter someone upset because they have "the devil to pay," stand clear, because they will likely be the recipient of some deserved karmic energy.
There are many people in life with "devil-may-care" attitudes about life. This sounds like a negative quality, but I've found people with "devil-may-care" attitudes are the most fun to be around on a daily basis.
(Don't count on them picking up a bar tab, though.)
Even without seeing the new version of "The Omen," which is being released today to capitalize on the 666 angle, I predict there's no way it's as compelling as the original film.
If you're old enough to have seen the 1976 film about Satan's son in the theaters, you realize there's no way for the new version to match the original in terms of personal impact.
Frankly, it was a lot easier to scare people back then.
In this time of terrorism, the war in Iraq and needless gunfire on our streets, most of us prefer the devil we know to the one we don't.
Contact Eugene Kane at (414) 223-5521 or e-mail ekane@journalsentinel.com. He also writes a regularly updated blog at www.jsonline.com with more commentary and links of interest.
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