In one of our community newspapers recently, someone published Paul Harvey’s essay from 1965: If I Were the Devil. Paul was remarkably prescient…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I present the essay in its entirety. Again, Paul Harvey, 1965:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I were the Devil . . . I mean, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I would of course, want to engulf the whole earth in darkness. I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, so I should set about however necessary to take over the United States. I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: \u201cDo as you please.\u201d \u201cDo as you please.\u201d To the young, I would whisper, \u201cThe Bible is a myth.\u201d I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is \u201csquare\u201d. In the ears of the young marrieds, I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct. And the old, I would teach to pray. I would teach them to say after me: \u201cOur Father, which art in Washington\u201d . . . Paul Harvey. Good day!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Speech was broadcast by ABC Radio commentator Paul Harvey on April 3, 1965)<\/p>\n\n\n\n PS The essay was updated in 1996, as reported in the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy<\/em>… – Jesus, John 10.10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In one of our community newspapers recently, someone published Paul Harvey’s essay from 1965: If I Were the Devil. Paul was remarkably prescient… I present the essay in its entirety. Again, Paul Harvey, 1965: If I were the Devil . . . I mean, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I would of course, … Continue reading If I Were the Devil…<\/span>
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If I were the devil, I\u2019d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull an uninteresting. I\u2019d threaten T.V. with dirtier movies and vice versa. And then, if I were the devil, I\u2019d get organized. I\u2019d infiltrate unions and urge more loafing and less work, because idle hands usually work for me. I\u2019d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I\u2019d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. And I\u2019d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine yound intellects but neglect to discipline emotions . . . let those run wild. I would designate an athiest to front for me before the highest courts in the land and I would get preachers to say \u201cshe\u2019s right.\u201d With flattery and promises of power, I could get the courts to rule what I construe as against God and in favor of pornography, and thus, I would evict God from the courthouse, and then from the school house, and then from the houses of Congress and then, in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and I would deify science because that way men would become smart enough to create super weapons but not wise enough to control them.
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If I were Satan, I\u2019d make the symbol of Easter an egg, and the symbol of Christmas, a bottle. If I were the devil, I would take from those who have and I would give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And then, my police state would force everybody back to work. Then, I could separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines, and objectors in slave camps. In other words, if I were Satan, I\u2019d just keep on doing what he\u2019s doing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n