If I Were the Devil
Prescient words in 1965 from Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey was a very popular radio commentator for ABC News Radio from 1951 to 2008. He was most famous for his feature called The Rest of the Story. Harvey’s patriotic and conservative views were often apparent in his commentary.
If I Were the Devil was a 1965 Paul Harvey commentary on where he saw education in America heading.1 Harvey was very attuned to societal trends but his predictions showed an uncanny ability to see where those trends would lead us.
If I Were the Devil2
If I were the devil … If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee. So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’
“To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘square.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington…’
“And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.
“If I were the devil I’d soon have families that war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions — just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.
“Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography — soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil I’d make the symbols of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.
“If I were the devil I’d take from those who have, and give to those who want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.
And what do you bet I could get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes and hard work in Patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on the TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.
Paul Harvey, good day.”
Thanks to Gary Demar of the Gary Demar Podcast, Episode #640 entitled Holding Government Accountable on February 12, 2025 for mentioning this Paul Harvey broadcast. Gary Demar is the long-time President of American Vision and the author of many books on theology and Christian involvement in civil government and society. Demar’s God and Government series (1989) is a classic. https://americanvision.org/
The transcript of If I Were the Devil is from the website Word & Work. https://www.wordandwork.org/2018/02/paul-harveys-if-i-were-the-devil-transcript-from-1965/
I actually heard him read this on his daily radio broadcast. 😊❤️