Paul Harvey was one of the most famous radio personalities of the 20th century. He first went on the air in 1933, and with shows like The Rest of the Story he was a staple of America radio for decades.
He was also a devout Christian who was deeply concerned that the United States was abandoning God and morality at her own peril.
He expressed this in a most powerful way with his radio essay “If I Were the Devil.”
First published in 1964 but revised slightly over the years, the essay warns against attacks on the credibility of the Bible, marriage, and family, and the promotion of pornography, socialism, and gambling, among other things.
“In other words,” he concludes at the end, “if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.” His point is that American culture is already promoting these evil things.
His essay is prescient because many of the very things Harvey was worried about in the 1960s have gotten much worse, to the great detriment to souls and America.
Here’s a recording and transcript of a version of his essay that appeared in 1996:
If I were the prince of darkness, I would want to engulf the whole world in darkness.
I’d 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 — thee.
So, I would set about however necessary to take over the United States.
I’d subvert the churches first, and I would 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 the children that man created God instead of the other way around. I’d 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 are in Washington …”
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 peddle 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 at 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 intellect but neglect to discipline emotions. I’d tell teachers to let those students run wil. And before you knew it, you’d have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.
With a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing and judges promoting pornography. Soon, I would evict God from the courthouse and the schoolhouse and them from the houses of Congress.
In his own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I’d lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money.
If I were the devil, I’d take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.
What’ll you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich?
I’d convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun and that what you see on television is the way to be.
And thus, I could undress you in public and lure you into bed with diseases for which there are no cures.
In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.
What do you think of his essay? Let us know in the comments!
[See also: A Priest Explains the Most Powerful Tool of the Devil – And How to Defeat It]
[See also: A Priest’s Warning Against the Devil’s 10 Deadliest Tricks]