“If I were the devil …” he began, “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.’”
Much of this commentary does not yet exist in a word-for-word form, but the general ideas are there for all of us to see. The devil’s goals are much nearer.
Religion had to be attacked, because no more-powerful being could be allowed to exist in the devil’s new world.
“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…’”
Then he took aim at the way we live, and the things we do. “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.”
Next came our major influences, such as education and the media, where the devil’s workshop exists, doing his work. “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.
And then the weakened culture would receive more attacks. “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.”
And following all of that seeing into the future, he closed with his famous conclusion: “Paul Harvey, good day.”
Apparently, the devil heard Paul, and followed his prophetic vision.
Today, the American spirit has been attacked and weakened. Millions somehow do not know how great — although not perfect — our country is. They don’t understand how much better it is than other places these misinformed masses wish to emulate.
When some of us find one thing someone did or said that they don’t like, they seek to cancel them, to remove every last vestige of that person, forever. A life of true excellence can be over-written by one thought or deed from years or decades before.
Factions work to destroy the nation’s true history, attempting to redefine each of us as either the oppressed, or the oppressor, depending upon the color of our skin. This fallacious point of view ignores the profound, sensible aspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr., who understood and preached that one’s skin color is far less important than one’s character.
Truth is under attack; political reality is more important. Not even our Constitution is held above being subverted.
If Paul were alive today, he might warn us, “Don’t be ‘woke,’ be awake!”
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