Paul Harvey is among the most respected American radio broadcasters and remains famous to this day. Back in 1965, he made a broadcast predicting the future of the United States, at least as far as he was concerned.
He would revise the predictions throughout the years until he passed away in 2009. His warnings are now becoming very accurate concerning the country’s current state.
Harvey delivered a commentary titled “If I Were the Devil” that predicted the future spiritual condition of the United States. In 2020, the Washington Examiner ran a commentary by Gary Bauer titled “How to destroy America from within” that also predicted the future of the country.
Both of them did a good job of describing the current disorder in the United States and its continued movement in that direction.
Before we go into Paul Harvey’s speech and whether or not it is accurate today, we will remind you that he was a conservative, Christian man. This means that some of his opinions on religion and what is right and wrong may differ from yours. Some of the things he viewed as a negative change, you might view as positive. What holds true either way, is that what he wrote in that poem has, in fact, come true.
Also, note that the current version of the broadcast isn’t the same as the original broadcast he made back in 1965. Over time, he modified his broadcast to include what we currently see in our society.
Here is the most recent version of Harvey’s broadcast:
“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 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 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.”
So much of what our Founders created and enabled America to do so well for so long, is crumbling beneath our feet. Those who don’t know that, don’t understand how good they have it, or just dislike what America is, are working so hard to transform the country into one more failed socialist state.
Harvey said that the Devil’s plan was to attack and destroy religion in the country as the first step in taking the nation down. While we still have several religions, the results of the anti-religion movement can be seen in the moral decay of our culture.
Weakening the education system, and changing how and what children are taught, is the way Bauer’s column begins. And today, many teachers, schools, and school systems have been caught red-handed doing just that.
Defunding the police and the military were mentioned, as well as a news media that is largely ideologically driven, rather than honorably doing its vital job of presenting all the news without political or ideological bias.
Younger generations have not been taught why maintaining the “old ways” is important, and now the great country we grew up in is in peril.
Obviously, not everyone will share Harvey’s opinions that some of these changes are bad. Still, it is pretty impressive that the things he said back then are incredibly accurate today.
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: Taphaps
Thomas Cooper