It's As If (?) The Devil Is Running Things

If I were the Devil . . .

I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world;

I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's effort,

instead of God's blessings;

I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people,

instead of the other way around;

I would dupe entire states into

relying on gambling for their state revenue;

I would convince people that character

is not an issue when it comes to leadership;

I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies;

I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life,

and invent machines to make it convenient;

I would cheapen human life as much as possible

so that the life of animals are valued more than human beings;

I would take God out of the schools,

where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit;

I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young,

and I would get sports heroes to advertise them;

I would get control of the media,

so that every night I could pollute the mind

of every family member for my agenda;

I would attack the family, the backbone of any nation.

I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable.

If the family crumbles, so does the nation;

I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies

on canvas and movie screens, and I would call it art;

I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals,

and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled;

I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few

who call themselves authorities and refer to their agenda as politically correct;

I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date,

and the Bible is for the naive;

I would dull the minds of Christians,

and make them believe that prayer is not important,

and that faithfulness and obedience are optional;

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 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 or uninteresting.

I'd threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa.

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 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 symbol 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 it

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;

in 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 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!

I guess I would leave things pretty much the way they are.

-- Attributed to Paul Harvey