Jackson Jambalaya

When I was young I liked to listen to the radio. We mainly listened to local stations that featured popular or country music. At night if you caught a good wave you could listen to a Cardinals game or rock and roll on WLS all the way from Chicago. Of course, radio stations had news and commentators. One of my favorites was Paul Harvey at noon on weekdays who always had something witty to say.

In 1965 Harvey delivered one of his best stories titled “If I were the Devil.” He began, “If I were the Devil… If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness.” Now, doesn’t that sound just like him? Then he said, “But I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree. 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.’”

Harvey continued to spin his story like a boy spins a top. Why in the world would the Devil start with the churches? I would have started some place else where it was already bad. Back in those days America was fighting the “Vietnam Conflict” and young people were coming of age with good old rock-n-roll, pot, and something they called acid.

Then the Devil said, “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'.”

Harvey's message was a warning about the gradual erosion of moral and spiritual values, reflecting societal changes he observed. Most of the adults I knew then agreed with Harvey. ‘The Devil’ imagined attacks on religious and educational institutions, suggesting efforts to replace God with psychology, and to deify science.

From a 2025 perspective Harvey nailed the Devil’s goal of self-destruction through division. “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.”

Harvey described the Devil working to keep people away from God. “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 drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade, I'd have prisons overflowing, I'd have judges promoting pornography.”

Long before AIDS became the name of a disease, the Devil pledged to 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.

Sixty years ago Paul Harvey had a pretty good vision of where the Devil intended to drive the world. Today we’re living in Harvey’s classic “rest of the story.” How might we respond to the Devil’s attacks? He’s liable to keep on doing what he’s been doing.

Daniel L. Gardner is a columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.