Monday, December 10, 2012
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
"If I were the devil..."
I had never heard of Paul Harvey until I came across a video of him reading his essay "If I were the devil."
I'll just go through some of his points, to see how prescient they were.
1. "If I were the devil...To the young I would whisper, 'The Bible is a myth.'"
A growing number of young people see religion, especially Christianity, as unimportant or bad and see no reason to have any form of religion in their life, no matter in what form.
2. "If I were the devil, I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull an uninteresting."
Need I look any further than 50 Shades of Grey? Or how about The Casual Vacancy? I've already partially discussed the problems with this type of writing, and it is not hard to find others who are more complete in their critiques.
3. "If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine yound intellects but neglect to discipline emotions . . . let those run wild, until before you knew it, you'd have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every school-house door."
Drug-sniffing dogs came to MY SCHOOL. My Catholic school. 'Nuff said, I believe.
4. "If I were the devil...I would lure priests and pastors in misusing young boys and girls."
I really don't want to discuss the sex abuse scandals that have occured. But they happened. And they were the work of Satan.
5. " If I were the devil...I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun."
Fewer and fewer people are getting married. More and more people are sleeping around.
6. "If I were the devil...I would convince the young that what you see on TV, is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public and lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure."
HIV/AIDS. 'Super' gonorrhea. HPV. Hepatitis B. It's happening. Tell me if I'm wrong.
But then, get this last line:
"In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing."
I'll just go through some of his points, to see how prescient they were.
1. "If I were the devil...To the young I would whisper, 'The Bible is a myth.'"
A growing number of young people see religion, especially Christianity, as unimportant or bad and see no reason to have any form of religion in their life, no matter in what form.
2. "If I were the devil, I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull an uninteresting."
Need I look any further than 50 Shades of Grey? Or how about The Casual Vacancy? I've already partially discussed the problems with this type of writing, and it is not hard to find others who are more complete in their critiques.
3. "If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine yound intellects but neglect to discipline emotions . . . let those run wild, until before you knew it, you'd have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every school-house door."
Drug-sniffing dogs came to MY SCHOOL. My Catholic school. 'Nuff said, I believe.
4. "If I were the devil...I would lure priests and pastors in misusing young boys and girls."
I really don't want to discuss the sex abuse scandals that have occured. But they happened. And they were the work of Satan.
5. " If I were the devil...I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun."
Fewer and fewer people are getting married. More and more people are sleeping around.
6. "If I were the devil...I would convince the young that what you see on TV, is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public and lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure."
HIV/AIDS. 'Super' gonorrhea. HPV. Hepatitis B. It's happening. Tell me if I'm wrong.
But then, get this last line:
"In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing."
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