Paul Harvey’s 1965 radio broadcast “If I Were the Devil” has resurfaced for decades, but today, it feels eerily prophetic. What once sounded like dramatic commentary now reads like a mirror reflecting modern society.

In the monologue, Harvey imagined himself as the Devil, not destroying a nation by force but corrupting it slowly from within. He described a world where morals would erode, faith would fade, and pleasure would replace wisdom—a slow decay disguised as progress.

“If I were the Devil, I’d whisper, ‘Do as you please,’” Harvey said. “I’d tell the young the Bible is a myth. I’d convince them that man created God. I’d take God out of the courthouse, the schoolhouse—and even the churches. I’d peddle drugs and alcohol, divide families, and teach people to pray to government instead of God.”

When those words were spoken, it was 1965—long before the internet, social media, or smartphones. Yet Harvey foresaw a world where distraction, indulgence, and division would rule. His warning wasn’t about politics—it was about the human spirit.

Listeners of the past heard a sharp piece of radio theater. Listeners today hear truth that feels unsettlingly close to home.

Harvey’s vision spoke of freedom twisted into moral confusion, of truth traded for opinion, and of a society losing its sense of accountability. “Self-government won’t work without self-discipline,” he once said—a principle many believe the modern world has forgotten.

People continue to share his words not out of nostalgia, but recognition. His warning feels less like a relic and more like a reflection of now.

Perhaps the lesson isn’t fear, but remembrance—that integrity, faith, and discipline must be chosen every generation. Some voices echo long after they’re gone because they weren’t just speaking to their time—they were speaking to ours.