01/07/2026
WAKE UP AMERICA “If I Were the Devil” A 2026 Reflection Inspired by Paul Harvey
By Marvin E. “Mark” Singleton III President & CEO, Citizens National Bank of Texas Author of the Wake Up America series
Sixty years ago, Paul Harvey warned America what the devil would do if he wanted to dismantle a nation blessed with freedom. His words didn’t sound dramatic; they sounded spot on. Time has not softened his warning; it has confirmed it. This reflection doesn’t rewrite Harvey’s message. It recognizes that what he saw in 1965 has matured into the world we live in now.
If I were the devil, I would not storm America with armies or threats. I would drift in like fog across a Texas pasture before sunrise, settling in the low places where conviction has thinned, and courage has gone still. I would begin not in Washington but in the human heart, because once a nation forgets its purpose, you don’t have to defeat it. You only have to distract it.
If I were the devil, I would hollow out the American church from within. I wouldn’t close its doors; I would soften its spine. I would turn sermons into suggestions and worship into entertainment. I’d tell pastors that boldness hurts attendance and truth is too sharp for modern ears. I’d teach the flock to prefer comfort over calling, letting them drift so gently they never feel the current pulling them away from the shore. Scripture would remain open, but its authority would slip quietly from the culture.
If I were the devil, I would weaken the American man not by turning him into a woman, but by convincing him his God-given role no longer matters. I would label strength as toxic, leadership as oppressive, and conviction as dangerous. Fathers would become spectators. Husbands would become shadows. And young men would wander without a map. When men forget their purpose, communities forget their foundation.
If I were the devil, I would move from the home to the schoolhouse, because a nation’s future sits at those desks. I would tell schools to sharpen intellects but ignore character. I’d replace discipline with theories too fragile to hold the weight of real life. And when those children grow into adults without courage, purpose, or compass, I would whisper that it is no one’s fault, just progress.
If I were the devil, I would not rely on one method alone. I would keep society comfortably numb on pot. I would turn whole generations into passengers rather than pilots, content to float rather than stand. I would dull their urgency, soften their courage, and blur their sense of responsibility. A nation that loses its clarity soon loses its freedom.
And I would not stop with chemical fog. I would keep their minds hooked on dopamine from an endless river of shorts, feeding them thirty-second highs until their thoughts grow shallow and their spirits restless. People who forget how to linger with truth soon forget how to stand for it.
With the body and mind dulled, I would move to the soul. I would modernize “Keeping up with the Joneses,” making older generations measure themselves by possessions, the middle by polished success, and the young by filtered lives and digital fantasies. Then I would blur the line between real and artificial until no one remembers what authenticity feels like. Comparison would become a habit. Envy a pastime. Image a kind of currency. And once a society chases illusions—material, digital, or cosmetic it loses its appetite for truth. A nation that loses its appetite for truth cannot stay free.
If I were the devil, I would walk into city hall next. I would fill local government with good people trained to follow bad systems. I would let councils drown in process, and consultants drive decisions. When a city forgets whom it serves, it begins training its citizens to forget who they are.
Then I would widen my reach. I would use America’s alliances to bend her priorities until her own citizens wonder who truly commands the loyalty of their leaders. I would let them watch Congress move faster for foreign borders than for their own urgent needs abroad, hesitant at home. And the awakening would begin.
I would let Americans notice how billions from abroad shape their politics. The goal would not be to turn Americans against Israel’s right to defend herself. The goal would be to erode Americans’ trust in the very people sworn to defend them.
And once distrust takes root, I would deepen it. I would let Congress spend money like it grows on trees while families count dollars like they are seeds. I would let stewardship collapse under excuses. I would turn law into a political weapon and justice into a game of angles. Lawfare would appear as accountability; accountability would appear as extremism. And once the people stop trusting the system, they stop trusting each other.
If I were the devil, I would whisper apathy into the American soul. I would tell every citizen they don’t matter, that their voice is too small, their vote too weak, and their effort too late. I would convince them that one person cannot make a difference and that standing up is pointless. Because once a free people believe they are powerless, they begin to act like they are, and a nation that forgets its agency soon forgets its liberty.
If I were the devil, I would not conquer America. I would confuse her. I would tell her men to step back, her churches to settle down, her citizens to stop asking questions, her schools to forget truth, her cities to ignore accountability, and her leaders to focus everywhere except home. I would twist her priorities until defending foreign borders becomes automatic and defending her own becomes controversial.
A distracted nation cannot defend itself. A divided nation cannot endure. And a nation that forgets its truth will believe any lie the devil whispers next.
But here is what the devil never counts on. All of it collapses the moment the people wake up. America has never needed a miracle, only men and women willing to see clearly, speak honestly, and act courageously. The answer is not complicated. It is not hidden. It is not new.
All we have to do is wake up and act.
Wake up, America. The truth does not sleep, and neither does the devil.
