If I were the devil - version 2

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 a 3000-year-old collection of superstition and mythology called the 'Bible' was a more valid guide to the modern world than reason and science;

I would promote an attitude of valuing economic expansion and personal wealth over people and the environment, instead of the other way around;

I would dupe an entire population into placing the greatest tax burden on their poorest citizens;

I would convince people that image rather than achievement was the most important issue when it comes to leadership;

I would ensure that men maintained control over women's bodies and sexuality;

I would make it socially acceptable to deny terminally ill patients the right to end their own lives with dignity, and instead force them to spend their final days in continual pain and suffering;

I would promote the exploitation and suffering of animals as much as possible, so that business profits would be valued more than treating living things humanely;

I would coerce schoolchildren into worshiping my god and call it "freedom of religion";

I would get control of the government by stealing elections and leading the country into unnecessary wars, so that I could twist the laws of the nation to suit my agenda;

I would attack minorities, foreigners, women, homosexuals, and every other powerless group, the backbone of any nation;

I would force couples to remain in unworkable marriages. Unhappy people are easier to control;

I would suppress freedom of speech and expression, and I would call it protecting society;

I would convince the world that people choose to be homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be reviled and demonized;

I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few bigoted religious zealots who refer to their agenda as Christian;

I would persuade people that the Bible, a book that condones xenophobia, slavery, subordination of women, and stoning people to death, is a relevant guide to modern life;

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