
Popular radio commentator Paul Harvey died over the weekend in a Phoenix, Arizona hospital. Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" made him a mainstay of American radio journalism and endeared him to the public. Harvey was 90 years old.
According to Adherents.com, Harvey joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2000, and attended services at the Camelback Adventist Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. He occasionally quoted from Ellen G. White during broadcasts.
(See Update Below)
Harvey received numerous accolades during his 70 years in radio, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005. Dr. Benjamin Carson, an Adventist neurosurgeon, received the award in 2008.
Harvey's right-leaning remarks envisiaged and engendered the hidebound commentary of outlets like Fox News. Occasionally, Harvey's comments drew criticism.
In 2005, Harvey made the following contentious remarks in his radio broadcast:
But we didn't come this far because we are made of sugar candy. Once upon a time, we elbowed our way onto and into this continent by giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans. Yes, that was biological warfare. And we used every other weapon we could get our hands on, to grab this land from whomever, and we grew prosperous. And yes, we greased the skids with the sweat of slaves.
And so it goes with most great nation-states, which feeling guilty about their savage pasts, eventually civilize themselves out of business, and wind up invaded and ultimately dominated by the lean, hungry, up-and-coming who are not made of sugar candy
.UPDATE: In response to numerous queries about Paul Harvey's being an Adventist, Pastor Charles White of the Saddleback SDA Church shares this message:
Their connection to the church was through Angel’s sister who was a baptized SDA member. I understand that a couple of aunts were also SDA. The rumor that he was Adventist got started on the web with erroneous information that has been passed on and perpetuated. Doug Bachelor stated it on one of his telecasts and that also gave it further believability. I spoke with him a few days ago and he said he read it on the web. Please do all you can to clarify this error. Thank you for your interest.
Most sincerely,
Charles White, senior pastor Camelback
Watch: Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story"
h/t BH