20147016 Dennis Prager think a second time

20141016 Page 135 could somebody please explain why it has become acceptable for black leaders to lump all whites with the white racists while it has remained unacceptable to lump all blacks with black criminals? Page 142 isn't it a absurd to assume that long prison sentences deter some criminals, but that the death penalty does not? Page 145 to put it succinctly, this claim that their murder of an innocent in the execution of the murderer or morally equivalent because they both involve taking a life is morally perverse as a claim that rape and lovemaking are morally equivalent because both involve sexual intercourse Page 149 Dennis quoting Midrash semi: those who are merciful when they must be cruel, will, in the end, be cruel to those who deserve mercy Chapter 27 Page 162 separation of church and state is an important value, without it, a society would have neither tolerance or democracy. When a government legislates religion, or allows only one faith ( or one form of a religion), both the state and the religion will be corrupted, no matter how good and noble that religion is. Yet, like patriotism, the good value of secular government can be taken to an extreme. Unfortunately, though, while most people fear patriotic or religious extremists,. most people do not even acknowledge the existence of, let alone fear, secular extremists. Page 167. ... three of our most precious values - freedom to write anything that does not incite violence, the abolition of the death penalty for all offenses except murder, and the dispensing of punishment only after a fair trial. Page 170 then need for ethical monotheism. That message, first crane proclaimed in the Hebrew Bible, is that belief in God and acting ethically must be inextricably linked semicolon let God demands right behavior more than anything else, including rite ritual and right belief semicolon and that faith in a universal God without Universal ethical standards is a false faith Page 173 the unfortunate tendency of most people is to divide morality t by team. If my team does it it's okay. If their team does it, it's bad. When you judge behavior in terms of race, religion, nationality, or anything other than a universal moral code, good ceases to be transcendent. Page 177 to non Christians, the most obvious way in which Christianity can make a Christian last kind is the belief that all non Christians, no matter how moral and kind, will suffer suffer eternal torment, while delivers in Jesus Christ, no matter what their behavior, will have eternal salvation Page 178 the Achilles heel of the three monotheistic faiths is there attitudes towards those, within and outside their faith, who believe differently. Some classic Jewish attitudes toward non-jews, Christian attitudes toward non-christians, and Muslim attitudes toward non-muslims need to be rejected. Page 178 the lesson for the religious is that they must plant homely beautiful flowers. The belief that practicing one's religion will automatically make one a good person is absolutely wrong. Religion will make people good only if they want it to. The lesson for the non-religious is that since religion is like rain begin parentheses it does bring forth both beautiful flowers and poisonous weeds and parentheses, we cannot live without it. The response to religion induced evil must therefore be religion induced goodness, not no religion. There is no exclusively secular route to a good world Page 182 quoting George be ann hey daddy quote we blacks seem blind to oppression unless it wears a white face Page 183 the movement for blacks and white women equality is 1 of the great development of our time semi: all good people, by definition, supported. But it is 1 thing to support an ideal and quite a nother to support group going to fight on its behalf. It is time to seaside inn define the interest of with feminist group in the interest of blacks civil rights said. They are not the same. Page 201 the way to fight relative moral relativism is with universal morality, meaning that a given act is wrong for everyone in that situation and therefore not a matter of personal opinion. It is wrong for every one to save the pet he loves before a human stranger. But it is not wrong for anyone to save his pet or pen for that matter before a drowning Nazi mass murderer during ww2. Page 205 as primary as a Pixar, man cannot live by morality alone. We are also instructed to lead holy lives: you shall be holy because I have the Lord your God and holy with Atticus 1982 God is more than the source of morality, he is the source of holiness ethics enables life semicolon holiness and Nobles it Page 227 no atheists damages at the :- I use them as much as a religious person who acts in morally, because the evil religious person convinces other people that religion and God are irrelevant or even create a barrier to leading a moral life. Page 231 every eulogy I have heard emphasized, when possible, the goodness of the deceased far more than professional achievements. Its sad that it usually takes a death to clarify what is most important in life. Page 247 the detection of God in masculine terms, I believe, is this sensual how to the bibles fundamental moral purposes. To understand why, 1 must posits to promises calling that the hebrew bibles primary concern is promoting good behavior, and get the primary purpose traders evil behavior, such as violence against innocence, are males, especially young emails. Page 248 if god were depicted as female, young men would deem traits such as compassion, mercy, and care for the downtrodden as feminine , and, in there pursuit of their masculine ity, reject them. Page 251 if God provides this - worldly rewards for keeping his laws, then the converse must also be true - all suffering is a punishment from God. ... Such thinking is not only cool - instead of offering compassion to the suffering, we imply that they have somehow earned their flight - but also a desecration of God's name in that it depicts God as indicative: - he - didn't observe the Sabbath as he should have, so I'll give him a tumor. Page 252 .... One solution to - the problem of making deals with God - lies in having different attitudes toward the 2 basic types of religious laws, those between people an god - laws of holiness - and those between people - laws of ethics -. It doesn't matter if people are ethical because they have made a deal with God, but it does matter if people observe the rituals because of a deal. What matters in ethics is behavior more than notice. The downtrodden do not care why people help them: they only care that people do so. We would have had considerable considerably finer world if all people feared God's wrath for stealing, cheating, raping, murdering, or ignoring evil inspected on others. But when it comes to the laws between man and God, motor these are very important. It doesn't matter why you give charity, but it does matter why do you keep the Sabbath, why a Christian regularly attends church, or why a Muslim observes the law of Ramadan. If one give charity solely out of fear of God, the act is still entirely beneficial. But if one of serves the ritual practice is solely out of fear of God - and or the community, which is often the case -, the Act eventually becomes almost meaningless and can even become ugly. Religious life would be greatly enriched if people who were religiously observant would drop their beliefs in deals with God. If they then observed fewer rituals but observe them because they believed in the intrinsic worth of these practices, they would radiate a joy and kindness that would make religion beautiful way of life it can B, but so often it is not. Open parentheses begin parentheses start parentheses parentheses open parentheses begin parentheses open quote close quote Page 255 hi deeply appreciate Christian America's attempt, which has been incredibly successful, to elevate Hanukkah to EastEnders status alongside that of Christmas. That is a bearing touch very touching tribute to the fact that Christians recognize that all those shoes are numerically small, Judaism is the mother religion of Christianity and its partners and shaping the Western world values. For those reasons, rather than dread the Christmas season, I walk in that too. What is this Jew does dread is in America it ceases to celebrate Christmas. Page 281 it is impossible for most people to justify to themselves hurting innocent people. As a result, those who do hurt innocent people will attack the decency of their victims.