| 4-9-98
By Luke Ford
Dennis Prager laughed at the hysteria over the California lotto
and its $102 million prize. You were 600 times more likely to be
hit by lightning than to win the prize.
Prager opposes the government sponsoring gambling, and advertising
gambling. The government should not foster gambling any more than
fostering cigarette smoking. Prager says gambling hurts the poor
[implying that the poor are stupid].
A caller said that Prager should not be so negative. These lotteries
give people hope and it is ok for them to pray for it.
In the second hour, Prager quoted from the April 6, 1998 Weekly
Standard's article by professor David Gelernter. This religious
Jew was injured by a bomb from the Unabomber then wrote a book that
Prager recommends.
Gelernter decried America's lack of seriousness in fighting evil.
Prager worried about fascination with the dark side. DP thought
the movie Bonnie & Clyde marked a turning point when murder
and mayhem became cool. DP's son David is fascinated by the Mafia.
How the Mafia dress, walk, and comport themselves.
A caller introduced Dennis to Marilyn Manson, punk rocker. Marilyn
is the name of the band. Each of the band members have added the
last name of a serial murder. Marilyn Manson obviously takes his
name from Charles.
Prager admits that he has flirted with the dark but he did not
elaborate.
P says that many young people do not have a counter measure…
They do not participate in an organized religion which celebrates
life and holiness.
Callers and Prager worred about the celebration of death and morbidity
in so-called Gothic rock. Rock from the '80s supposedly celebrated
fun by contrast.
Pablum
From Prager's Web Site:
Thursday, April 9, 1998
Dennis discussed the drawing last night for 100 million dollars
for the California state lottery. He said that he was having a meal
at an outdoor cafe at a normally quiet location. But he noticed
a steady line of people at a nearby convenience store. He said that
during the hour he was there the line never got below fifteen people
even though usually it is a quiet location. He also reported how
police had to be called in at a location in San Diego after a near
riot broke out when the machine broke down. He said that there were
certain locations, such as one in southern CA, in Hawthorne, where
there were constantly hundreds of people on line. Dennis said that
he thinks it is wrong for the state to sponsor gambling; that they
spend a large amount of money on anti-smoking campaigns and then
turn around and encourage people to gamble. Dennis said that this
especially hurts poor people. One caller told Dennis that it is
good for people, especially the poor because it gives them hope.
Dennis said that it was a false hope. He gave a statistic that he
heard on the ABC news broadcast that a person has a 600 times greater
chance of being hit by lightening than winning the lottery. Dennis
also noted that some people were praying to win the lottery. He
said that when you do that, in effect, you are praying that others
don't win. He said that he doesn't particularly like prayers like
that. He understands them but would like to see religion taken more
seriously.
Dennis also discussed an article in the April 6, 1998 Weekly Standard,
by David Gelernter. He is a professor at Yale and a victim of the
Unabomber. He wrote a book that Dennis highly recommended on his
show called, Drawing Life, Surviving the Unabomber. In the article,
Professor Gerlernter is angered over a course at Harvard that studies
the Unabomber's writings. He wrote that the only reason why he is
being studied is because he murdered and maimed innocent people.
His goal was to have his name immortalized and Harvard is acquiescing
to this desire. He wrote that Harvard is making the announcement,
by teaching this course, if you murder, your name will live on at
Harvard and anything you have written will be studied by our students.
Dennis agreed with the professor's assessment and was equally angered
at Harvard.
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